What do You do with MTH Building Sidewalks

I cut a sixteenth of an inch off all the way around the sidewalk base

I take all of the sidewalks off and mount the buildings on 1/8" MDF. If the buildings have tabs or posts like MTH buildings have I drill holes or cut slots to accept then. This locates 

the building and allows them to sit flush with the MDF.

Pete

I'm still at the 'what should I do with the MTH building sidewalks' phase myself.  I did put the buildings down as is on the same surface, 2" foamboard, as everything else.  It doesn't look too bad from above but as you can see from this picture there's quite a difference between the MTH sidewalks on the right, and cork material I used on the left.

I'm leaning towards pulling up the MTH buildings and countersinking the area underneath, to approx. level as on the left.  Not a priority at the moment as other areas need more attention.

Have you looked at real sidewalks.  Where I live they replaced the sidewalk on one side of the street and the new sidewalk didnt match up with the old.

I use 1/8" (6 scale inches) Masonite for my sidewalks (and under all my buildings). Remove the MTH sidewalks, tabs on the bottom of buildings, and lighting. All interior lighting has been replaced with LED's.

jackson

I've left mine.  I've been to many a places where the sidewalks are at all different levels as you walk down the street.

I just cut into the sound board... and place buildings into the hole. 

I decided to use the MTH sidewalks.  I first paint them with a flat aged concrete color to remove the shiny finish.  Then where I mate them with other buildings I use the right height MDF and paint it with the same paint.  Lastly I raise my roadway so that the curb height is correct.

In the picture you can see a couple MTH buildings with painted bases, then an Ameritown and a Woodland Scenics, followed by another MTH.

Thanks Frank & Bob.

I have Home Depot mix me an aged concrete color in a flat latex.  After I paint it, I brush black and gray chalks over it and rub them off with a rag.  I use striping tape that I get at the LHS, it probably designed for model airplanes.  I rub chalk over it too to tone it down a little.  Sometimes I like to use a Sharpie marker to draw tar marks and oil spills on it.  Hope this helps.

You didn't ask but I also paint all my buildings with a mortar colored paint and then wipe off the excess.  That not only adds the mortar in the bricks, but gives the brick a flat subdued color and ties everything together.  Just removing the shine of the plastic adds a lot to the realism in my opinion. 

Art

Wowwwww that is very nice looking, great work. 

Chugman

You do a great job in blending the buildings and sidewalks together.

They look much better after you re-finish them.

I agree, Art takes the prize in making the MTH sidewalks look very realistic. Painting them to remove the shine and fabricating the correct height of the roadway looks very professional. 

Chugman, how wide are your streets? I think I've made an error only making my main street 7 inches wide. With the 1/43 cars, they have to be really careful or they take off the side mirrors of any parked cars.

I really appreciate all the comments and pictures. Amazing work and I like that there are many options to consider!

Thanks ALL, Terry

I cut out to lower the MTH gas station

Clem

I remove all brands of sidewalks and make my own from 3/16" hardboard. Take a look!

I made my streets 10" wide or 2 1/2" per lane.

Clem - I really like your dropping the MTH gas station down so it's flush with the street.  I plan to do that with mine too.

Art

Sidewalks and...After reading all these posts, I decided for the one building in the picture below, I really needed to remove the MTH base - I had looked at doing this twice and saw too many wires and quite a bit of other electronic equipment screwed to the base so I passed until all your posts.

It didn't really take all that much time, but there was one wire I couldn't figure out. It went to the Spirits sign diagonally attached to the building...well, until I took it apart, that sign wasn't lit and the MTH website didn't list it as a lighted sign. I pushed the plug in a little further, turned on the power and both the interior lights as well as the sign lit right up.

Unintended consequences with a great outcome! Thanks again for all the comments and pictures!  Terry

Clifford, that's an amazing street scene. Texture, lines, all of it looks great.

Beautiful sidewalks, Clifford. Makes a very professional looking scene.

All of you guys do really good work...

I agree Clifford, that is a very good looking scene.

