Howdy,
Making some sidewalks in HO, I have the height of the sidewalk from the road at about .08 with the two .04 styrene sheets stacked and glued. (it is what I had) But I want to add a curved curb. I have some quarter round styrene but I lost the package. What size quarter round do you guys suggest?
The curb height should match the top of the sidewalk.
You could take some square stock, and sand/shape the curb side, rounding it off a little.
Mike.
My You Tube
Hi Frank, I scribed the curb into my .080 PVC board sidewalks and lightly broke the corner with sandpaper.
Regards, Peter
So you did not use quarter round. Many compliments on how your sidewalk and street look. What color did you use to paint them? I know that weather and environment have a lot to do with color, but i'd like to know yours...
Frank, Pardon me for not replying sooner and thanks for the compliments. No quarter round.
Sadly the paint used for the sidewalks are out of production; a mixture of Floquil SP Gray, Concrete and aged Concrete. The street (which shows darker to the naked eye) was sprayed with Rust-oleum light grey primer. The painted sidewalks and street were weathered a la Kathy Millatt with an AK pigments wash, 2 parts Smoke, 1 part Dark Earth, 1 part City Dirt to 1oz distilled water & a wee bit of dish soap to break surface tension. After water dries the pigments are sponged around into the nooks and crannies. Sneak up with the wash applications to desired hue.
Peter,
how did you sand the done the curve for the driveway in the picture you sent?
Frank,
Started with small files, round, half-round & flat, finished up with sandpaper. Practiced on scrap pieces first. Snuck up on the slope and contours with fine cut files, leaving enough material to sand smooth.
Nice work Peter! I also create curbs by scribing the edge of my styrene sidewalks. I made a nice scribing tools from an old vernier caliper. I carefully ground down the outside of the top jaw to get a sharp scribing blade without disturbing the inside face of the jaw. This allows the caliper to still be used to measure objects. I set the caliper to the desired scribing width, set the unmodified jaw against the edge of the styrene, then draw the sharpened jaw along the face of the styrene to scribe the curb. This tool is very useful for scribe and snap styrene cutting, especially when you need perfectly parallel edges.
After painting the road surfaces, I make my gutters by first laying down a strip of painter's tape atop the road surface about 10 scale inches from the curb. I next apply a thin bead of caulk along the joint between the curb and road surface and smooth it with my finger. Finally, I paint the sidewalks, curbs and gutters using a weathered concrete color (mixed from cheap craft paints) and pull up the painter's tape.
Hornblower
There is nothing wrong with scracth-building your own sidewalks and curbs, Lord knows I have scracth-bulit many things that were not ready made in the hobby since joining in HO 1950. I would just like to point out that Walthers cornerstone series kits, makes eactly what We are speaking about here, for those who do not know. I personally have purchased many of their kits to go along with the brick streets on My layout. All you have to do is glue and paint:
https://www.walthers.com/concrete-curbs-sidewalks-kit
Take Care!
Frank
hornblower old vernier caliper
Thanks Hornblower, Vernier calipers and dividers sure do come in handy, also a machinist or combination sqare scribe. I used a circle template for the corner curves and curbs, and a french curve for curved sidewalks.
For a little variety sheet and strip styrene for concrete curbed asphalt sidewalks and earth filled boulevards.