Terrain for reeeeeeely small hippos; Ishoo Wun: Topiary Critters.

Yesterday my flute riddled accomplice, Juzzy came over to do some of his legendarily slow painting. His wife released him only on the condition that he took charge of his enormous brood of two children for the afternoon. So while Juzzy very, very slowly added static grass to the bases of this Song of Blades and Heroes warband while keeping 14 month of Leo distracted, 5 year old Elana and I made some topiary animals.
And here, with the aid of photos of my progress, are professional reeeeeeeely small hippos, Grotlana (and her trusty plush orc) and Leegrot to explain the process!

And there you have it, Hippo Fans! That's as far as we got before pressures of having to go home and make dinner caught up with us and brought an end to the project.
When choosing critters for topiary, always buy the cheap ones you will not care about, don't use your Schleich collection! Also, try for things with fairly large feet. The zebra above, having small feet, and being a bit warped, fell off three times during painting and flocking. Which explains his rather bald side. The leopard on the other hand, possessing nice big paws, was as solid as a very solid thing carved from a bush.
And all of this has merely been a warm-up for the unbelievable might of the next TFH ishoo, where we tackle that most foul of eldritch horrors, the CTHULHU HEDGE MAZE! (lightning, thunder, over-head lights flicker, bats appear from no where and fly around dramatically, loud organ music, gasps from audience, monocles pop out and ladies faint.)

Polystyrene at bunnings - CONFIRMED!

The ancient legends speak the truth!
Polystyrene insulation board is now available at Bunnings at staggeringly competitive prices. A single sheet of 600X1200X50mm yellow foam costs a mere $20. It's $12 for 25mm. And it is good.
It is infact, the bomb. Every bit as great as the more expensive blue foam I have bought previously from Solid Solutions.
Do you not beleive my words! Do you doubt the greatness of it? The look upon my works ye mighty and stand corrected!

 Remember these creepy trees from Cancon? These highly creepy trees currently on their way to a new home in NSW thanks to the magic of eBay? These are made from that very foam. One of my Cancon students brought some, and I have since bought my own from Bunnings in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that is Cranbourne.

I am slightly fearful that, since they had only a small amount out, it might be a limited time stock thing, but I live in hope.