Help with Sidewalks in HO - Model Railroader Magazine

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.