Making Wargames Buildings from Cork Tiles.
Inner City Buildings
Materials
You will need 3mm or 4mm untreated flooring cork to follow this tutorial. If you are in the UK you can purchase it from major DIY outlets for around £5.00 for a pack of nine tiles or, if you plan to use a lot you can buy it in bulk from a wholesaler.
I use Siesta Cork Tile Co. since they’re quite close to me and I can just go and collect a box.
If you are in the US or elsewhere this cork is harder to find but can be got from specialist flooring suppliers. You will need to Google for one in your area, so long as you remember to get untreated flooring cork you will be fine. From what I’ve seen it costs about twice as much as it does in the UK. However you will still get at least one building from a single tile which will be about $2.00.
Tools
Primary tools
You won’t need much in the way of specialised tools, the cork cuts easily and sticks with almost any glue. Here’s what I use:
Stanley knife or other heavy duty knife for the main cutting.
Scalpel or similar hobby knife for smaller cutting. An X-Acto is ideal.
Metal ruler for cutting.
Plastic ruler for marking up.
Pen for marking, a pencil doesn’t show up enough. I use a black ink technical pen but used to use a biro. Biro ink can bleed through paint though so be warned.
Superglue for main sticking. Use a medium to thin glue so that you have a good capillary action.
Wood glue for smaller sticking where you may need time to position things. PVA will do but a decent resin based white wood glue is better.
Cutting mat for cutting on, you’re going to be doing a lot of cutting.
You will also need some secondary tools for working on building components that aren’t cork.
Razor saw for cutting balsa wood and wood strip.
Mitre box for accurate cutting.
Sanding block for neatening cut balsa.
Masking tape for hinges and some joining.
Kitchen paper towel.
Palette for glue and some cocktail sticks or matchsticks to apply it.
Scissors.
Construction
There are many different kinds of buildings you can make from cork tile but it lends itself best to modern structures where the walls are not too thick. I have made some WWII buildings, a section of a modern city with an attached waterfront area and some 1900 Chinese buildings so far. I plan to do a Wild West town sometime in 2006. All the buildings are constructed the same way, the variation comes from the size and number of windows and the placement of doors etc. I’ll attempt to detail each kind of structure and try to highlight any problems I came across whilst making them.
Inner City Buildings
This was (is) the biggest project so far, comprising twenty structures in the city part and six more plus a quayside for the waterfront board. These are the simplest buildings to make however as they’re really just boxes. They mostly follow a basic pattern with few variations and are designed to be modular with interchangeable floors should you wish. All the walls are basicly made the same way. I've left off any detail from the side walls so these tenements can be butted together to form a street.
This picture gives the measurements for the long walls, back and front of a generic upper floor unit.
The main building measures 150mm x 100mm with a base that's 150mm square to allow for a sidewalk at the front.
Once you've cut two long walls with windows, add two plain short walls and glue to the hardboard base with superglue. I've cut four lots of 40mm high balsa wood to act as supports for the inner floor and to help keep the outer walls aquare.
The short walls wil need to be 80mm tall and 93mm long to fit inside the long walls.
Drop in a floor cut to fit with a hole so you can hook it out when needed.
Window sills are added by gluing matchsticks cut to size under the window openings.
Stonework detail is added to the front wall only using pre-cut adhesive cardboard paving from a model shop. You can of course just cut your own card and glue it in place. I like this stuff because it's thick with bevelled edges and comes pre-glued. It costs under £6.00 for a big pack of 10 sheets.
These tiles are made by a company called Metcalfe, I use the 00 scale ones.
Here are the measurements for the ground floor.
Make the front steps with the window off-cuts.
I've added a length of balsa block inside the building to bring the floor up to a usable height at the front.
Add the final doorway detail with balsa and cork off-cuts or card etc. I've used beads for the post tops.
Here are the dimensions for the roof.
I ordered the cornice pieces from Litko Aerosystems, they cost about £5.00 for a hundred and are made from 3mm plywood. You can always use cut cork or card but that'll be a lot of effort.
It takes 8 cornices to cover each roof front. Start the first one 5mm in from the side and then space them every 20mm.
Every other building is a variation on this theme.
