Miracle-Childbirth Darla & Connor (November 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.

I was commissioned to make a custom of Darla's death and Connor's birth. It was tricky because, in the episode, Darla is fully dusted before you see the baby. I had to think of a way to show them both.

I was trying to work out how to sculpt the baby head into Darla's belly without it getting messed up or looking like some kind of mutation. I came up with the idea to protect him under clear plastic for that reason. I think it makes him look healthy, safe and glowy.

So, my concept is that the bubble is the force field created to protect Connor by the Powers That Be, and it will pop after Darla has fully dusted.

Sculpting

Thanks to Moore Action Collectibles and DST for the parts.

I used a Darla figure with Faith legs. For the baby, I used a baby Connor head with Dru's doll hands.

I used a piece of domed clear plastic to obscure the baby. I put the parts in position and sculpted Darla's hair, bump containing Connor, jumper and legs.

Painting

I had originally planned to paint over most of the plastic and hide the edges but, once I decided that it made sense as a protective bubble, I showed where the bubble was breaking through the ashes.

For the undercoat, I painted Darla in normal colours with her eyes closed. I then dry-brushed the ashes.

My first colour scheme didn't work. I had the alley in silvery grey with a red brick wall and Darla's ashes were quite dark. It wasn't dramatic enough and she just looked like she'd been mud wrestling.

I repainted her with light ashes over some dark spots and she looked much better. I then painted the alley floor and wall much darker to give her a contrasting background. I also added some Darla dust fallen around her.

Now that it's painted, Connor is the one warm spot in a grungy scene, which is exactly what I imagined.