"Essence of the Slayer" Vision-Quest Buffy & the First Slayer (April 2008)

Inspiration

I loved all the light-up stands that came with the new DST "Essence of..." line, shown here:

Each of these 3 stands inspired me to make a scene from BtVS, which I felt worked with the "Essence of..." theme.

Reference

I've used the fire stand once before, for Walk-Through-the-Fire Buffy, but I wanted to use it here in a different way. I used it as the camp-fire in the desert, for the "Intervention" episode. This is where the First Slayer appears in a vision; she prophesies Buffy's sacrifice, but Buffy misunderstands her.

First Slayer : "Death is your gift."
Buffy: "Death ..."
First Slayer: "Is your gift."
Buffy: "Okay, no. Death is not a gift. My mother just died. I know this. If I have to kill demons because it makes the world a better place, then I kill demons, but it's not a gift to anybody."
First Slayer: "Your question has been answered."

I see this as a moment that illustrates Buffy's feelings about her role as a slayer. She does her job, but she has always questioned her use of power, unlike the way Faith approached the calling.

Parts

For the First Slayer, I used a Texas Chainsaw Massacre Erin body with Lost Sun legs. For Buffy, I used a deluxe Buffy with Willow legs.

Thanks to MAC, DST and McFarlane for the parts.

Sculpt

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.

For the First Slayer, I joined her legs to the body and made her thighs a bit more muscular. I altered her face to give her a rounded forehead, high cheekbones and fuller lips. I sculpted her ragged outfit and her dread-locks.

For Buffy, I put her into sitting position and sculpted over all her joints. I sculpted the polo-neck jumper, long coat and her tied-back hair.

For the stand, I added a large rock to hide the teddy and give Buffy something to sit on.

Paint

For the First Slayer, I painted her dark skin and gave it a nice sheen with an ochre glaze. I painted her off-white clothing, sheer in some places. I gave her the skull-shaped face paint and made her dread-locks look dusty. She's looking at Buffy across the fire.

For Buffy, I painted her clothing in shades of brown. I painted her sitting and thinking, just prior to seeing the First Slayer.

For the stand, I painted all the rocks grey. I painted the floor in a sandy-colour and added a dusting of sand to the rocks. I painted the base of the stand in black. I also used black on the fire to make it more dramatic.