# Big things often have small beginnings.



## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

Hi its me again  This will be my main thread on the forum. I got my first h0 starter set at the age of 7. At the age of 8 i starterd to get into militairy scale modelling. During the time i also build h0 houses which i got under the christmas tree etc. I learned and read a lot about militairy modelling not necessary about railroad modelling. At the age of 13 with 6 years of modelling experience i decided to build a cheap layout using everything i had gotten as presents or bought till that time. It costed me about 200 euros to make the base without including the houses and trains which i had earlier. The build was mostly based on my militairy modelling skills which wasnt always good (painted the tracks to make them look old and weathered so it became a static layout :appl. After the build i focused more on the militairy aspect of modelling and of course school. Now at the age of 17 after moving house i finally have enough room to make a new layout this time i hope with the help of many others who mastered this hobby. The biggest reason that inspirates me is that i was given dozens of scale trains tracks and wagons from a friend of mine whos father has passed away,sadly he never started what he was planning and i was given everything for free as long as i would make good use of it and finish a small piece of his creations. My biggest fears are that i have no experience with electricity which is a big problem i suppose as the technical part of railroading is a big mystery to me, second of all my incomes are below 0 which is a bad thing in this expensive hobby. Luckily i have been militairy modelling for half of my life so some scratchbuilding experience may come in place. I hope to have the layout finished in a decade at best . I will post everything i do here on this very active forum. From what i have noticed this is a NA forum i maybe wrong I am live in Poland so there maybe some problems with this aswell but i think this is the best forum to do it on. If you have gotten this far you perhaps have noticed i write way to much,sorry for that it is a bad habbit. I think the best part would be right now to finally start planning everything and working towards the first steps of my second this time i hope, non-static layout. The space i have available is 4[m]x2[m] and the maximum height is 1[m].I have a total of 0 ideas as how i am planning the layout so maybe you could help me with this big task . I would like to reuse as many buildings as i got to spare some money. From the things i have gotten from my friend i have about 20+ locos and 100 wagons h0 scale I also received a crate full of tracks althought i dont know if they will be usable everything is really old and probably broken and looks like it has never been properly used. The only two things for now i have my mind set on is a really big scratchbuild bridge and to make everything look as realistic as possible as a militairy fan i like to heavily weather everything. This is a introduction post especially i hope for the future if i dont lose my hopes . For now many more ideas and posts to come :smilie_daumenpos:. I need your help as i have no idea what to do, what to aim for and what goals to set so if you are willing to pls help me decide what to opt towards.Thank you for reading this long and boring post. Under this post you can find pictures of my first layout(pic 1) , an example of what i do in the militairy modelling branch (pic 2 pic 3), the available space (pic 4), the trains i was given (pic 5 ) my workspace (pic 6) and the rest of the pictures are plans of my friends father which he never completed. Thank you for reading i will post more soon.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

You got stuck in moderation, you are free now.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hudini, welcome to our forum. You're most welcomed to be here, and to share your thoughts and progress of your layout development.

Your modeling skill looks excellent. As you consider what your layout might look like, there are FREE layout design software tools that you can use to sketch out ideas. One of them is SCARM ... the developer is a member here, and has been quite helpful in answering questions and adding features

https://www.scarm.info/index.php

Enjoy the journey!

TJ


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## DennyM (Jan 3, 2016)

Welcome Hudini. I look forward to more photos.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

Hudini, you are very clearly extremely talented. I doubt that you need a computer program to help you do anything unless that is your personal style. Do what comes naturally and I wager that we will be learning a lot from you.

It is also nice that you are in Poland as many of my closest friends are from there.

A warm welcome!


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Welcome from another European railroad modeler.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

Thank you for the kind words, as much as I like to do anything without planning with a project this big i will have to at least try to make some plans  I had a go on the program you suggested before and it didnt go well in my hands, time to give it another try. Today i had my first experience with electricity making this static handmade grass-aplicator, it works but i still think planting grass by hand has a better effect :/ The program has different tracks, the problem is that i dont know which tracks i own, is there a way to find out which company they were made by?


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## 89Suburban (Jan 4, 2017)

Good stuff here!


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

Small update as i have a rough time at school i am not able to do much and put out any content for you guys :/Received yet again some goodies from my friend,they have been collecting dust for a long time,the cars seem to be the first of the first faller carsystems? The buildings will be a great additon if i wanted to make a industry section on the layout.


