sidewalks

[nik_n_dad]

Hello.

What have some of you done to create sidewalks and curbs on your n-scale (downtown parts) layouts?  I've seen several brands and types of sidewalks with a variety of thicknesses (including veritable waist-high at scale heights).

Additionally, what have some of you done to deal with the variety in thickness that most of the buildings have for their bases or attached sidewalks?  Tomytec has very tall sidewalk/bases, Kato has a thinner but still very thick base, Downtown Deco buildings are insandley tall, etc.

As always, any help or suggestions is appreciated.

Mike & Nik

[keiman]

Green Max sidewalks were used on the original Keitown, will defo use them again.
Because I concentrate on tram based stuff, my roads are built up to track level anyway.
Using Foamcore and styrene sheet to get everything at the same height.

[Mudkip Orange]

Japanese backstreets don't have sidewalks, the curb face is at the building line and white paint delineates a narrower traveled way than the full width.

[nik_n_dad]

A bit of background...  Nik's layout is a bit eclectic- The era spans steam (1950's) through high-speed bullet trains (2011) and everything in between.  The geography spans Japan, the desert Southwest, Midwest and several other places.  It's urban, industrial and small town.  Mostly I'm having trouble with sidewalks in the urban part.

Thanks for the tip on Greenmax sidewalks.  I haven't seen those.

I'm also curious if people remove the bases from the buildings to avoid having the sidewalk look more like a funhouse staircase, if so what do you do about any interior detail and how do you "attach" the building without the base.

TIA

[keiman]

I bought mine from Plaza,just checked their Ebay site - none in stock at the moment.
Personally prefer to leave buildings on their bases.

[rankodd]

The greenmax sidewalks seem to be one of those perpetually out of stock items, unfortunately. I picked some up when I first got started collecting the GM kits, and it was over a year and a half before I could get another one :(

[yakumo381]

I build my own by outlining the edges using edge on sections of thickish card then infilling with a filler such as "polyfilla" or similar gypsum based products and then rubbing down smooth with wet & dry paper followed by coloring with powder paints. This way I match the sidewalk / pavement into the height of the base of the building. Also us the same method around the base of the building itself - outlining with card sections - so it can be lifted out afterwards. Find this helpfull when vaccuming the layout as all buildings can be lifted off for individual cleaning.

This also works for roads - as you can get a better flow to them and create gentle gradients - as well giving more variation in vertical surfaces in different areas.