When the Necron codex dropped 4th quarter last year, I drooled over the new rules and models, but couldn’t dedicate any real time to them as I had 2 commissions to grind through before I could allow any goodies for myself. With my commissions done (on the most part), it’s time to break ground and paint myself a 40K army!

I found a paint scheme in the new codex that I thought was pretty damn smexy. I broke it down to its component colors and drafted a scheme that was easy to replicate:





Since then, I’ve tested the scheme on some different/larger kits with impressive results:



Now it’s time to draft an army!

Some of you may be familiar with my Army of Arkhan the Black project for Tomb Kings last year, so you should find my methodology recognizable. If you are not, I’ll make it simple: I’m quite compulsive…

Army List:
Details below.

Color Scheme:
Body Primary – Flat Black highlighted with VMC Basalt Grey (70869) and VMC Sky Grey (70989).
Body Secondary – GW Foundation Dheneb Stone highlighted with VMC Ivory (70918).
Glowing Bits – VGC Magic Blue (72021) highlighted with white.

Notes – Notice there are no metals in this scheme. Why would a culture as old as the Necrotyr rely on metallic compounds instead of synthesized alloys? GW’s metal scheme is completely uninspired! Is my nerd side showing?

Current Model Range Concerns
Warriors – Not a fan of these guys. Won’t be using too many.
Spiders – I have a conversion idea for these. Give me a few days…
Scarabs – I’m not a fan of warriors so I’ll be getting these elsewhere.
Crypteks – Converted from the Praetorian kit.

Notes – Other then waiting on the remaining kits to be released (Night Scythes), I’ll have plenty to work on till GW decides my money is worth taking.


Army List
Normally I build an army out of the stuff I thought was cool to paint. This ‘technique’ has gotten me in trouble more then once so this time I’m doing it right!

My last commission was a FW Librarian for resident gaming guru Tony Kopach. My payment was for him to craft me an army list and kick my ass until I learned to use it correctly. Fair trade in my eyes.

Until the Night Scythe is released I’ll be building a modified “Death by Scarab” list with the Traveler, foot-slogging Immortals with Crypteks, and one metric arse-load of spiders & scarabs.

I’ll also be adding in some fun stuff along the way.

Shawn G. (SoI)

The test models look really cool, looking forward to watching the project grow.

Thanks!

I've been picking a this scheme slightly for about a month now, I'm just making it a official army project.

Here's what's been done so far:

Crypteks


C'Tan


Group Shot


Shawn G.

I really like what you did for the C'tan. The color scheme puts a lot of mystery into the army, a lot of foreboding as well.

Holy Crap I have fallen in love with this project, please i beg you to paint faster, OMG That vehicle sent a shiver down my spine. Exalted Subbed.

Wow thats a pretty neat Ctan

Although I'll feel sorry for you if TFG says "MODELING ADVANTAGE"

Oh man that blue glow is beautiful.

those look awesome.

I gotta stop following your plogs. Your TK one already made me spend enough money on an army

Looks very nice the blue contrasts with the matte black perfectly

Most of (make that all) the Necrons I've seen use green for the interior lighting. I think the cyan "light" makes them look different. I really, really like it. From whence did your C'Tan come? He looks amazing! I'd really like to see some Deathmarks done up with your color scheme, I think they'd look awesome!

Jeezus, that's freakin' insane.

@ Brotheralexos - Thank you. I wanted it to look beautiful yet cold and soulless.

@ Medabee - Glad you like! Wait till you see the Ark I'm working on...

@ Kenshin620 - The C'Tan is my favorite model so far, but I'm not worried by the ravings of TFG. He will only be pulled out for friendly games.

@ Swordwind - Thank you. Glad you like.

@ sparkywtf - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed my other plogs. Send me some picks of your TK stuff. I'd love to see what you did. That's my favorite WHF army and likely my huge draw to this army.

@ Nrljm - Thanks. Most of the matte look comes from the primer I use. The flat VMC Black I have is actually 'darker' if that's possible.

@ Jimsolo - The cyan glow was what drew me to this scheme. It's beautiful, but sterile. The C'Tan is a Bow Ushabti (Bo'Shabti) from the Tomb King line.

@ Shredsmore - Glad you like. Adventure TIme owns BTW.

Shawn G. (SoI)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've been pretty damn busy these last few days with little time for this project. Here's some WiP's of what I have been working on.



Here's a template for a Deathmark unit. Looks pretty good!



I really liked the nmm Brass I did for the C'Tan, and I wanted to bring that into my cadre for this army. The brass adds a little royalty to the big wigs without taking too much from the cold sterile look I like in this scheme.



I'll say this now, the Necron Ark kit is the most diabolical kit I have ever had to do. This scheme forces me to paint then assemble so the more parts, the longer it takes to finish. The D-Ark has 35 pieces to paint prior to assembly (painting my way). The G-Ark would have another 20+ pieces to do. Needless to say, I'll probably won't be doing many of these kits...

Shawn G. (SoI)

You are right those are some sexy models.

I love the color scheme and the very crisp paint job.

HOWEVER, I don't so much like the layout of the colors on the doomsday ark pilot. The white crest makes it the focus of the driver instead of the face. So it makes him look like the has a funny haircut or a bonnet. (or he's an old lady with rollers in her hair pointing at those young whippersnapper marines on his tombworld lawn).

I'd swap the face and the crest colors to improve the overall look. Just my 2cents.

