"CORK FLOORING: Wargamer Demand" Topic

Ok. Maybe I'm way off here but, with all the excellent response to Matakishi's use of cork floor tiles . . .

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QUESTION:

Have any smart wargaming terrain manufacturers thought of including this material in among their stock (or even on eBay)? If so, who and where?

Going through typical online floor tile distributors is murder. They want giant-sized orders only.

Just curious, since I have a feeling there's a demand for the product among our people. Plus, many seem to think it is the same thing as the cheap stuff they see at Walmart, which seems NOT the case.

So, am I crazy or is there a huge demand for it here?

CC

Nope.
It is readily available and after I add a suitable mark up it would be too expensive.

Maybe it is different in the USA?

Michael.
angelbarracks.co.uk

Hmmm. I've gone to six floor tile stores in my area (Houston) and have not found a single one that carries it.

They all tell me to try online. However, when I do go online, everything is sold in huge bulk amounts.

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I can't possibly be the only person on this side of the pond (US) going through that situation. Or am I?

CC

I was looking for Cork tiles in B&Q yesterday (big DIY shop!) and was told by an assistant in there they have never sold the stuff.

I also went to my local Houston Lowe's and Home Depot (which are big here in the US) and they say they don't carry it and to try elsewhere, including online.

I guess

CC

Have a look here CC – link

I can find places in the US.. but not the UK :(

Try Stasples….marketed as pin boards

Nope different density, I have tried

From what Matakishi seems to indicate, the cork flooring tiles are NOT the same as the pin board material which, when cut, leaves a ragged edge:

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Am I wrong here?

CC

CC:

Here is a place selling cork flooring tiles in 12" squares for about $3.50 USD each.

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I believe this is the stuff.

Note that the stuff sold for bulletin boards and cork boards is NOT dense enough to stand up to our use and does not cut well.

Mark Severin
Owner, Scale Creep Miniatures
scalecreep.com

Last year everytime I went into Poundsaver (or whatever its called this week) they had shelves full of the stuff… but typically I didn't need it then.. :(

What about some of the fibre board underlay for wooden flooring ?

that looks cheap, easily available and it would soak up a PVA mix to set like concrete.

I found that the DIY and carpet shops have stopped selling this as it not fashionable anymore.

After hunting around I found it in one of the generic low cost / clearance stores in Lincoln so picked up three packs and can say these are a lot stronger than the pin board I have at work.

Andrew
kings-sleep.blogger.com

Mark,

Online floor stores like the one you provide above have minimums. That one in specific has a 100 sq foot minimum, so I would have to buy at least $350 USD worth.

CC

Oooo found it in the UK.. Wickes DIY have it!

wickes.co.uk so a trip to Warrington for me tomorrow I think.

CC,

Go to Lumber Liquidators website. Order it there and pick it up at your local Lumber Liquidators outlet. I got mine from the one on the northwest part of Sam Houston Beltway. No shipping charge that way.

I have ordered some 2'x3' sheets from Jelinek Cork Company jelinek.com/rolls.htm before. Just a touch thinner than the British stuff. I was able to get about $40 USD worth which will last me a lifetime probably. (especially since I never seem to get back to the project it was intended for)

Here is a link to the order page for the sheets: link

I believe I went with the 1/8 and 1/4 inch sheets.

Sounds like the type of thing Litko could carry?

It looks like Lumber Liquidators has a location near Houston, if this is what you are looking for;
link

Andrew – B&Q in Lincoln (I'm guessing that you're talking about the UK!) definitely had corkboard until the summer. I bought a couple of packs of the untreated stuff there back in August (1ft squares, sold in packs of 9).

It would be disappointing to hear that they had stopped selling it – it's really useful stuff, and so much easier to work with than foamboard :(

I have found that the tanin discolours the building as it leaches through the paint

Same problem in South West Uk, no one sells it as flooring anymore in stores because "it's crap", I was told! On line only and certainly not at the prices Matakishi got it for, more like £1.00 GBP a tile for sealed. Wickes seems the best price.

Lumber Liquidators!

They will sell in small quantities. At least they did to me.

Search for them on-line, there may be a store near you.

You could have someone lasercut it, like Litko.

I imagine that would be very easy to do.

Wargames Illustrated are not using cork tiles for the current range of contruction articles.

They are now using a 6mm thick flooring underlay that is harder to cut but available. The material is from Floormaster but I'e not been to the store to see it and I have not got the first article that discussed the material.

I would be surprised to find that there was a significant demand for the material. I got a sample sometime back, and while it is easier to work with than most wood products, I much prefer the plastics and foams that I already used, even with respect to cost.

Both Hobby lobby and Walmart carry the product guys. 4 1'x1' squares for about 5 bucks. You can get 4-8 15mm buildings out of a single sheet.

Thanks,

John

I got some at Wal-Mart and some from AC Moore, the stuff at Wal-Mart was far cheaper, but crumbly, the stuff from AC Moore was $15 USD for 4 sheets, but far firmer and much nicer to work with. But then, 3x the price.

