LION posted this pic on the Trains Transit forum, but thought he would post it here as well since it gives a modeler’s perspective of what a sidewalk might look like.
First off, you do NOT need to put a LION in the tree unless you happen to like LIONS or perhaps have an aversion to postal persons.
It is a wide sidewalk, wider than some streets in lesser cities. This sidewalk is in New York, and is photographed from the passenger platform on the elevated subway in the Bronx. If you look at the base of the lamp post, you will see the shadow of me and my camera.
The tree has cobblestones around it to allow for the growth of the tree. As the tree gets bigger some of the cobbles will be removed to allow space for the trunk. Sometimes cities use a metal grate for this that allows pedestrians to walk smoothly, yet it as rings that can be broken off as the tree grows larger.
Lines, we all know about, cracks in the pavement we all know about, even stains on the concrete (as per behind the lamp pole) we may even think of. But what about all of that bubble gum. That is really an amazing quantity of bubble gum on the sidewalk.
In more plebeian places upon the planet the pedestrian path would not provide as prominent a promenade as here in the greatest city in the world. Indeed in newer cities (Grand forks or Fargo comes tom mind) sidewalks are non-existent to vestigial at best. People there are expected to drive from one parking lot to the next.
I thought those spots were exposed aggregate. That is a lot of gum. Come to think of it. How would one model exposed aggregate concrete? It is used in a lot of applications these days.
I would say the gum is about right for midtown or lower broadway. But we keep the front of my office very clean. In fact we do not allow smoking on the sidewalk around the building.
I wonder how one would model that sidewalk. Wouldn’t be too hard to create in Photoshop and print something out on cardstock. But would that be too flimsy for long time use. For sidewalks made of styrene or plaster or something fairly durable, perhaps Microscale could make bubble gum crud decals.
Obviously a New York sidewalk. Here, on the outskirts of Sin City, the code only calls for 36 inches curb to (crushed rock) ‘lawn.’ OTOH, in my modeled place/time ‘sidewalks’ were dirt-surfaced paths, not paved.
As for bubble gum, how far away is the nearest school? And, do the students use the platform as a launch pad for distance-spitting contests?
(I observed such contests, but didn’t participate, when I was traveling on a NYCTA Student Subway Pass.)
Chuck (Ex-Noo Yawka modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
See my comments in this thread about painting concrete. It involves holding a can of spray paint 3 or 4 feet above the pavement, giving a few quick bursts, and letting the paint particles settle onto the model giving a speckled look. I use a couple of shades of brown. The gray comes from a wash of India ink and alcohol.
The pic below is for a road surface made from Depron molds. If you want a smoother surface for sidewalks, you can use craft foam to make the molds, or just paint styrene sheet. The painting technique remains the same.
Here’s a quick test using smooth plaster. The lines were just scribed in using a small brad nail chucked into a pin vise. This would be suitable for sidewalks in good condition such as a downtown business district. I’ll post a pic later of an old broken sidewalk I did using individual slabs.
I probably should have sanded the left side straight.
I’ve worked with concrete for 40 years of my life, with all kinds of finishes, and what you are seeing is exposed agg., or a terrazzo type finish where the agg. is exposed by grinding the finish. Look between the pole and the tree, and you’ll see a patch, that isn’t exposed agg., and the messy smears the guys left on the existing sidewalk. I’ve tried to model it. I suppose you could try a stiff brush, and kind of dimple different colors on the surface, or like what was suggested before, with the photo editing and printing, and maybe gluing that to cardboard. You can also find different types of building material searches on the web, too. I have a folder full I used on a 1/2" scale building model once.
In an old thread I experimented with printing a concrete texture for track running through pavement. It would probably work better in N scale where details are so small they can be suggested by printed texture rather than physical texture.
I think that looks good. I remember that thread, or seeing your picture before. Actually, in my previous post, I just a mistake I made. I meant to say “I’ve never tried to model it”. OOps!
I have 2 tracks in my transloading yard that I surrounded with “blacktop”, including between the tracks, actually drywall mud painted to look like blacktop. It came out ok, but lots of work making sure the opening was good for the wheel flanges, and that my locos would run on it ok.
I used that way, a few times,with the dry-wall mud,I didn’t bother to try to make the clearance by hand… I waited until the mud started to set and took a old car truck with pizza cutter wheels and run it across the tracks by hand,a few times and I had instant,clearance…