But again, absolutely fantastic models and paint scheme.

the paint job is just awesome its soo simple in colors but together it gives it a complicated color scheme thats just awesome

Thanks all!

Goresaw wrote:I love the color scheme and the very crisp paint job.

HOWEVER, I don't so much like the layout of the colors on the doomsday ark pilot. The white crest makes it the focus of the driver instead of the face. So it makes him look like the has a funny haircut or a bonnet. (or he's an old lady with rollers in her hair pointing at those young whippersnapper marines on his tombworld lawn).

I'd swap the face and the crest colors to improve the overall look. Just my 2cents.

But again, absolutely fantastic models and paint scheme.

Hmmm. You make a darned good point. Although grandma necron on her high tech super scooter does make me laugh. I'll look into it.

Shawn G.

Indeed, that's some nice paintjob! It seems to be simple, but so stylish and effective! I like it!

The colors you picked really give them that alien look.The C'tan is my favorite.Reminds me of an old movie called Stargate.

Wow. Beautiful models. I'm definently exalting this!

Nice!! Lovely scheme. Very, very nice, indeed!

Valete,

JohnS

Some may be familiar with this design from my Tomb Kings army. I picked up another Hirst mold (#91) and I’m considering using this make-up for my spiders. While I like the look, I’m not quite sold on the idea. The base turned out awesome though!





I call them menhir and my design concept is they are conduit points where scarabs can be teleported in from some pocket dimension or buried tomb world. I’m still knocking around the idea of using scarabs or a mass of some other geo-shape to represent them. Not quite sure.



I have to resend my previous statement about the Ghost/Doomsday Ark being the most diabolical kit I ever had to build. This bastard takes the cake…







So much design thinking had to go into building this thing. I first had to build the base keeping how the stalker was going to snake through it in mind. I then had to build the stalker section-by-section, then leg-by-leg, constantly repositioning it on the base to make sure it looked right.

It’s awesome, but hateful. So. Very. Hateful.

Do you want to know what the really sad part is? I have another one to build...



Shawn G. (SoI)

Heh, glad nothing on an Eldar list is as tricky to put together. Might eat my hat if I ever start Necrons myself.

The obelisk thingy is pretty good. Nice and smooth, and the lighting is suitably dead and otherworldy.

Thanks.

I'll be adding some scarabs to the base to bring it closer to the model line. I'm also going to work on building some true scarab swarm bases today.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Impressive shininess. I like your blues.

Same paint scheme I decided on for my army.

Looks good, keep it up.

wow this is a great, clean looking necron army, and i love the color choices alot!

I'll be back on this project shortly. I've spent the last week saving the galaxy from the Reapers...

Shawn G. (SoI)

That pyramid would really pop if you put a trans colored marble inside the white part.

That paint scheme is awesome... Kinda reminds me of the Geth from Mass Effect. Dunno if you were going for that at all. Can't wait to see the army grow.

This has to be one of the most unique Necron paint schemes i have seen. Looks great and I completely get what you're saying about the Ark models being a pain to paint in anything more than a very basic metal scheme.

Wow, just wow. Can't wait to see what you do with the Stalker.

Any updates?

So the 2 weeks last week were consumed with me saving the galaxy from the Reapers. Damn it I love ME…

With that out of my system, I’ve knuckled down and built all my troops (for the most part) so I can start to crank out my infantry. I also want to actually try the army out and let my friend Dave destroy me with his GK. It’s a damn strange thing to watch your army fight another of your armies…

Here’s what I’ve been busy with:



While I'm not a big fan of the warrior kit, I did pick up a few boxes to get some scarabs. May as well paint a squad.



A gambl'in mans gun for a gambl'n mans game. Tesla Immortals. F-Yeah!



The Overlord kit is nice, but I really wish they made this out of plastic. It screams “I’m going to break and piss you off nicely in the not so distant future.”





I’m also trying out a new design for my Crypteks. Slightly larger, but it looks really good.


I’ll have some paint work to post shortly as well.

Stay tuned!

Shawn G. (SoI)

That's a fair few Necrons you have ready for painting now.

The Crypteks are looking very cool.

The overlords ARE plastic in the CCB kit.

Kevin949 wrote:The overlords ARE plastic in the CCB kit.

But the pose is less dynamic than the standalone one

Anyways, good looking army so far

Kevin949 wrote:The overlords ARE plastic in the CCB kit.

I know and do have one partially painted in this very thread. But the pose is very static and uninteresting. I'll likely be kit-bashing to build some custom lords in the future.

Greetifications!

Sorry for my silence lately. A combination of work and school over the last few weeks has cut into my hobby time. Here’s what I’ve been picking busy with.







First, I finally finished my Doomsday Ark. I really like this kit. I thing it’s the largest 40k model I’ve ever worked on and next to the Tomb Stalker the most complex. That said, this will likely be the last Ark I work on for a LONG while.



Next, I’ve been replicating my Tomb Spider replacements. They look good as a collective. I will probably end up keeping them unless GW releases a multiple model PLASTIC kit. A nice multi-model plastic kit that makes Spiders or Wraiths would be damn sweet. Screw Finecast. Seriously…





Finally I’ve been cranking out scarabs like mad. The initial batch looks good painted. 5 down, 35 to go...

I’ll be focusing on my troops for a while. It’s best to get the irritating repetitive stuff out of the way so you can enjoy the single sexy units.

I’ll post more as I progress.
Shawn G. (SoI)

AMAZING!!! Subbed!
...
"Please sir, can I have some more?"


Automatically Appended Next Post:
AMAZING!!! Subbed!
...
"Please sir, can I have some more?"

