Sidewalks/curbing

[ezdays]

I'm about to lay down a few streets in the Town of Santa Maria and was wondering what other people used to make their sidwalks and curbing. I've got a few of Kalmbach books on scenery, but none show laying down sidwalks They talk about using sculpturemold or plaster for roads, but I would think that would be a bit tedious for cement sidewalks and curbing and almost impossible to get smooth enough.

Don

 

[Blake]

Evergreen Styrene makes sheets that have squares of various sizes. Decide which size squares you want, then cut strips out of the sheet. The sheets are .040" thick, so you can use .040" square strips (also available from Evergreen) for your curbs. Here is the URL to their website.

Evergreen Scale Models Website

 

[Matthyro]

Don, once again cerealboard does it for me. The thickness is just right so the curb is a normal step for the LPBs. I scribe it to make the cracks that are normally seen in a sidewalk.

 

[billk]

Robin, do you scribe it before or after the cardboard has been painted? Is there anything special that needs to be done when scribing cardboard?

 

[ezdays]

Blake, Robin,

Thank you both for a quick response. I was wondering if getting a clean edge using cerealboard would be a problem. I guess I'm going to have to get my wife to eat more cereal so I can practice. Me, well I'm a ham and eggs kinda guy. In the meantime, I've left a message at Evergreen to see where I can find some of their sheet product.

Don

 

[Matthyro]

Billk, I scribe before painting. Some of the scribing fills in with paint but it gives a realistic look to it. I use one of those knives with the break off blades sold in hardware stores Don. I use an 18inch steel ruler to guide the knife and with that combo I get clean duts. You should have one of those cutting boards too. I make cuts that go about half way through the cardboard. Sorry I don't have a picture of it as the sidewalk was on my previous layout and haven't done any so far on my new layout.
I see evergreen products at the train store I go to but find it is quite expensive.
Don, you don't need to wait for cereal board because you can use poster board too. I get two sheets of poster board for a buck at the local Dollar store

 

[Wyomingite]

Hi Guys,

In my loco Ace Hardware store I found rolls of cork just right for making sidewalks. Its also not expensive.

Ron

 

[screwysquirrel]

AMI Is my choice

the AMI roadbed is perfect for just about everything:

Paint some concrete gray, then when its dry, fold it back and forth, and cracks will appear -- its just tall enough to make a curb.

 

[Drew1125]

Here's what I like to do Don...
I use old kitboxes (basically the same as a cereal box) to represent paved streets...I use matting board (you can get this at craft stores, or anyplace that does picture framing) to make a base for the structure, leaving enough along the front of the structure to represent a sidewalk...(5 or 6 scale feet wide) In other words, sidewalks & structure bases are all one piece, planted on top of the street.
The matting board is a little thicker than the cardboard used for the street, giving me about a 6 or 8in curb...(N scale)
Hope this helps...

 

[ezdays]

Yeah Charlie, excellent example. And thanks again to everyone. I'm sure I'm not the only one here to learn something from you guys.

I was thinking that cereal boxes were a bit on the thin side, I measured them at .020, or around 3" scale. Two layers, or thicker material would be better. I'm heading to town this morning and will stop by the 99 cent store, or a Wal Mart that has a fairly decent craft dept.

Don

 

[SD90]

Nice work Charlie, do you have any pictures of the rest of your layout?

 

[Drew1125]

Thanks SD90!
The photo above was taken on a diorama.
You can see pics of my layout in this thread...
http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5304&perpage=15&pagenumber=9

p.s. This is a long thread, & features quite a few N scale layouts of other Gauge members as well!

 

[MCL_RDG]

Nice shot Charlie.

The kind of look and feel I'm after for a section of my railroad. Have you been to Manayunk??? Maybe not, the street where I lived had bars (taprooms) on all four corners as well as the next street.

Nice feeling though, like home. Thanks.

Mark

 

[stary]

I've been to Mayniunk (sp?); my brother and his wife live there. That's also the look I'm after for my layout, but without the hills. I see that you're also in Pennsylvania, have you ever been to Bridgeport? It's like Manyunk, but without the hills. Anyway, that's where I live, and I want more of that look.