Art

No offense to anybody else, but Chugman and Clifford...wow, great jobs! 

EastonO,

I'm after one of those wine stores

To Chris D, simply use a sharp #2 pencil and draw the "expansion joints" . I use 3/16" Masonite, painted with Rustoleum sand texture paint. Let it dry, scuff or lightly sand to dull it, draw curb lines 1/8" from edge, add seams about every 2". Then draw your " expansion joints to your liking. I chose 1 " square, looks realistic even up close! Add water drains as needed with brown sharpie to simulate rusty cast iron. Good luck!

We used 1/2" mdf to make bases for the Woodland Scenic buildings to match the height of the MTH base. We used 1/4" mdf and made roads which we painted and striped. Painted the mdf bases gray to match color. There's still a 1/4" curb which istechnically too high, but it looks alot better than the 1/2" MTH.

I take them off completely and use MDF for curbing and roads. While they look nice its hard to match the rest of the MDF sidewalks plus I want to add lighting and trees and things to my sidewalks and the MTH sidewalks makes it tough.

Those MTH sidewalks are way too high!  Take them off.

The enormous sidewalks have been a real turnoff and have resisted building that include them completely. I understand that in some cases, such as operating buildings, they are necessary, but in many cases they are not. I would think MTH building would be even more popular sans sidewalk. I also think so many here have done an amazing job of mitigating the issue.

I just leave mine alone because I want to maintain the integrity of the model itself, although I can certainly appreciate modifications done to improve realism.  Just like Plasticville stuff.  I won't paint or change the pieces (even though they aren't really that realistic to begin with), simply to preserve the original classic appearance.  My biggest problem with MTH buildings is their lighting--they are too dim in many instances compared to LEDs or even conventional bulbs that one finds in pole lamps, etc.  The MTH barn, for example,  has lights inside but I have to turn up the wattage to get an acceptable level of illumination which causes the other bulbs on the circuit to burn too brightly.  For what one has to spend on these plastic stamped-out models, I would think that better illumination would be built-in.

GG-1fan; agree completely.

I gotta go with Chugmans solution with the exception of the gas station.

That needs to be dug into the surface to allow cars driving in and out smooth transition. I may go half and half there. I may trim the sidewalk height but I won't remove it.

GG-1Fan

I would point out something as an old former farm boy.

Older Barns are typically very poorly lit IF Lit AT ALL.

Modern Barns are probably better but for the time when Barns were common they were lit with a oil lamp or two hanging in a very large space.

Not more than enough to keep from walking into things.

Those oil lamps eventually got replaced by a bare 60 to 100 watt bulb hanging in the same place.

Still very poor lighting.

Also, the Barn was only lit if someone was in there working, not for too long in most cases.

Sadly they are all high to match the operating car wash, diner, and fire station dimensions. The curb and walks would have been fantastic a bit smaller.

I totally agree that barns are poorly lit and I'm not even a farm boy myself.  We have a lot of Amish barns around here, and, of course, they do not use electricity; but even the "English" barns are dim, too.  My point is that IF someone wants a bit more illumination or even less, that is an adjustment that the consumer makes, not the manufacturer of the barn.  I say that we should have the option, depending on what WE want to achieve, and so I would suggest that MTH provide better lighting.  Actually, the problem I have is balancing the lighting in the barn with other lighting.  If the other lighting is too high and is on the same circuit, then when I cut down the wattage, the barn light is almost non-existent.  The bulb wattage should be more compatible.  I went to the TCA York show a year ago and saw a train layout, a part of which featured that barn.  It was fantastic and prompted me to buy one for myself.  The model railroad club member had brighter lights than what you might consider normal.  But not only was the bottom illuminated, but also the top.  He apparently changed the lighting for that purpose.  Inside you could see straw and farmers working in the barn through the open door--a real nice touch.  But if the illumination was not there, all that detail would be lost.

Yup, that is a custom upgrade, the lighting would be part of it.

Mine will remain stock, except for weathering to fade it a lot.