I still just love the high contrast of your color scheme.

Another excellent plog soul of iron! Really look forward to more.

I think the tron-crons look great but is it weird that i want to see the use of other Neon colours as well?

That Doomsday Ark is very inspiring Sol, the painting is so smooth and the way you did the glow effect is excellent.

Love the scarabs as well.

Glad that you kept the grandma hat on the driver.

The rider's hat does look like a bonnet.

I left it cause there would have been real trouble repainting as everything glued together.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Very nice painting, it looks clean, crisp. I await to see what you do with the Cryptek and the Overlord, as well as the Tomb Stalker.
Must watch blog now...

Anpu-adom wrote:I still just love the high contrast of your color scheme.

Second that! Great work here, SoI!

Thanks all!

Here’s some more Thokt goodies I’ve finished this week. I have to say I grow fonder of this paint scheme with each mini finished.



First up, I’ve finished 8 more immortals. That’s 12 done out of the 32 I have built. Not bad, but still quite a bit to do.



Next up I finished the Deathmark unit I started a while back. They not only look good finished, but these bastards really can pack a punch on the tabletop. That is before they are blasted off of the table by returning fire…





Next the Overlord I was picking at. After several weeks looking at him I thing I’ll be leaving the rusted color on him to add a serious distinction between him and the standard foot troops. The warm colors of the rust really stand out as a nice contrast.





Finally here’s a Heavy Destroyer conversion I’ve had sitting around for the about a month. I really was not to fond of how the tesla cannon (A. Barge kit) looked attached to the destroyer chassis. Friends at the store I frequent liked it and told me it would come together after it was painted, and I’d be damned if they weren’t right! I love the look of this thing!

That’s all for now. I need to build some more Crypteks. Can’t have enough of those! I’ll also fashion a new Overlord from the A-Barge/Praetorian kits. The Finecast one I had broke last weekend. I won’t be making anymore Finecast purchases.

More to come as I progress.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Great job on the Overlord! Will we see a group photo of the entire army so far?

Gorgeous stuff. Clean and mean.

Dr. Temujin wrote:Great job on the Overlord! Will we see a group photo of the entire army so far?

Glad you like. I'll take a group shot and post it today.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Dang, this is a really amazing army. Those sharp grey line highlights combined with the blue glow is perfect.

I had a build-a-thon with some friends this weekend and here's what I made:





I'm really fond of this Cryptek design, I can't wait to see them painted.



I also hammered out a new Overlord to replace the resin one that broke. I like this style even more then the first. While I enjoy painting Res Orbs, the concept of physically carrying them around on the battlefield did not work for me. I spotted this design on CMoN (Cool Mini or Not) last week and had to steal it. A wrist mounted Res Orb, made from a whittled down voidblade, is much more functional for swinging around a Warscythe.

I'm going to start on the Stalker this week. Shouldn't be hard to finish.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Looking good! Seems everyone is doing the alternate Cryptek design these days.
Also, I hope you don't mind if I steal borrow the wrist-mounted Res Orb.

Not at all. I need to find where I stole it from on CMoN. Give it's creator his proper due.

Wow, Shawn. I had no idea you started this Necron force. They look absolutely amazing. I'm a little surprised you've moved from skeletons to metal skeletons, but they look stunning. I really like the paintjob and am glad I came across your new thread. Excited to see more of this unravel.

A very creative set of colours and i am loving the light effects that you added..
I still would like to face a necron army once... i think it would be fun...

@Moltar - Hey there! I've been picking at this army for a few months. Just started paying some real attention to it. It's coming along well.

@Breazer - Glad you like! Necrons are a fun game. I've had terrible luck with 40K armies (Tyranids & Daemons). The 'Crons have done well by me.

Shawn G. (SoI)

GREAT OGGLY BOOGLY,
These models are INCREDIBLE!
(had been tossing up between doing a Tron theme or a super shiny Battlestar-esque chrome theme for my tin-men... I think I have my answer now)

You, sir, just became my painting hero.

I don't suppose you're going to be doing a Monolith with this color scheme, are you?
(yes, I realize they're not so wonderful to play with anymore, but I have a feeling it would look quite striking with that high contrast black and cobalt paint job)

Troncrons. Love it!

Fantastically executed, extremely effictive, and impressive as a whole.

Looking forward to more!

I love it!

Cottonjaw wrote:Troncrons. Love it!

Either NecTrons or NeTrons, surely...

Soul of Iron wrote:
Color Scheme:
Body Primary – Flat Black highlighted with VMC Basalt Grey (70869) and VMC Sky Grey (70989).
Body Secondary – GW Foundation Dheneb Stone highlighted with VMC Ivory (70918).
Glowing Bits – VGC Magic Blue (72021) highlighted with white.

Hey! Hey Shawn!
*frantic waving*
Any chance we can get a break down of how exactly you painted these guys?
(or better yet, a step by step photo chroniclization of your painting process, if you've got any figures yet to paint?)

NecTrons. I like that!

I've been working on my final paper for school and preping for Adepticon so my painting time has suffered somewhat. I'm road-trippin' with some friends to Chicago and we leave Wednesday morning. I'll have my 'Crons with me for some open gaming. Can't wait!

@Skoffs - I can try to make a tutorial on my process when I get back. The troops are easy, the vehicles are another matter entirely (assembly after painting).

