styrofoam floorboards where to buy in uk?

[cram]

Hi, I'm looking to buy styrofoam floorboards to cover a gaming table that will be 5 ft wide by 7half ft long. Can someone suggest a uk supplier please?

I have a Knauf board I picked up years ago from Wicks that is 1200mm long by 500mm wide by 52.5mm depth which would be ideal but I can't seem to get these anymore!

Thanks for any help.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Homebase have a product that is 5mm Thick - it is sold as laminate flooring underlay and can be found in the laminate flooring aisle.

I think it is sold in packs of 10. Not sure of the actual size though.

I hope that this helps.

Tony

[cram]

Thanks for the suggestion, but its far to thin for what I want. It needs to be around 50mm to 60mm in its thickness.

[Captain Blood]

http://www.panelsystems.co.uk/products/modelling-foam

...are your best bet. You can get a box of boards for 60 quid or thereabouts.

Unfortunately Knaupf stopped making their 'space boards', which were a cheaper alternative.

[cram]

Thanks.

I had been considering using general polystyrene boards of the desired size. They are of course very light weight and not as tough, so I have been trying to think of a way I can add weight and a coating I could give them to add toughness! Any ideas?

[cram]

1200x600x50mm would be the size I'm looking at. A box of 6 would cost £110.40 with delivery added. Its more than I'd like to pay, but maybe its my only alternative.

maybe I should look at an alternative to styrofoam!

[MediumAl]

The surface of Polystyrene can be toughened by painting with latex masonry paint and working in some playpit sand, but it is just a surface treatment.

Al

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Thanks.

I had been considering using general polystyrene boards of the desired size. They are of course very light weight and not as tough, so I have been trying to think of a way I can add weight and a coating I could give them to add toughness! Any ideas?

My first gaming board was constructed from plain packing foam (white foam). I built a wooden frame oround it which was glued and screwed in place then covered the whole of the upper surface - the gaming surface with torn manilla envelopes glued in place with uPVA glue and then textured with coloured sawdust.

It has lasted over twenty years.

Tony

[katie]

EPS comes in a variety of densities. Packing foam is one of the lightest -- the heaviest forms are 2 or 3 times as dense and can be used in moderate structural uses; they more closely resemble balsa wood than the flakey padding added to TV sets.

One option could be to form a sandwich of 25mm HD EPS bonded between sheets of (say) 1mm HIPS and then surface that. This is the construction used for both the panelling in doors and cycling helmets, and it'll withstand quite heavy impacts while still being light and fairly cheap.

Don't buy modelling plastic sheet HIPS, that's a rip-off. You can get table-sized sheets for a few pounds from commercial suppliers. Likewise bulk EPS is cheap when bought from a producer directly.

[Svennn]

Have you looked at the Celotex boards in Wickes?

[Patrice]

In my gaming group we use cheap polystyrene boards, 120x60x3.2cm (and 60x60x3.2cm for complement).

The edges are soft and can be damaged with use. I tried to glue a layer of card along the edges but it's not very satisfactory; some friends did put a wooden frame (14mm thick) around theirs it's better.