One of the most challenging elements of an urban layout, and one that’s important to get right, is the pavement. You’re dealing with a lot of subtle color patterns and feathered edges. The street behind the track is probably the most difficult model to build on the extension module. The sidewalks curve to the side for one thing. Not obvious in the photo is that the height of the sidewalk ramps down to zero as it gets closer to the crossing.
The street and sidewalks (including ramps) are built off the layout on my workbench from .060″ styrene. I then laminate a photo of an actual street from The Central Manufacturing District using Super77 to the styrene. I added a few dots of thick CA to prevent lift and curling in the years ahead. (To get the image, I stood on the hood of my rental car and shot downward. That didn’t gather a single side glance from the locals. They’re used to craziness in LA!)
Here’s the finished piece. I won’t mount it permanently to the layout for a while since being able to remove it gives me more flexibility while working on the surrounding areas. The image is printed on gloss paper. I then add five or six very light layers of Dullcote applied a few minutes apart. If you lay the Dullcote on too thickly, you’ll get a frosting effect.
Here’s the base image I started with if anybody wants to use it. I photoshopped it so it would fit this specific location.