Shawn G. (SoI)

Absolutely love this, I've been searching for a color scheme for my necrons (they were my first army and got a wildly unexciting rusted metal look). I will definitely be borrowing/stealing/drawing inspiration (one and the same in my book) from your work. Eagerly awaiting the tutorial, curious to see how you handle the guns on the warriors, paint over the green rod, or replace it with a blue one from the internet?

Thanks so much for posting your fantastic work

These are rediculous Shawn. Seriously.

Some of my favourite crons yet.

Absolutely love these models and your paint skill Shawn. Looking forward to more.

Can you give the formula for doing the white part on your model?

That looks like some off-white colour with skull white highlight.

I just might be stealing your H. Destroyer Idea!

I also agree this theme is one of the better ones in the codex. Loving what you are doing with them so far.

Thanks all!

I got back from Adepticon Sunday. I haven't had much in the way of time to get any hobby work done. I've a huge essay to complete for next week that's been eating up my time. I'll have more to post as soon as things settle down a bit.

Shawn G. (SoI)

I’ve been working on this project, but lax in my content posting. Sorry about that people!

So the new kits have been out for 2 weeks now and man are they awesome! I’ve been having a blast with these new models while I try to pin down what I want to bring to NOVA (That’s right, I’m going this year!)

Here’s part 1 of the new stuff!



The new wraith kit is amazing. Not only do these new models look good, they aren’t that hard to build. My only complaint is they kind of look like giant robotic prawn. They will be a joy to paint when I complete the unit.









And then we have this beauty. The Stalker is hands down my favorite kit out of the necron line so far. Mike suggested I mount it on a 150mm round base from Dragon Forge, and it was a brilliant suggestion. I added a resin fluorite mound from Armorcast and painted it in my army colors.

I’ll likely be getting another of these this weekend…

That’s all I have for now. The WIPs of the Spiders and Tomb Blades will be posted shortly.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Holy gak thats awesome. So menacing!

Wow. Great scheme and great looking army!

Thanks all.

I really liked the way this turned out. The base and the glowing fluorite add so much dimension to the piece. My only hangup is I didn’t take extra time to add more detail to the base. Once I glued the fluorite down, I got excited, added the ballast, and ran upstairs to prime it.

I’ve ordered 2 more 150mm rounds from Dragon Forge that I will use to make some really detailed bases for additional stalkers.

Looking good Sean, btw, sorry we didn't get to speak more at Adepticon!

Thanks dude!

I was a pleasure to meet you and Alpharius (or one of his clones). I plan on going to NOVA this year and I will be back at Adepticon next year. I hope you had as much fun as I did at the tourney.

Shawn G.

That stalker looks amazing. The giant glowing rock helps a lot too.

GREAT OOGLY BOOGLY, that is one sexy Stalker!
("sexy stalker" ... not words I'd ever thought I'd say)

Man, I can't wait to see what you do to those Wraiths and Spyders... though, if the Doom Scythe turns out to be awesome too, you may end up being very poor next month...

@ Skoffs - Yeah... I'll be very broke when they drop.

Though to think of it, I'm really not a fan of spam lists. I'll likely buy 2 tops.

Shawn G.

I need your opinions!

So I’ve been trying to conceptualize my display tray for this Thokt project. After finishing that badass crystal formation on the Triarch Stalker base, I’ve had a mind to make it flat yet rocky.

Here are my questions

1. Should I stick to this crystal style?



Or should I branch out to other crystal formations? I’m thinking no as it would make the terrain around the army look too chaotic. The geometric fluorite crystals and the spire-like quartz crystals don’t match in my mind.


2. Since there are only two fluorite crystal formations available from Armorcast, the largest of the pair was used for the stalker; I can’t spam the same pair of rocks all over my display. I’ve been trying to find a viable alternative ‘stone’ to fill in the space. That said, what is your opinion on this base?





Here it is again next to the fluorite structure. I’m thinking this could work but additional eyes are always helpful.

3. I was brainstorming on additional detail I could add to the display and came up with this:



This is just a small fissure to see how the colors would interact. I would be scaling this up for the display. While it’s not bad, I don’t think it works. What do you guys/gals think?

4. Lastly, I’ve built the three Spiders I intend to include in my display. I made a trio of 60mm bases to mount them on, but there’s a problem;

http://www.glaven.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Nec_Spider_WiP_01.jpg

Their Canoptek asses hang off the back! Unacceptable!

I’ve been debating on basing them on a 60x100mm round. Since the spiders are packaged with flying bases (not a fan), I figure I can base them on anything I want as long as it’s not smaller.





I think it looks good! Since the spiders are oblong, this base style fits them perfectly. What’s the consensus?

Let me know what you all think! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!

Shawn G. (SoI)

In my opinion, as long as the base fits them it is fine. and I would keep to your crystal style.

Hi

Any chance of that tutorial for painting your amazing NecTrons for us lesser beings?!!!

Andy

Sorry to jump on the request train. :3
What Citadel paint would you suggest as a substitute for the blue?

Fantastic job by the way

Great work!. My friend has just started up a Necron army and I'll send him this way for some inspiration!

Soul of Iron wrote:I need your opinions!...

3. I was brainstorming on additional detail I could add to the display and came up with this:



This is just a small fissure to see how the colors would interact. I would be scaling this up for the display. While it’s not bad, I don’t think it works. What do you guys/gals think?

I like this concept the best. Coupled with some small prisms around the fissure, I think it would look really great!

Soul of Iron wrote:

i personally think these 2 are best!
i love that dark rock with energy emitting from it! lovely idea!!!!

