Sidewalks and cobblestone streets

Your may want to consider MiniArt's cobblestone street which is quite thin. This is what it looks like with the Verlinden sidewalk

As far as a building just use strips of wood that are a bit thinner than the sidewalk under the walls and you've got it.

The sinplest way is to build up the different levels with basswood...stack it up higher where you need it high, like the sidewalk...and it comes in straight strips so you can get a nice straight kerb without much effort. And seal it with something waterproof like auto primer before you put any gloopy stuff on it.

If you want to get into the finer details, then you will have to consider the crown in the centre of the road and the slope of the sidwalk towards the gutter. When you really look at it, nothing is flat, so keep that in mind and your groundwork will look a lot better.

In a 1/35 Gernan city dirorama I want to make the sidewalks and builings higher than a road surface. 

 The LHS suggested polystyrene over basswood.  Both would go over sealed plywood and have styrofoam core rubble piles in and around the buildings.  How does polystyrene work compared to basswood?  How thick should the basswood OR the polystyrene be to make the sidewakl above the road?  .  Also,  what kind of adhesives/glues would you recommend to hold the basswood or polystyrene on the plywood.    What adhesive/glue should hold the  the styrofoam on.

Thanks for your input,

Leddy

I use plaster over primed basswood to make street details. Plaster has a nice porosity which takes very dilute washes and can look a lot like concrete or stone more easily than styrene in my experience. I have used both wood and styrene, and its really what works best for your project. try them out and see. The best way to find out is to experiment yourself before committing to the main diorama . Most curbs I have measured are between 3-6" high, but you need to research the twon where the diorama is set to ensure that you get the right height and right pattern of cobblestones. It differes a lot from town to town and suburb to suburb. If you want to glue plastic onto wood try liquid nails. I have never used styrofoam in a diorama so I can't offer any advice there.

Check oyut my Fotki  photo album and you can see a lot of ways to model urban groundwork.

Try using thin Dry Wall, Wet one side & peal the paper off. Then carve in what ever stone you want.