Death-of-Liam Darla & Angel (May 2006)

For those unfamiliar with customising, the pale pink stuff is the colour of the 'super sculpey' sculpting clay that I put over the plastic figures. It can be translucent, so you can often see the original colour of the figure underneath. Once I've finished sculpting, I always completely repaint the whole figure.

Finding a Concept

In this example, I was asked to do the siring scene from "Becoming" but to give Darla a human face.

It was clear that Angel needed to be on his knees. You have to think through what your buyer really wants though. I was pretty sure that she wanted to see the detail at the front of Darla's dress and Angel's shirt and waistcoat. She would also want to see their faces. Therefore I couldn't make them actually pressing against each other.

I found a way of positioning the pair so that, although they were facing each other, they were also slightly turned towards the audience. The concept I pitched was that this was the moment you don't see, just after the siring. Darla has morphed back into human face and is looking at him fondly. He's half dying.

It's a good idea to put the parts together held loosely by soft sculpey, so that you can see how a pose will work. Especially when there is a pair.

Sculpting Angel

I got the idea to use the Fred body, when ShondraSu used it for her Phantom of the Opera. I knew that I could beef out the torso and arms to look masculine. I had originally intended to leave the thighs as they were but, in the end, I sculpted over the whole figure.

1) I chopped off more of his feet than shown in the parts assembly photo, then resculpted his shoes at a different angle. I sanded down the bottom of the trousers and sculpted his wrinkled stockings. I cut away the back of the knee joints to make them bend further back and sculpted his breeches. I made sure he had a male shaped bottom and added a pouch at the front. I also attached his head to his neck with pins and sculpted a wider neck. I did this in several stages, boiling in between.

2) I sculpted the front of his shirt and the part that shows at the back.

3) I made sure his arms were in the correct position by testing him against Darla, then sculpted the long puffy sleeves and lace cuffs. I made sure to raise the height and width of the shoulders to look like Angel. At this point, I realised that the bottom of the shirt needed to open, so I cut away some of the sculpey.

4) I sculpted the waistcoat, trim and tie at the back.

5) I sculpted the open bottom of the shirt, the ruffles and collar.

6) I sculpted the hair and the waistcoat buttons.

Sculpting Darla

Once I had Angel sculpted, I could sculpt Darla, making sure that they still slotted together.

1) I sculpted the front and back of her skirts and joined her at the waist. I also sculpted over the bosom to give her a lower neckline.

2) I sculpted the bustles at either side of her skirt and added a few more prominent folds to the front. I also cut into the waist on her right, to show how she's leaning.

3) I sculpted the bodice with one trim. I sculpted her upper sleeves and attached her arms at the shoulders. I attached her head to her neck.

4) I sculpted the extra trim on her bodice and the lace on her sleeves, making sure they didn't interfere with Angel's arm. I sculpted her ears, earrings and the ribbon around her neck.

5) I sculpted her elaborately coiffured hair, adding small metal balls to be the pearls. I also sculpted the flowers on the front of her bodice.

Final Pose

I sculpted the cobbled base. When I put the final pieces together, I found that Darla was causing Angel to tip forward. I shaved down part of her dress so that his knee could push forward a bit more and they fitted perfectly.

Painted Figures