Just a very quick update, the flooring is now done.
Things I have learned:
Coffee stirrers make great floorboards, the grain stains well, they're easy to cut and sand and best of all hole cutters go through them easily.
Always paint the base board before sticking things to it otherwise you have to spend ages trying to paint the gaps without painting the boards.
It is a lot harder to make the boards on the bases line up with the display board than you might think!
And just so I can remember and incase anyone is interested, the wood was stained with umber wash followed by black wash to show up the grain. Washed with very thin scorched brown followed by a second black wash. Heavily dry brushed with vermin brown and gloss varnished roughly to give the appearance of wear.