Old Florida Brick Street

This post is the first of several detailing how I built my diorama for the Walthers National Model Railroad Build Off 2022 (nmrbo22 in the tags).  In this installment, I show how I built the brick street.

When I decided that I needed to have a brick street on my diorama I began searching for options on how to make one.  Walthers sells a plastic kit with injection-molded segments that looks pretty good, but then you've got to deal with section joints - not impossible, but not how I wanted to go.  Also, it's pretty hard to get the crown of the street looking realistic.  Brick texture sheets in plastic and laser-cut material are also available but present similar challenges.

Here's a prototype image of the look I was going for.  This image in general was a great source of inspiration for the overall look of the diorama, with a streetcar track added of course:

Finding no ready-made solution, I looked into making my own.  First I tried hand-embossing brick using a paintbrush ferrule with the bristles removed and bent into a crude rectangle.  The material is DAS clay and the girder rail is simply two rails with one laid sideways up against the web of the other.  This is the result:

This wasn't half bad, but the "bricks" looked more weathered and rounded, like rough stones.  The girder rail looked okay but again was too large and urban for my early 'teens setting.  This technique was also a lot of work and my carpal tunnel nerves were not happy after just this small test piece!  So, I ordered a 3D printed brick roller from Rail-N-Scale on Shapeways.  Here is the result of that first test (you may want to open link in a new tab for a better view):

MUCH finer detail; almost too fine, but I'd rather err in that direction than to be too chunky.  No special rail needed - this is code 83 flex.  Using the tool as it came from the maker was awkward, so I followed Martin's (Marklin of Sweden) advice and made a roller arm.  I used a cheap detail paint roller from the hardware store, all of $3.00.  The smaller roller with the ridges is for street track while the wider one on the handle is for making plain brick texture.

While the DAS clay comes in a nice terra cotta color, I wanted a dark, over-fired red and blue-black color scheme for the bricks based on existing historic brick streets in Florida.  Google "The Old Brick Road" and you'll see a surviving example of an early Florida highway.  Here's what I came up with on my test sample:

And here's how it looked on the diorama after all the scenery was in place.  There's a defined edge but as you can see, the dusty sand has found its way up onto the street in places, especially at the intersection with the dirt road.  This image was not submitted to the contest primarily because of the background - the street just drops off into nothing behind the streetcar.  However, note the camber of the road - something that would have been very challenging to do with styrene sheet or other brick textured material.

Final thoughts on the tool and technique; the tool is worth it but it takes practice to use and patience to let the clay rest before texturing.  The fine texture means mistakes such as drifting or over-marking the texture aren't as visible unless you look closely or the light catches the brick detail just right.  Will I use this tool again?  Absolutely.  There is no finer-scale brick texture out there unless you're willing to draw your own and have it laser cut (as Tim Warris did for his Bronx Terminal).  In fact, it has me rethinking the paving on my Pine Branch Park street scenes.

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