After many distractions I finally finished this diorama. I comes from the Ray Harryhausen film 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'. The scene where Sinbad and his men battle Kali, a many armed statue brought to life by the evil wizard Koura, is my favourite in the film and one of my favorite Harryhausen scenes overall. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROssbvtE41U
The first pic is my first attempt at arranging the elements on the diorama tray using Monarch Sinbad parts and the base and pillars that came with Margiana.
In the second I introduce the base from the old Polar Light's Mummy kit from the Brendan Fraser movie for Sinbad and Margiana to stand upon. Margiana's base will go unused and Sinbad's grey base will become part of the diorama dressing. I retain all the pillars and here have them in more-or-less their final positions. The large head is temporarily shelved. I never liked the pose of the Monarch Sinbad so I've positioned him without modifying the kit so that he appears to be leaning on a pillar away from Kali.
All the figures are finalized: The X-Plus Kali, Monarch's Sinbad and Red Planet's Margiana. The sword that's supplied with Sinbad is ridiculously small compared to Kali's so I fashion him a larger one.
I swapped the position of large pillar and the stone head. Having finalised the arrangement, I set out and glue slabs of XPS foam onto the diorama board. I trace around the bases and other elements and then use a hot knife cutter to create recesses for the bases to sit within. Because they vary in thickness some elements need some foam replaced to put them at the right height. I then use Sika Wide Crack Filler to fill the gaps and fuse the elements.
I found securing the figures to the thin styrene base challenging. In the end I fixed pins to the feet of Sinbad and Margina and then sunk hollow plastic rods in the base that were long enough to embed in the XPS below. The pins then slide into these robust sleeves and provide strong support for the figures to stand. In the end I repositioned Margiana so she is backing into the large pillar and Sinbad's left arm seems to be shielding her from harm.
Next came painting the stone and rocks in appropriate colors from Vallejo, Tamiya and Italeri paints. I began with applying Vallejo Diorama FX Grey Pumice and Grey Sand for texture and then dry brushed a dark color then a lighter highlight on top. I then applied an umber wash and the dry brushed again with the lighter color.
The final stage was to coat the XPS base with a surface texture via Vallejo's Diorama FX Desert Sand.
More photos:
There are elements that could be improved but I'm happy, given my skill level, with the overall build. I have a display I enjoy and I had fun, which is my goal.
Thanks for looking. Comments/advice welcome.
... so many projects, so little time!!! 