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## DennyM (Jan 3, 2016)

Those are nice Hudini.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

Some of the cars look like Aurora HO slot cars from the 60s. I remember them well.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

Small update:started to weather the two tanks.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Welcome to forum Hudini. You have some great items to start a layout. And you have the skills for scenery. The electric part of the layout is not hard. It will come to you as you get
started. I would not worry too much about the scenery till you get the railroad running.
The hard part of a layout to me is just to get it started. Once you get started it will flow.
Get your benchwork done first. Then lay some track. Forget the scenery for now. You
want this to be a running layout so get some trains running. You will need to learn to work on those old locomotives. I am sure they need to be lubricated. I read you have
some track. Many times the brand name is on the underside of the ties. Turn track over
and check. I really suggest you use nickel silver track. Your old track is probably brass.
Brass will work, it just requires more often cleaning. Get your trains running good before adding the scenery. Oh, and have fun. Ask any questions here. Someone will help. We have very knowledgeable members here. They love to help. I guess I do long posts also.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

A little secret i kept behind my back. This small piece of scenery wil be perfect to display all my weathering processes used on all the locos and wagons i got. I was not sure if i would fulfill the task good enough to share as I am never satisfied with my work. I used two of the tanks i was given and yet another 128 trains and wagons to weather . The tanks were taken apart painted and weathered by me. I really enjoyed weathering the tanks as I am a big fan of heavy weathering. I actually kinda like the result but i feel like something is missing, maybe grafitti but i dont want to ruin my work. The electric grassaplicator is doing its job and i didnt even get shocked which is weird cause i am quite clumsy. I hope the vallejo still water will not crack yet again, i have no idea what i am doing wrong with it. As for the start of the benchwork i simply can not do it at the moment as i have no idea how everything works. I tried to make a project but I have no idea how to bring the idea in my head onto the program. So i cant really start doing benchwork till i manage to get at least a concept going, i hope maybe some of you may help me with making a project so i can use the available space in a good way instead of making one loop.If you want to know anything i have made or how it was done feel free to ask nothing to hide . The next step is to make an inventory of what i have and what i not have i suppose as for the future i first want to see in what direction i should go. I will focus on getting as much knowledge as possible as i want to make this layout good enough for me to not be dissapointed with it when it is finished. As much as i know militairy equipment and i can straight away tell what is what i have no idea if it comes to trains i simply see a train. I will try to post my locos and other stuff to simply know what eras i have and what trains. Would you be able to help me with solving the riddle of what is what? After that i will try to make them all running without completely destroying them i geuss. Again sorry for the long post i like to write a lot. Basically i have no idea what i am doing and i need your help to point me in the right directions  Oh and by the way the white stuff near to the water is glue i hope it will dry up clear if not i will try to paint it somehow with a brush.:dunno:


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

second post as i can not upload all the photos in one post or at least dont know how to


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

You do some very very nice work, those are some beautiful scenes.

To get some ideas on what to do for a layout, check out these three threads.
Some pretty good information there.
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

The more research you do the better ideas you'll get.
You like to do heavy weathering so maybe some heavy industries would work.
Perhaps a large scrap yard feeding a steel mill.
Unfortunately I don't see any gondolas in your rolling stock. 

Here is a easy to use US to metric conversion site.
https://www.google.com/search?q=4cm+in+inches&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
Just select what measurements you have in the first box and 
type in a value, you'll get the metric in the second box.

You have a good sized area to work with, should be able to get a nice layout in that area.

Some things to be aware of.
Most people can only reach about 25 to 30 inches (63 to 75 cm.) and do useful work, so don't make it too wide.

If you find away to do all this with 0 income just write a book and you'll have a lot of money.  

Magic


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## DennyM (Jan 3, 2016)

Really nice Hudini. The way you lit the last photo gives it a museum like quality.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

Hudini, I have always tried to achieve the amazing realism of an abandoned siding like you have. How did you achieve the weathering (rust through) in the gas tanks and rr cars? Please, if anyone ever produced a step by step it should be you.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

Wohoo passed my exams, can finally focus on more creative stuffs  a lot of photos and qeustions incoming in the next days,hours,minutes


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

Hudini said:


> Wohoo passed my exams, can finally focus on more creative stuffs  a lot of photos and qeustions incoming in the next days,hours,minutes


Congrats! Better be straight A's!


