Painting an aboleth

I'm kinda late for our Aboleth encounter but here goes. WizKids miniature painted as illustrated in the 5e rulebooks.

Preparation

I used an MDF base because the plastic 60mm round won't fit in the muffin mold, see below.

Spray varnish the base to "prime" the stem.

Prepare the terrain with an application of Stirland Mud. Keep the mini off for now and drybrush a Simplified wasteland base.

Painting

Glue on the miniature and start with a coat of Apothecary White.

I wanted to recreate the pale blue/white skin with another layer of Apothecary White, feather out at the base of the tentacles. Barely visible.

For the next layer, diluted 1:1 Coelia Greenshade.

Paint the fins Coelia Greenshade.

At this point I considered drybrushing, but the transitions are so smooth that I decided against it, unwilling to introduce chalkiness.

Finally paint the details: Black Templar eyes, simplified Medium skintone / Bone mouth. Volupus Pink interior.

Water effects

I got this muffin mold on loan so I went ahead to add my Vallejo Still Water. Total disaster, it never cured properly, it never thickened as a layer. And it also hardened in the container.

I ordered some GSW UV resin (and a UV torch). The material is very different. I achieved this thick layer in one go, but the surface is uneven and un-leveled. It is more gel than liquid. I added some more on the second go and stirred with my texture brush to achieve a more uniform look. I know there are bubbles and stuff, hold on to your seatbelts.

Add waves using Vallejo Heavy Gel (and also some cotton wool inside).

Looks like this when cured. 

So not very great, but this is an Aboleth, so time to make the water mucky. I diluted Athonian Camoshade with Contrast Medium (so it flows less into the details) and painted all over. Quite happy with the transparent but still greenish water.

Finished!