Soul, that Stalker is BEAUTIFUL! I love it so much more now!
And as for your base, I think I like the more cubic style of rocks for the base as well as the one with the veined ground. In the meantime, keep up the great work!

Good work man, I too, would like a step by step show of how you did this

Thanks for the feedback people! It is greatly appreciated!

Here are the decisions I made:

1. I'll be keeping to the cubic stones of the fluorite for my large rock formations and going with the slate I made from sculpey to fill in the terrain detail gaps.

2. I opted to go with the 60x100mm base for my spiders. I just like the look better and it satisfies my compulsive nature.

Lastly, I'm working on a tutorial on how I did this scheme. I'm using one of my spiders as it has wide areas of detail to see each step clearly.

I should be finished with the spider today and I'll have the tutorial edited and posted tomorrow (hopefully).

Shawn G. (SoI)

I have heard the masses crying out for a tutorial on how I painted my Necrons. Ask and ye shall receive! I just hope this makes sense…





First let’s talk primer. I started miniature painting about 14 years ago, and most of that time was using GW’s primer. At first GW’s line of primer and paints were varied and reasonably priced, but somewhere along the line they got this wild notion that they could charge whatever they wanted. So over the years I’ve watched their primer creep from $5 to $15.75 a can. What the hell is in it? Magic? My favorite part is how they claim their primer has been engineered to work with their line of paints. WTF?

I was brought to the light from a friend in a local Hobby Shop of the existence of an alternative and I’ve never looked back. Enter Krylon spray paints.

This stuff is amazing. Not only does it bind to both plastic and metal, but also it goes on flat. This is the most matte paint I have ever used, and it works perfectly for all my projects. It’s also $4 a can.

Here we have a spray paint that is both reasonably priced, durable as hell, and can be found almost EVERYWHERE. Did I mention it comes in 6 colors? And this is just scratching the surface of the products that Krylon produces. My Dark Eldar scheme uses their Fusion line.

Get this stuff.

Now that I’m done ranting let’s get down to business! I decided to use a Canoptek Spider for this tutorial so you can see the techniques I used on a larger canvas.



Here’s what I use:
VMC Black (70950)
VMC White (70951)
VMC Sky Grey (70989)
VMC Ivory (70918)
VGC Magic Blue (72021)
Citadel Scorched Brown (Rhinox Hide)
Citadel Calthan Brown (Mournfang Brown)
Citadel Dheneb Stone (Rakarth Flesh)





Step Zero – A nice even coat of primer. Make sure it’s not too humid outside so you don’t get that powered sand effect on your minis. I haven’t had that problem with the Krylon spray paints very often, but it can happen. Be carefull.







Step I – I targeted all the glowing bits; cables, eyes, orbs, and leg joints with VGC Magic Blue. You can also use Citadel Enchanted Blue (Caledor Sky) as alternative. Don’t’ worry about staying within the lines. We’ll clean up later.

Step II – 1/1 mix of VMC White and VGC Magic Blue. Don’t completely cover up the previous shade. Leave a little behind for depth.

Step III – 10/1 mix of VMC White and VGC Magic Blue. I’m guesstimating here on the ratio as I normally just eyeball it. Just put some white down on your palate and add a slight tip-full of the blue. The aim is for a very pale white-blue. Mostly white.





Step IV – Dheneb Stone for contrast. I use this color sparingly to break up the scheme. It usually takes 2-3 coats for full coverage over black. Make sure your paints are well diluted so you don’t lose detail.

Step V – Clean up phase. VMC Black was used to clean up my lines. I chose this black specifically because it is has a very matte finish, which syncs well with the flatness of the Krylon primer. You don’t have to use VMC paint here, but you will loose the effect if your paint is of a gloss or even satin finish.

Now for the step I assume everyone is looking for:





Step IV & VII – Edge highlights. VMC Sky Grey was painted onto all the hard edges of the model using the side, not the tip, of my brush. You’ll need a light touch to keep the line uniform but that’s it. Again, make sure your paints are well diluted so it goes on smoothly. You may need to apply two coats incase the line is not sharp. This technique is so easy you’ll kick yourself when you try it.







Step VIII – Highlight all the hard edges of the mini. The mandibles were a little finicky, but just focus on the edges. Clean up with black as needed. The inner ring under the back plate was highlighted using the brush tip. That’s a tricky spot so use a light hand and again, clean up with black as needed.

Step IX – Adding detail. I went back and added some more glowing blue effects on the spots I felt could use some detail. Just reapply steps I-III as needed.

Step X – Edge highlight using VMC Ivory on Dheneb plates. Line highlight were added to the edges of the detail on the abdomen as needed.

And there you have it! My Tkokt paint scheme.



I'll try to create a video for this scheme. I will try to emulate Les Bursley’s brilliant tutorial style if I can. I’ve never made a video tutorial before so give me a little time to make sure I get it right.

I hope you found this helpful. Please leave me feedback so I can polish this tutorial for when I move to video.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Wow, just found this plog... mind blown

Doing the commission for Tony Kopach in exchange for list / playing help was pure genius!

The tutorial above- Wow, very detailed, and now you can just direct folks to it who are asking how you did this, which will be handy . I was reading through the thread and planning to ask about the black. The advice about the particular primer and paint you use is very helpful, but I was just curious about this:

Soul of Iron wrote:Step V – Clean up phase. VMC Black was used to clean up my lines. I chose this black specifically because it is has a very matte finish, which syncs well with the flatness of the Krylon primer. You don’t have to use VMC paint here, but you will loose the effect if your paint is of a gloss or even satin finish.

