When Tom Meier left Ral Partha (after being its chief sculptor for years), he formed Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures, specializing in dioramas and large-scale (54mm) figures. He brought his years of experience to sculpting unique pieces like this.

I painted up the mermaid for my wife's birthday one year - she's a Pisces and loves everything about the sea. This wasn't really intended to be a diorama, but just a fun little project ;^)

I tried to enter it in a contest once, but the judge disqualified it because it wasn't in 25mm scale. Afterwards he did ask me what type of seashell I used for her seat (his wife collected seashells). The seashell was part of the miniature, so I guess I did a good job painting it, huh? ;^)