Miniatures

I looked upon the rotting sea,
And drew my eyes away ;
I looked upon the rotting deck,
And there the dead men lay.
I looked to heaven, and tried to pray ;
But or ever a prayer had gusht,
A wicked whisper came, and made
My heart as dry as dust.

I closed my lids, and kept them close,
And the balls like pulses beat ;
For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky
Lay like a load on my weary eye,
And the dead were at my feet.

-"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Coleridge

I haven't been painting miniatures or playing any minature games besides Heroclix lately. It's just such a hassle to pull out all the paints and what-not and start painting. Still, I've had a miniature diorama in my head for a while and I may have to put it together sometime. I want to make a diorama of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." I can picture how I could convert a miniature for the character and I should be able to find a bird to hang an albatross around his neck. I can use plastic zombies from the Warhammer Fantasy line for the dead crewmen and mix their parts with miniatured that look somewhat sailor-like (like the plastic Mordheim mercenaries). The big thing that's going to be a challenge is making the deck of the ship. I'm picturing that I'd make it look like he's on the deck of the ship, surrounded by his dead crew. Maybe I could convert a ship's deck out of balsa wood, but I haven't the first idea how to start.

I've got the pose that in mind that I would convert the mariner in: on his knees, looking up to the sky, looking for god.

...and of course, even if I do this, where am I going to put it? It's not the type of diorama you decorate the living room with. I can picture Carla showing someone around our new house: "Oh that? It's a diorama of rotting corpses James made." Plus, with my track record on miniatures, it will end up being half-painted and waiting to be finished.

It also occurs to me that the Ancient Mariner could make a neat character for a game like John's Enigma Society.