"interlocking foam floor tile" Topic

I have seen many varieties of these over time used in games, and upon a perusal of the internet, there are scores of different companies and styles, so wondered if anyone had experience in which ones are good for tabletop gaming. I was thinking of modeling on top of them or using them for underlying support for a canvas terrain mat. Thickness, material type, size, price, and if you can get the thin edge piece that corrects the jagged sides that result are some of the factors I think.

I think that aside from color they are all basically the same. Every one I have ever seen is the same dense foam and about 1" thick. In black from the hardware store, in bright colors for children, but otherwise the same. What would be their purpose if you just lay a mat over them? Most people flock them to use *as* the mat and they can make a variety to put together in novel ways.

What sort of paint is best for them? Is priming necessary?

I applied craft paint directly to mine, using a wetted natural sponge. I mixed three plus colors, while still wet, to help them blend a bit.

They typically come in a dark gray color, smooth on one side, textured on the other. Sizes vary from maker to maker, so try to buy them all at once, from the same company, same lot, if possible. They will come with edge pieces which will give a smooth edge, but be sure to paint the edge pieces the same as the main pieces! See my example here: TMP link Cheers!

You can also find 12x12 inch tiles in the toy section. You will need to glue the center piece in.

I was thinking if I had a canvas terrain cloth over these foam tiles, it would fix any irregularity from tables pushed together that were not perfectly level. Also it might be possible to push pins into the cloth to make it adhere better to the subsurface which in this case would be the tiles.

harbor freight has them and they are 1/2 inch thick.
link

I've seen these used as a base with a cloth pinned over with hills made of cushion fill pinned all rouind to create a real looking shape, the trees, hedges etc had a pin at the bottom to fix into the foam, the table I saw done like this was very realistic and looked excellent.

If you paint them with craft or latex, how durable is the paint along the joints? Does it peel off when you disassemble or put back together?

I have sets of tiles that are painted (for naval games), have terrain built directly onto them (using the caulk-and-flock method) and some that are plain to serve as a base for pinned canvas battlecloths.

- The thickness can vary a lot from one manufacturer to the next. If you're going to use pinned terrain, get the thickest ones you can find, or plan on using a double layer of tiles under the cloth.

- Paint or caulk will adhere much better to the back (the dull, non-patterned side), even without priming, since it's open celled on that side.

- Paint will wear off the edges as the tiles are assembled/disassembled. Unpainted edges in dark, neutral colors are pretty unobtrusive, so painting them is unnecessary. I now use dark grey tiles for anything that will be exposed, and save the brightly colored ones for use under cloth terrain.