Hex map tiles anybody interested?

[Kale]

I was following a couple threads on the forum regarding hex mats and saw there were a few problems with them; curled edges, marks not coming off etc. So Bruno and I put our heads together and came up with an interesting solution. We've got a company willing to do this but if we can get a few people onboard with us we can get a lower cost per unit.
Our idea: 6" hexagonal acrylic tiles with a 1" hex grid printed on them. The tiles are completely clear so they can be laid over any existing map, thus turning it into a hex map. The 1" black vinyl grid lined on each tile meshes smoothly from tile to tile so you can put them together to create a large grid. I've come up with a few ways I plan to use them. You can draw a map on any large piece of paper then lay some tiles over it. Or just grab an existing real map and lay them on it. Since you can pick up and move the tiles easily you don't even need full coverage; just place the tiles and move them around where the action is. For long range you can use a tape measure to calculate range rather than trying to count hexes. If you have enough tiles you can still cover the whole map.
We talked to a plastics and finally a sign place with a design that they have agreed to produce for us. The cost will be $6.50 CDN per tile (~6 USD) but if we order 500 tiles the price will drop to $5.50 CDN (~5 USD). The advantage of these things is that you can easily stack them up for storage and transport without having to worry about edge curling. If you are using a paper map with them then the weight of the overlaid tiles will actually help you hold the map down and keep it from curling. They can easily be picked up and replaced on a map so again only partial coverage is necessary.
Tech details: Clear acrylic with anti-scratch coating and vinyl black lining for the 1" grid printed on each tile. Acrylic thickness ~3/16 of an inch (~4-5mm). Tile size is a 6" hexagon containing a 1" hex grid with registered edges (grids line up when tiles are placed next to each other). Tiles will be sufficiently heavy to make decent paperweights and will be more likely to stay put. They are a bit larger than a typical DVD/CD so they can easily be stacked up and tossed in a backpack or kept in a box for convenient transport or storage. If anyone is interested Bruno has created a 3D illustration of what they will look like. If you are interested in seeing the illustration and/or want a piece (or several pieces) of the action please PM me with your email. The general idea is when we know how many we want we'll throw money at Bruno and she'll toss them in boxes and mail them to us. I'm getting ~40 of them and Bruno's thinking of 20. Again we need 500 for the price break, but hey, even without the price break 6.50/tile (6USD) isn't bad given the weight of the plastic. If you have any questions, etc post them here and if you want specifics don't hesitate to PM me.

[Luke Bunyip]

Originally Posted by Kale

...
Our idea: 6" hexagonal acrylic tiles with a 1" hex grid printed on them.

Sounds great. Unfortunately the postage down here might be an issue. How much would it cost to post 20 or 40 down here, that is, Australia?

[eustakos]

This sounds good,

but shipping to Germany ?

[Bruno]

Another interesting thing is that you can draw directly on the tiles. The company is looking into which they'd recommend on the surface - dry erase, wet erase, or grease pencils.

I'll check on shipping options for you all. I'm willing to ship any way you want and anywhere you want if you'll pay for it :D

Cheapest shipping to Australia is probably parcel post by boat and ~6 weeks delivery time (I have family in Sydney, this is how our Christmas presents usually travel). I'll see if I can get an estimate on weight per tile, so things can be a little more precise, but right now I'm seeing an estimate of CDN$40.00 to Australia.

For Germany, I'm seeing an estimate of CDN$37.50.

This is guestimating 2kg, which I suspect will be on the heavy side.

[Kale]

Originally Posted by eustakos

This sounds good,
but shipping to Germany ?

These things are fairly light; they are nowhere near as heavy as glass. Additionally since they stack well they don't take up much room and so won't require a large box. Shipping 20 of them would probably be about the same as shipping one of those spools of 100 blank CDs, with similar weight.
With the coating on them they will last quite a long time, and probably be hand washable in a sink; just don't put them in the dishwasher and you should be OK. Overall they are a pretty good investment given how long they are likely to last and how useful they are. Friend spills a bottle of pop on them? No problem, toss them in the sink. I'd like to see somebody manage that with one of those big mats... @:-)

[MrTim]

Only six inches? I'd love something like that if it were larger. Or maybe if there were some easy way of linking them together.

Hmm. How do they take Scotch tape?

[Crakkerjakk]

Count me in. Shoot me a PM for my e-mail to arrange everything.

EDIT: And there in your initial post you tell interested parties to PM you. My bad, a PM is headed your way with my e-mail now.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by MrTim

Only six inches? I'd love something like that if it were larger. Or maybe if there were some easy way of linking them together.

Hmm. How do they take Scotch tape?

6" was chosen because tables in north america are still manufactured in feet/inches, and tend to be multiples of 6 inches. So 1.5 feet wide coffee tables, or 2.5 feet wide dinner tables, or 5.5 feet long dinner tables, or whatever, can be pretty easily accommodated.

Also, they gave us a good price on 6" :D

They're acrylic, they take scotch tape just fine. I'd put it on the bottoms personally just to avoid minis scraping it off by accident.

I wanted to do a "jigsaw puzzle" edge to lock them together but the cost just skyrockets, and it gave me a headache trying to figure out how to do the jigsaw edge so the hexes would line up nicely from tile to tile. That's also, incidentally, why they're hexagonal tiles - very easy to flow the pattern from one to the next. Square and rectangular tiles induced more headaches.

[Kale]

Originally Posted by MrTim

Only six inches? I'd love something like that if it were larger.

Also keep in mind that you only need hex grid around your active units; you can lay them out in patches without having to cover the complete map/surface in hex grid. They are very easy to move so you can just slide them around to where they are needed. 20-40 tiles will let you use a large area if you deploy them in patches and measure distances between patches with a tape measure. I think this would be very handy for wargamers. Also, if you were REALLY crazy you could probably glue legs onto a tile to create different height levels. Since they are clear you can easily see through them to see what is underneath. Standard epoxy or crazy glue would probably let you stick some legs onto the tiles if you wanted.

Tile order counter: 90 spoken for
Need: 410 for $1/tile discount

[Jovus]

I'd be potentially quite interested, but would need both more time and some pictures.