Are you saying that you're able to clean up your black with the VMC Black, without having to repaint all of it to match?

That would be extremely helpful... I was painting black recently, and used Army Painter primer and chaos black... the two do not match at all with chaos black being I think the shinier of the two. So I had to repaint ALL the black with chaos black. Wish I'd read this first!!

Will be following this closely and hopefully will find you to gawk over this army in-person at Nova . Was awesome seeing you at Adepticon, too- even though we're in the same state, the Beltway pretty much means I'll probably only ever see your stuff at big events. But I'll definitely be seeking you out to look at these!

@RiTides - The VMC Black is very close to the flatness of the primer so it can be used to clean up without marring the surrounding color. The problem with chaos black you described is exactly what I was describing. I'm sorry you had to deal with it.

I've found that flat paints work better for me in the long run and avoid the glossy/satin paints if possible. Vallejo Model Colors are my favorite line.

It was good seeing you at Adepticon! How did you do? I'm looking forward to NOVA as it will be my first major tourney competition. We need to grab a beer at NOVA!

If you drink that is...

About step 0, what would you recommend for someone who lives in the tropics? It's always humid here, and the powdered sand effect has been a bit of a problem.

Hmm. The tropics can be a bit of a problem.

I have found that you can still prime even on humid days as long as you choose the least humid points in the day. I've no experience with dealing with tropical weather, but I've been able to get away with priming before the sun comes up or after it goes down. The sun can really add to a days humidity so you may be able to prevent some primer shenanigans if you avoid the sun entirely.

I wish I could be more helpful but that's all I can suggest.


Shawn G.

Soul of Iron wrote:@RiTides - The VMC Black is very close to the flatness of the primer so it can be used to clean up without marring the surrounding color. The problem with chaos black you described is exactly what I was describing. I'm sorry you had to deal with it.

I've found that flat paints work better for me in the long run and avoid the glossy/satin paints if possible. Vallejo Model Colors are my favorite line.

I've heard those recommended, might give them a try! I will definitely be trying the black and the primer you suggested. I just recently started using some of the Vallejo Game Colors line, to replace the recently OOP GW equivalents.

Soul of Iron wrote:It was good seeing you at Adepticon! How did you do? I'm looking forward to NOVA as it will be my first major tourney competition. We need to grab a beer at NOVA!

If you drink that is...

Haha, yes! Hardly, I usually donate my drinks to others . My team actually got Best Hybrid Team for our theme/appearance in the 40k team tournament. I'm using some mini-Leviathans from Dreamforge in my army, with converted Starship troopers models for the troops. I think it's striking... but the real reason we won is that MajorTom11 made us a killer banner and our theme score was super high

I don't know if I'll have my army up to points in time for Nova, and I think the 40k part is sold out, right? (If not, maybe I'll change my mind...). But if I am not there for 40k I will be there for Warmahordes, and come look at these in person

Our team also faced a Stalker at the Adepticon team tourney- that is one impressive model, and it looks like there's a ton of freedom posing it, too- I can't wait to see what the 2 of yours will look like together!

Yessssss! Thank you so much, good sir!
(although, I might a bit hard pressed to find the right corresponding types/colors of paints in Japan).

Looking forward to the video guides!
(and can't wait to see the full army assembled!)

Very very cool dude.

@Skoffs - You should be able to do this scheme with GW paints. You'll just have to mix your paints some.

VMC Sky Grey - 2/1 mix of Fortress Grey (Administratum Grey) and white
VMC Ivory - 4/1 Bleached (Ushabti Bone) and white
VGC Magic Blue - Enchanted Blue (Caledor Sky)

These are just my estimations. You'll have to experiment to find a mix you like. The only color you may have trouble locating is the black. You may have to order that online. That is unless you find another black to match your prime.

@Vitruvian XVII - Thanks dude!

I've some more pics of the Canoptic Spider, and some other mini's that I forgot to post the other day!











I really like the way this turned out. I'll be starting the other 2 here soon.








First, the Tomb Blade kit is a bit of a pain to put together. The crescent body requires 3 clamps to hold it together while gluing as the frames have warped somewhat on the sprue. This equates to about one body every hour, as I only own 3 clamps. I’ll pick up some extra clamps and finish building the unit this week.

Assembly aside, I like the way it turned out. When my thin acrylic rod arrives from Amazon, I’ll make some custom bases for the unit.











A Destroyer Lord. I have no idea when I’ll use this guy as I’ve come to love Crypteks way too much in game, but it just didn’t feel right not having one in a Necron army.

He’s a kit-bash from the Command Barge, Triarch Praetorian, and Destroyer kits. I used the wrist mounted Res-Orb design again and mounted him on one of my 40x60mm bases.

I’ll tell you what, I am so damn happy I made those bases for myself. Having a wide variety of base designs has really improved the look of this army.

That's all for now.

Shawn G.

Still looking great and you have done the new models so much justice, looking forward to seeing more

Young Logan

Sub'ed I love the illuminous blue ...

The destroyer lord conversion is great! How many points painted are you up to now, at a guess?

...And is Tony happy with your list / have you guys worked that out yet

Your necrons really are amazing. The hard highlights are beautifully done and, most importantly, not overdone. The colours match well and the end result is something really special.

My room-mate is making a necron army; I'll have to pass the tutorial on your glow effects and highlighting along to him. If his turns out half as well as yours, I'd be a very happy man.

Thanks all.

