Ez's 2013 duff challenge

[ngauger]

Thank you kind sirs. You gotta admit that I did get off to a rocky start though........

Yeah - but then you hit a wall.... Having bypassed the stone for the rock, you have made great progress in the foliage department!!

[ezdays]

Thank you kind sirs. You gotta admit that I did get off to a rocky start though........

Yeah - but then you hit a wall.... Having bypassed the stone for the rock, you have made great progress in the foliage department!!

True, very true, but it was rock hard to admit that the path that I had chosen was stone cold, but I stood up to it as tall as a tree, which leaves me no alternative but to say.... thanks again guys.

[Tyson Rayles]

[ngauger]

[Sumpter250]

It's still snowing here in " Beautiful Downtown Vernon Hills, Il. " I needed a good...
Thanks !!!

[ezdays]

It was a really nice few days in the neighborhood, the sun, some rain and lo and behold, an abundance of vegetation came forth. The right side of the hill is now populated with an assortment of trees, a few bushes and some rocks.

   
   

Overall shots:
   
   

Next on the agenda is to work on the backdrop behind the hill. I'd like to have it look like the hill continues some, but my artistic skills are really rusty, so we'll see how that goes

[Tyson Rayles]

Very nice, I really like the birds! I think though that the ferny looking bush on the far right in the first couple of pics looks like it belongs on a tropical island.

[ngauger]

Really nice!! and yeah - the birds are a nice touch!!

[ezdays]

Very nice, I really like the birds! I think though that the ferny looking bush on the far right in the first couple of pics looks like it belongs on a tropical island.

That tree happens to be a fernousious thingus species, a somewhat rare desert plant, but one that is indigenous to the area. There's a whole lot more of them on the other side of the hill. But, since no one knows exactly where this "area" is, it can look out of place, so in the interest of continuity, I have another area where they could be transplanted.

All kidding aside, I thought that they looked too much like a queen palm, so I could use them in my little desert village. They were fun and easy to make though.

[Tyson Rayles]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the ol' fernousious thingus ! I should have known that!

[ezdays]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the ol' fernousious thingus ! I should have known that!

After much research on, BadFakeTrees.com, I find that the fernousious thingus isn't really a tree, but a bush. I called out the landscape crew from the Canyon State Railroad and had them sink both of these bushes, (yes, there were two, one on each side) :o, down to the ground and trim them like they're suppose to be.

Uh, actually, they looked more like something you'd see in one of those 1950 sci-fi movies as they get off the ship onto a new planet, so I opted to do this rather than throw them away....

I'm thinking it looks better now, but I've been wrong before.... :ugeek:

   
   

[Tyson Rayles]

Nice save !

[Sumpter250]

I thought one of two choices: You live in a lush tropical region, and modeled what you saw, Or:
You live in a desert, and long for lush tropical things !

Then again, This a "Get off your Duff Challenge".
Maybe we all need to get off our Duffs, and walk around the neighborhood with our eyes open!

Wise Man once say; "There is safety in modeling what you see"

P.S. My "duff challenge" is something I have never, and probably will never see a prototype of. :o :oops:

[ezdays]

I thought one of two choices: You live in a lush tropical region, and modeled what you saw, Or:
You live in a desert, and long for lush tropical things !

Then again, This a "Get off your Duff Challenge".
Maybe we all need to get off our Duffs, and walk around the neighborhood with our eyes open!

Wise Man once say; "There is safety in modeling what you see"

Well, actually, I had this here dream one night and the landscape was filled with these things. It wasn't until I saw my psychoanalyst that I realized that it was a nightmare. So you are right on both counts, I modeled what I saw (in a dream), and what I longed for since I do live in the desert. Ah, if we can only get a few of those tropical hula girls to sway underneath, I'd have kept them as trees....

Modeling what I do see around my neighborhood would be a lot easier though, sand, rocks, cacti and a few scrub bushes. Oh yeah, and a few rattlesnakes....

P.S. My "duff challenge" is something I have never, and probably will never see a prototype of. :o :oops:

I think we all create our own world with things in it that doesn't exist anywhere else. Nothing wrong with that.

[ezdays]

Still haven't cleaned the area up, but I have managed to do some work on the backdrop. I added some background trees, raised the mountains behind the hill and added a large cloud behind the mountains. The next step is to work on the small hill to the left of all this: