Slimy Veins Tutorial

I really like the overall feel of Fantasy Flight's Mansions of Madness. However, one of the problems I ran into was the giant gap on the seam of the Chthonian figures right where they glue the head to the body. I forgot to take pictures before I started working, so here is a about where your seam will be:

This was probably my least favorite sculpt, while the wrinkles in the body are interesting the body is so big that it just seemed repetitive and boring to me. So I decided to try and make it a bit more interesting by breaking up the wrinkles with a few veins. First I filled the huge gap with a little green stuff. Next I primed it and then I painted the little abomination with my base color and a bit of wash. After that I used this vein technique to make him appear both slimy and veiny.

To show how this works I'm using the back of a CD case as a working surface.

All you need to do this is some Liquitex Gloss Heavy Gel and a finger.

Smear the gel medium as thick or as thin as you like. I coated the entire shaft of the Chthonian's body with a semi-thick coating of gel.

Next press your finger to the gel ....

...Pull it up and...

..that's it! 

You basically use your finger like a stamp to create the veiny little peaks in the gel medium.

After the gel dries over night it becomes clear and very glossy.

 I dry brushed the veins with a lighter color and added a second coating of Liquitex Gloss Heavy Gel to the shaft to keep everything glossy and help make the worm look slimy. 

For gross slimy horrors like these I think using contrasting levels of glossiness is a good way to give them character. I made the inside of the tentacle mouth and the body high gloss while the tentacles themselves are just slightly glossy.