@RiTides - I'm not too sure how many points I have painted so far. Just over 1k if I could fair a guess. And I havn't shared this list with Tony. I'm not going to NOVA for gold, just for fun. I will run it past him to see what he thinks.

Shawn G.

I love the scheme you're using.

Amazing scheme dude. I hate painting black myself but you've come up with a very simple effect that looks totally cool. It's a very nice choice of colours as a whole across your army. What are you going to do with the necron warrior's green rods, I see you've undercoated them black?

I'll just paint the warrior's rods blue to keep with scheme. I honestly don't know when I'll work on those warriors as I've grown so very fond of Telsa carbines.

Shawn G.

Your army is sexy as feth. I love it. Keep up the good work.

Well I must say, what a fantastic paint scheme, looks amazing!!!

I really like all the models in your last update, I think the way you've done the bases is very clever they tie in with models really well.

Thanks! The Spider is one of my favorites so far.

January of last year I made a slew of custom bases to use for some abandoned project. My Dark Eldar I think...

I have to say, I am so damn happy I made those things. Having a variety of base designs has been more helpful then I could have imagined.

Shawn G.

Another local player on here (Wehrkind) makes his own custom resin bases, and he swears by them, too. You guys can trade notes if you ever link up (I don't think you've crossed paths, yet). He's just west of D.C. right now but I don't think all that permanently.

So glad you'll be painting the rods on the warriors guns, if/when you do get around to doing those guys. Those cheesy green glowing rods and especially the "ring pop" on the monoliths are always such a turnoff on Necrons for me. They can look cool swapped for other glowing colors, but still... your paint scheme will make it glow a lot more convincingly

That is a nice Destroyer Lord. Now that I think about it, it probably is a bit less expensive and frustrating than the Resin thingy GW provides. And, of course, great job with the Spyder and the Tomb Blade.

You truly are inspiring!

Awesome. I saw this scheme and painting guide on your blog and I'm trying my best to replicate it. Just noticed you had a thread on Dakka. Once I get some stuff painted I'll throw in some pics so you can see how much better you are at painting than I am

Greetings all.

Sorry I've been so poor at posting lately, I've been kind of busy and have had little time to update this thread. But I do have new stuff comming!

Incomming:
Doom/Night Scythe
Re-designed Crypteks

Give me a little to come down from how good 6th made Night Scythes and I have some new pics posted today!

Shawn G. (SoI)

Dam, i am loving your scheme it is liturally ridiculasly cool, also i am really really liking your scarab swarms

Soul of Iron wrote:

firstly i am so subscribing to this and secoundly for your bases have you thought about having the fissures coming out from under the rocks/crystals

sort of as if they were buried necron structures trying to break out from under ground

The preparation for NOVA continues.



First up, I knocked out 5 more immortals last week. Thins brings the needed model count down to 8. I used some Praetorian heads to represent sergeants for my squads. I know, I know; “Necrons don’t have sergeants!”. But I like it and it looks cool so shut up.

I’ve already started the last batch and plan to have them completed this week.





Next are my Cryptek redesigns. I opted to redesign my C’tek a while back, as I didn’t think they looked robust enough to be minor characters. I used the Praetorian/Liche Guard kit to make them look a little beefier, and I have to say I dig this design a lot more. I’m especially fond of the glowing orbs on their backs.







Lastly, I got my bases from Dragon Forge last week. I set them up as masters for my checker plate base design and casted the molds. I now can produce my own 150mm, 120mm, 100mm, and 80mm bases. Having a large variety of base layouts has been so useful!

I used a 120mm base to mount the flying stand for my scythe. I actually pinned the flying stand to the base as I didn’t trust glue to be strong enough on it’s own. The rock formations I made out of sculpey were really easy to cut with an X-acto so I got the look I was striving for.

I already said how much I love this kit, and I like it even more after it was painted. After adding the flying stand this model is likely now my favorite! It’s so damn sweet it gave me cavities. I must have more! And after the rules for flyers in 6th combined with the Necron FAQ, I’ll likely have at least 6 Scythe variants.

That’s all I gotz for now. More to come as I progress.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Pardon the drool, I'll clean it up later...

meanwhile, I don't suppose you've got a shot of the models finished thus far all together, do you?

@ kencotter - That is a BRILLIANT idea! I'm going to build one using that concept today. Thank you sir!

@ skoffs - Here ya go. Just took this at your request and I have to say, I'm surprised at how far I've come in this project. The army looks pretty damn good so far.



Shawn G. (SoI)

The army thus far is looking beautiful so far. I bet your opponents will probably say the same thing.

Together they look even better together than they do when you see them by themselves. Where are you planning on going with it next?

Young Logan

See the new Forge World unit, SoI? They'd look pretty good in this scheme, I reckon.

no probs man the army grop shot looks killer the light bases make the blue stand out on the models

@Young Logan - I'm working on the last 10 immortals I need for this list. I should get them done this week.

@ Dysartes - I did see them. And they will very likely be bought. That new flyer looked pretty damn cool as well.

Shawn G. (SoI)

I love everything about the night scythe, except the starkness between the black rock on the base and the brown surrounding. I think maybe a few smaller rocks dispersed about, or as the other poster suggested, fissures coming out from under it, might make it mesh a bit more.

Will you be tempted by any allies for 6th ed? Desperate Allies seem almost untenable with the drawbacks, and Necrons have no Battle Brothers, so it would likely just be the Allies of Convenience that could be of use (CSM, Grey Knights, Orks, Tau). Could make an interesting modelling project for the future... enslaved Tau? They'd look fantastic with your black armor and stark blue lining, too.

