Horticulous Slimux – Part 2

It feels like it’s been a long time since I got into a steady daily painting regime. But over the last couple of weeks, inspired by Horticulous Slimux, I’ve found my groove and established a productive routine!

Last week I decided on a colour palette for the pale flesh tone I wanted to use. This week I’ve been adding some brown and green tones to compliment and contrast with the flesh. The use of the green plays a key part of my overal concept for Horticulous.

As I said last week, I was inspired by the idea of him being old and a gardener. Both factors I want to incorporate into my paintjob. I hope his blind eyes and pale wrinkled flesh create a feeling of age. Although there are a lot of details on this mini that help to portray Horticulous as a gardener, I wanted to build the idea of Nurgle’s garden into my approach to painting him.

In the past I’ve added crusty rough skin and nodules to my Plaguebearers. This time I’ve decided to elaborate upon the effect and add tiny plants and tendrils. I love the idea that Horticulous may be using parts of his own body as a nursery for some of the plants in Nurgle’s garden.

I created rough, mossy areas on his neck and shoulders and then added tiny plant shoots into this texture. To make a texture paste I’ve used a range of materials. First of all I used Games Workshop’s texture paint Stirland Mud to create my initial rough texture. This was put straight onto the mini before I painted a base layer onto it. For a finer texture I used a mix of matt vanish, fine sand and micro balloons (used to bulk out and lighten resin) tinted with green paint. This fine textured mix was added onto the painted mini to create the mossy effect. Use only a very small amount at a time as a little can go a long way. Once applied to the mini I push it around with a clean damp brush. While this mix is not a perfect replacement for my once beloved bicarbonate of soda it comes pretty close.

For the shoots sprouting out of his neck and shoulders I’ve used bamboo roots from my garden. I set up a production line and pre painted a range of roots prior to needing them. This gave me a range to pick and choose from. To apply them I cut the very tips of the painted roots with a scalpel and glued them into position with PVA glue and tweezers. This process is every bit as fiddly as it sounds!

I’ve also added a few mossy growths to the handles on his shears. In addition to adding my fine texture paste, I’ve carved into the blades of the shears to enhance the corroded look of them. I used a scalpel to cut a series of notches and a drill to hollow out some corroded pits. Once I’d done that I brushed a little plastic glue over the pits and notches to soften up the cut edges and enhance the corroded look.

The blades have been given a base coat, wash and highlight prior to some more detailed work with rust effects. I’ve decided to use true metalics on Horticulous to further add to the range of material contrasts on this mini.