Going through the current issue (Dec) a lot faster than usual, since I can’t focus on anything but the election results…
Here’s several things I posted to rec.models.railroad, on usenet, back in the early nineties, that are always good.
bricks: I remember reading, when I was about 12 or 13 (yes, there were still mammoths running around…) that the actual color of good (not cheap, clinker) bricks was Venetian red. I used to be able to buy that as a model color, but that may be gone.
roads and rooftops: I’ve seen a lot of things, from sandpaper to styrene painted… I have more road surface and rooftop material than I’ll ever need, and it’s the most realistic there is, and I paid under $20 for it: go to a hardware store and buy the thinner roll of tar paper. It’s about 100’ or so, a yard wide. You can also repair real roofs with it.
Cutting foam: a 14 or 12 gauge piece of copper wire, about a foot long, replacing the tip in your old Weller soldering gun works really well (smells nasty, though).