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## DennyM (Jan 3, 2016)

Congrats Hudini. Been there, I had to do practical as well as written exams when I was in culinary school. The practical exams were nerve wracking especially pastry exams.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

Studies in a year and i have not even started on the layout :appl: I think i will have to throw everything into excel if i remember how to operate with it :goofball:. Can i mix the hmm i would called different metal? like ones are silverish and the other are goldish. Also the tracks are held together by i think brass connectors is that good or not? Last of all i will be posting my not rolling as i have no idea how to repair the trains :smilie_daumenneg: stock i hope tonight. It so good to have finally energy after this exhausting year of learning. Cant wait to post more. I will write a lot more later tonight when i have less energy and more time for writing. :cheeky4:


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

You can mix the silver and the gold track. The silver is nickel-silver and the gold is brass.

The only downside is appearance. Some people only like the look of one or the other, or prefer one color to the other. But you can intermingle them with no operational problems. I intermingle them as it does not bother me, plus sometimes the track is weathered anyway.

The nickel silver track resists oxidation better, so there is that. Seldom-used brass track might occasionally require a mild cleaning so the trains pick up the electricity well.

Yes, brass connectors connect them together. The same connectors work on either type of track.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Actually I think NS track oxidizes but that oxide is conductive as opposed to the brass oxidizing to a non-conductive surface, hence needing to be cleaned more often.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

Well well after 10 hours of trying to make my bad photos even worse i finally took pictures of most of my stock. I also took me another evening to pile up and count into excel my tracks. But the question is what to do next. I dont think its possible to run 30 analog trains that dont even run anyways on a space of 2x4m. I tried to use the scarm thingy but i simply cant put on my ideas into the program. As for the how to do the rust thing on the tanks i think i can do way better as i have achieved better rusting effects in the past on military models. Need to practice with some stuff than i will post a guide when i am satisfied i achieved some decent quality.Is there a best height to have your layout placed from the ground? Also how does one clean the cars i cleaned the first 30 locos from 30 years old dust and i had given up on the rest. Expanding the thought how does one even try to clean up the scenery from dust ? I dont see myself using a brush or some other small tool to clean up 8 square meters of ground. I tried to put as much as information as on the back of the tracks into the excel. Now i need your help guys as there is 0 info except the producer on the back of the trains and i have literally 0 knowledge on what these are could you help identify them for me? In addition is there a dictionary for layout slang i suppose ? for example i have no idea what rr cars are and cant find anything about them on the internet. I am in love with the big red steamtrain i can certainly tell its my favourite.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

Excel sheet of the tracks i have at the moment.


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## VegasN (Mar 14, 2016)

Impressive collection


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Very nice. I like the DB locomotives. I came very close to buying a BR 232 Class with sound last night.

No one had any passenger cars for the locomotive.


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## DennyM (Jan 3, 2016)

Very nice collection you have there Hudini.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

In process of weathering one of the diesels.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

*I am back*

My old phone had broken down so i could not update at all. For 7 months i had to survive on a nokia with a 1mpx camera but this week i have finally bought a new one. Back to sharing pics on this dusty thread  Recently i have weathered the Gullfiber car i am not convinced i like this method of weathering but its my first try so maybe it will evolve in something more pleasing when i gain some experiences in weathering with oils.


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## Steamfan77 (Jan 28, 2011)

Welcome back Hudini. I’ve used weathering powders like Pan Pastels. Less messy, and if you don’t like it, wipe them off and try again.


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## PoppetFlatsRR (Jul 29, 2018)

Weathering isn't something that I have tried to tackle yet. The work looks very professional and real. Keep the photos coming sir.. You guys amaze me!!!!


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

I think the weathering looks great. It is a bit heavy, but that's the thing about weathering (in modeling and prototype as well), the level of "distress" on cars and locos can go from complete rust-bucket to new paint in any given consist.
.


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## Hudini (Nov 11, 2017)

I love to over weather all my models never went towards the realism/accuracy of real life just what i found pleasant to the eye. Small update now i have finally time from studies because of the virus. They still are a work in progress.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Very nice work.


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