Paper source

[Darwin]

Would you ever think that Wally World (Walmart, for those of you not into people watching) would be a great source of paper for our modeling needs? I recently (like last week) went to Walmart.com and found some great cardboard (about 0.5 mm using my mk. 1 calibrated eyeball) for backing material. (Do a search for chipboard) It was $17 for a pack of 100 8.5x11 sheets, and at first glance appears to be both more durable and stiffer than the cardboard used as a backer for pads of paper. I also found cardstock that is suitable for printing A3 and A4 size images. (Do a search for tagboard) It comes in 9x12 inch and in 12x18 inch size, in both medium (about 65 lb.) and heavy (about 110 lb.) thicknesses. This is the first time I've bought chipboard, but I've been using the tagboard for several years and am satisfied with its quality for paper modeling purposes. The A4-equivalent tagboard ran in the vicinity of $7 for a pack of 100 sheets, and the A3-equivalent about $12 for a 100-pack. The nice part is if you place more than a $25 order, the shipping is free.

[shipbuild]

Thanks for the tip !

[SCEtoAUX]

Thanks for the heads up on this. I never thought of checking WallyWorld for that particular stuff.

I have purchased that Pacon tagboard from another source. I checked the Pacon part number for the packages and they match the Pacon part number shown on the WalMart web site for both the medium weight in 9x12 and 12x18 inch sizes and the heavyweight in 9x12 and 12x18 inch sizes. The WalMart prices are lower than the other source even factoring in the sales tax that would be collected.

The medium weight measures out to 0.21 mm/0.008 in which is around 65 lb cover or 177 gsm.

The heavyweight measures out to 0.27 mm/0.0105 in which is around 140 lb index or 252 gsm.

I have used the 12x18 size to print out pages that are A3 size. It worked out good.

If you have a WalMart near you check if there is free in-store pick up. You could save a few bucks by not paying a shipping fee for a smaller order. If the tagboard is what you want then you could place a larger order to get over the minimum amount for free home delivery.