I spoke to the guy who is doing the Wargames Illustrated articles at the last Bristol show, he says its fairly cheap (but in big sheets that you will need to get cut down a bit) and similar to foam board but without the card outers…
Mick

I cannot find the cork or the Floormaster underlay in either B & Q or local shops here in Northern Ireland. I can find it on the Internet from England but that is not really suitable for a small, 'let's see how this works' order. Infuriatingly there used to be some lying around in the garage until a few years ago when it got deep sixed.

I did get some of the fibrous underlay material a few years ago but nothing ever came of it though I did thing it might be rather good for 6mm scale hills. I think it might be worth another look though.

I did play around with broken ceiling tiles after an excellent article on a model railway page. It is rather good for sedimentary type rocks for a cliff or outcrops of same.

klingsor are there any Wickes in NI as that's one of the few places I've found the tiles also check the poundshops as well.

I'm in the UK and have been unable to find head nor tail of the stuff in wilkos or Focus. I'll have to check Asda, as thats owned by Walmart. It looks like useful stuff, but I just can't find any of it.

Wow, lots of info here.

CC – After several failed attempts, I found the right cork tile at a local Big Lots (in the US). The good news is you can get the same tiles online too. Just so you can see it is the right texture/grain, here is are some photos of buildings I made in 28mm.

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picture

The tiles I used are Expo Cork Tiles (part # 70468) that are 12"x12"x3/16" thick (roughly 5mm thick). They are a little thicker than the 3mm tiles that Matakishi uses, but otherwise they are great.

Here are two location where you can buy them online.

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link

I hope that helps.

Whoops… and after having posted that I just noticed both sites say the tiles are discontinued and/or out of stock.

Sorry about that.

Damn, it looks like the only place I can find the same tiles is at Jackson Office Supply.

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There is mention of it on the Sanford Expo website, but no listing for where to buy it.

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CA,

Those "Expo Cork Tiles" you used really leave a nice straight edge when you cut them. Exactly the results I'm after.

Beautiful work!

I'm jealous.

CC

I get mine from Focus DIY, but I'm lucky that a small,near by, independent DIY store also sell cork tiles. Unfortunately I live in Arbroath. That's Scotland don't you know.

Alas there are no Wickes (that I know of) over here. Just the big chains (B & Q and Homebase) and smaller local shops – and fewer of those now.

However it has occurred to me that there are another couple of local shops that I have not checked yet so I will try telephoning them today.

There were some nicely done cork terrain pieces on:
leadpeople. blogspot. com/
Though I did think that the broken up compressed paper (I think) ceiling tiles might be even better for this because of their lamellar structure and greater thickness. Just break them up and if required give them a wash of a thin filler mix. In any case the pictures have made me eager to try this out for some smaller terrain features. The problem is I base most of my terrain on 6mm or thinner MDF so there is a time lag if I need to prepare any specially sized bases as it has to be cut on the bandsaw then sanded and varnished (on both sides of course). Fortunately when I am making bases I usually make more than I need so I have some ready for use – but strangely they never come in quite the right size. I think though this might be a good way of using up some of the more oddly shaped ones that have proved not to be terribly useful.

Push-come-to-shove couldn't you use foamcore? It's a little harder to work with, but it "would" work.

Those "Expo Cork Tiles" you used really leave a nice straight edge when you cut them. Exactly the results I'm after.

Beautiful work!

Thanks CC. That means alot coming from you. They were a lot of fun to make. I am in the process of making more buildings, but it is slow going due to other commitments.

I have also promised Bill a workshop article on the compound, but again it has been slow going.

Many thanks to Matakishi as thats where I got the idea in the first place. Cheers.

For those who still think "cork is cork", look at what happens when you try to cut straight edges on cork tiles sold at Walmart, Office Depot, etc.:

picture

Works great for ruins, but not for buildings that are supposed to be maintained.

CC

Sorry Dan. Count me in the cork is cork camp. I use a matt cutting pad underneath and a sharp exacto. I have had absolutely ZERO miscuts using the cork I got from Walmart. I have used it to make a 12" x 12" 54mm ruined building and 15 15mm adobe style buildings. I haven't had any issues what so ever. My buddy Cincinnatus has picked up some cork from Lumber Liquadators and hasn't really noticed much difference. He will bring a sample by for me to play with and I'll post here on any differences I find.

Thanks,

John

Cork supply in the UK?

Like others I could only find them in Wickes (I'm in Livingston), although there are only a small handful of them up here in Scotland. I had a spy check out the Stirling one only to report back they were out of stock. I blame those blooming wargamers ;-)

Had to get some from Wickes online in the end <£8 per pack.

John,

Please do let us know if there are any differences in the cuts.

From what everyone has said to me so far, the usual corkboard material does not allow for sharp edges, which means that it works ok for ruins, but may not for other projects.

Thanks.

CC

The cheap stuff may crumble more if you're not careful, but I've been playing with some and I'm able to get it to cut cleanly. The key is to make light cuts and take several passes, the same way you need to with foamcore.

I posted a bit about making a Matakishi style building from cheap cork tiles on my blog.

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