When I planned this layout I intended to build the scene on both sides next to the bridge exactly like the prototype. On the right side would be the cinder block backside of a warehouse and in front of that the little (ugly) cinderblock Blissville "tower". Because I had not made any mock-ups for these structures yet and the area right of the bridge looked so empty, a few days ago I put the two structures that I had already built for my Plymouth Street layout there. They looked so good that I spontaneously decided that they will stay there. With a small dead end street with cobbles and cracked asphalt patches it will make a nice scene.
When I planned Plymouth Street I looked around to find the best method to model such a street and though it sounds like a lot of boring, mind numbing work, using plaster and scribing all the details seemed to give the best results. So today I tried my hand at the small 14" x 3" dead end street. I was surprised that carving out all the details took only about 2 1/2 hours and I think the result is worth every minute of it. When I took the pics the plaster was still wet and the street and the sidewalk still have to be painted, but it looks very promising already.
That is how I scribed the cobble stones and the asphalt patches: When the plaster felt hard but was still wet (I added a little black paint when I mixed the plaster – that is why it looks so dark), I drew the outlines of the asphalt patches with a pencil and then sribed along those lines with the tip of a scalpel. Then I started scribing the lines of cobbles (spacing .080") using a ruler.
Next I brushed the area thoroughly whith a toothbrush to remove all chipped off plaster and to round the edges of the stones.
Then I cut out the single stones, each about .160" long.
After using the toothbrush again it looked like this: