I thought a stone pillar that looks like a Lizard-man style snake would make a cool piece of terrain. It would also make a nice unit filler if put on a 50mm square base.

Step 1: Tools, Materials

Tools

Pencils, pens
Hobby knife
Hot wire cutter, Band saw, or hack saw
Sand paper, 200 grit
Paint brushes

Materials

2'' Polystyrene (extruded Styrofoam)
Plastic card
g reen stuff or some other modeling putty
rocks, pebbles
Sand
Super glue
PVA or Wood glue
Paints (see step 6)
Green Lichen
Green Flocking

Step 2: The Basic Shape

Draw out the basic shape that you want onto the polystyrene with a fine tip pen. Try to make each section the same width in both directions. Next use a band saw, hack saw, or serrated knife to cut out this basic shape. Try to use straight cuts to do this, using relief cut to remove concave sections. I next cut chamfers out of the outside corners(shown marked out below). I then lightly sanded all of the faces with 200 grit sand paper so that all sides would have the same texture.

Step 3: Adding Detail

Start drawing out a pattern on one side of the pillar. Start drawing lightly with a sharp pencil, and when you know how you want it to look use a slightly dull pencil and press harder. Try not to break the surface of the Styrofoam, just score it.
Carve a design into the other side as well. Go over it and make sure all of the design has been scored deep enough. Add some battle damage and evidence that the stone is old. Cut away crumbling corners and cracks.

Step 4: The Base

Cut out card stock base big enough to give the pillar some stability. I used a hobby knife for this. Glue the pillar down with super glue. Make sure you test your glues and paints on the foam before using them on your model. I used Gorilla Glue.
I next added vines to the pillar. Mix some green stuff. Roll it into thin strips on a smooth table. Wet your hands when applying the vines to the Styrofoam or the green stuff will stick to you more than the pillar.

Step 5: Base Texture

Glue a few small pebbles down on the base if you like. Make a mixture of 1 part water to 2 parts PVA glue. Use an old brush to apply the mixture to the base. Pour sand over the glue, shaking extra back into your sand supply. Let this dry for at least 12 hours. Brush off any loose sand.

Step 6: Painting

You do not have to use GW paints, I did not. I only added links to GW colors for reference. Do not use spray paint!

- Paint the entire model black. This can be difficult because polystyrene has many small holes in it. Water down your black paint enough that it will seep into these holes.

- Paint all of the stone dark grey
- next do a light but thorough dry brush of mid grey
- do a light dry-brush of light grey, almost white. Only dry brush the most exposed edges.
- apply dark green wash to random areas of the pillar, covering about half of the stone. Apply two or three coats to those areas.

- paint the ground dark brown
- dry-brush the ground with light brown/ yellow
- apply a light but thorough dry-brush of bone/ivory/off white

Step 7: Plants

- Glue a few clumps of lichen around the base of the pillar with super glue, wood glue, or pva.
- Apply watered down glue (step 5) to areas that you want to be mossy on the pillar and the base. Sprinkle green flocking into the glue and let it dry. Tap the base or blow to remove excess flocking.