The Last Alliance has an article on making Mallorn Trees — those huge trees amongst which the elves live in The Lord of The Rings. The idea is that the trees are so large — and their branches so high that only the trunks come into play in a game.
Now, I don’t have much use for Mallorn Trees, but it occurs to me that the same technique also could be used to make the trunks of trees in, say, the Brazilian rain forest. You could use some of those Copplestone pygmies and Amazon explorers.
Here’s a tutorial on making trees from scouring pads.. They’re very nice looking, and it looks like a fun project, but frankly you can get nice pre-made trees from a variety of sources. Still, they’re bound to be a lot cheaper, and if you’re a do-it-yourselfer ….
Dagorlad has a great article on the architecture of Gondor, along with instructions for building models for your Games Workshop Lord of the Rings battlegames. It’s simply amazing how he breaks down still photos from teh movies and then translates them into miniature.
Black Magic Craft has some nice instructions on how to build a very nice medieval style house from dollar store foam.