Pavements

[pete]

Good afternoon everyone, what would you say is a good material to use for pavements in front of shops and houses so that you can have the step down on to the road.
I have a couple of pieces of very thin board, which came out of the back of an MFI kitchen draw and the thickness looks just about right, what do you think please ? Be kind, I am a complete novice LOL.

Pete:)

[TWICK9]

Hi Pete, the modern curbstones vary around 6" to 9" higher than the road surface which in your scale is 2mm to 3mm, but they can vary quite a bit. Regards, Brian.

[pete]

Thanks for that Brian.
My layout does feature a small town, with the main shopping street and side streets with two cul de sacs. I am using Skaledale buildings which I do like, also it has a tall fence and a road in to the goods depot, which is used by my collection / fleet of British Railways lorries, a mix of Classix and Base toys.

Pete

[travellingmatt]

One thing to remember about roads is that they are not flat, - they slope down towards the sides, so though the kerb is anything up to 9" above the gutter, it may only be level with the centreline of the road.

The simplest solution (whcih I have considered myself but not needed to use yet) may be to cut a template out of thin plastic, such as plastikard, and then lay down a layer of plaster or polyfilla and slide the card along the road, so that it touches down on the underlying board in the gutters, and this will form both the kerbs and the road camber in one process. A quick rub over with sandpaper when (very) dry, and you are done. If the road comes out wiggly, then lay down a strip of wood or plastic along one edge to use as a guide.

Matt