Over the summer I spent some time experimenting with different materials, tools, techniques and ideas and after some slow work at scratchbuilding I created this little hobbit hole. The main hill is made from rigid extruded polystyrene (rigid insulation foam). The front façade was built on a piece of cardstock/chipboard so I could do it separately and then assemble once it looked good. The woodwork is made from balsa wood, with a plastic bead painted brass for the door handle, black construction paper painted metallic for the hinges, clear plastic from some packaging for the window, the stone path in front from egg carton cardboard, and thin card from a food package for the shingles on the little overhang. I sculpted the chimney from polymer clay. The filling between the timbers is Woodland Scenics foam putty. Once everything was assembled and painted I glued some fine sand in the front, added assorted grass tufts and flowers, and then flocked with some static grass and some coarse turf, trying to keep it from being all too uniform.