Personally, allies opens up a way for me to add even more dreadnoughts to my army so if Nova allows them, I'll likely have a few Ironclads in my list!

Surprised that Necrons aren't Battle Brothers with Blood Angels.

Great army shot!!! Again such a great colour scheme

Soul of Iron wrote:

*swoon*
beautiful Nec'Trons...

also,

Dysartes wrote:See the new Forge World unit, SoI? They'd look pretty good in this scheme, I reckon.

... link?

¿What colours did you use to paint the gold parts?

Love your Necron. Lookin pimpin! The Tron vibe is awesome.

I love how all the colors pop. Been following for awhile now and that force pictue was the money shot.

Wow, outstanding choice of colors. These are beautiful.

omg i love this colour scheme mine is very close but without the white parts any advice would be very very welcome

skoffs wrote:also,

Dysartes wrote:See the new Forge World unit, SoI? They'd look pretty good in this scheme, I reckon.

... link?

Knew I missed something - this thread, first post, first image.

Dysartes wrote:

skoffs wrote:also,

Dysartes wrote:See the new Forge World unit, SoI? They'd look pretty good in this scheme, I reckon.

... link?

Knew I missed something - this thread, first post, first image.

Delicious Wasps... *smacks lips*
Can't wait to see what the Super Heavy and Walker turn out like.
(gotta wait till IA12, I guess...)

I would love to know what you did with your warriors as I'm painting mine at the minute

@ iev1atan - The bronze uses a base of VMC Orange Brown (70981), highlighted with 50/50 Orange Brown & Golden Yellow.

Greetings all. I've been in a bit of a rut for these last few days. I'll be back in the saddle and cruising shortly.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Wow... very late to the party... but these Necrons are awesome! I remember your Tomb Kings from 2011... sweet lord, you're a painting machine!

-Remi

Sorry people for my lack of content. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been in a bit of a rut and it’s been difficult to drum up motivation to paint anything. Well it’s seems like I’ve gotten over that hump and I’ve been cruising nicely. NOVA is only a few short weeks away and I need to get cracking if this project is to get done!

I’ve focused on getting all the small stuff done, and so far this week has been very productive! Here’s what I got done:



I finished the remaining Canoptek Spiders that have been rotting away on my desk for weeks now. The template model is in the middle.



I also knocked out 4 more scarab bases. That completes the necessary scarabs for my display, but I’ll likely hammer out a few more for completeness. Here’s the whole lot as I can’t distinguish the old ones from the new. Which is good I guess!



Since I’ve pinned down what I intend to bring to NOVA (More on that later…), I built and painted 2 additional Heavy Destroyers for this army. I even utilized a leftover Tesla Destructor to build a left-armed cannon. Not a fan of the Deathmark heads now that they are done, but oh well.





My NOVA list includes 2 small units of warriors so I built and painted a template model. I hate the glow rods that these guys come with so I gleaned some new ones from cannibalizing the new rod design out of the plethora of gauss blasters I have sitting around. I have to say, this guy looks good! 9 more to prime and paint!







Years ago, my wife got me a GW dice box for Christmas. I love that thing and I’ve wanted to use it for years, but it was cast in porcelain like resin. It would break my heart if that thing were to drop and shatter, so it’s sat on my mantle for over a decade. Finally I let my compulsive nature take control and made/painted a dice box for this army.

I molded that beauty up; man did it take a lot of rubber, and cast it in my own black resin. I then painted it in my army colors, magnetized, and varnished the ever-living-crap out of it. And before you ask, yes the dice match my army colors. I did mention I’m compulsive at times…

I’ll be tackling another Annihilation Barge this week while I work on cutting the base slots out of my display board. Cruising along nicely!

Shawn G. (SoI)

Lookin good Shawn, I will be joining the Necron bandwagon soon too, good to see your alt scheme... for the warriors, the rods, are those the ones from shapeways?

Thanks MajorTom. I cut my rods out of the gauss blaster from the Immortal kit. After a little trimming they fit in perfectly.

I should take some pictures of how I did it and post them here.

Can you link the shapeways rods? To be honest, I've never even heard of this site. I had no idea that 3d printing had come so far!

Shawn G.

Love the dice box. You said you casted it. Does that mean you can make one more? :-)

leohart wrote:Love the dice box. You said you casted it. Does that mean you can make one more? :-)

Yeah I can make more, but that is dangerous ground to tread my friend.

Shawn G. (SOI)

Oh, I am loving the dice box you have re-cast! How long did that take, I wonder? I doubt I could still get one from anywhere.

Wow - everything in this thread is looking brilliant. Such a very different style of necrons, yet it works so well. Kudos to you, will be watching intently!

- Dan

Shawn I can't wait to see this army in person.

- Mike

@ Dr. Temujin - It didn't take long to cast, but did eat up a lot of rubber. I use the sample containers from smooth-on for my molds, and it took 2.5 containers for the base and 1 for the top. Takes about 24 hrs to cure. The resin takes an hour for safe demolding.

@DanSly - Thanks! Glad you like.

@Mike - I'm looking forward greatly to NOVA. Need to get some more games in. I've been kind of starved lately. I should be complete by then.

Shawn G. (SoI)

These are awesome i think i may have to steal some of your techniques if i ever bring myself to do some necrons i think ill go with a black and orange(for the glowing parts) theme though.
Again Great Work!

So, the NOVA Open is a scant 8 days away and I’m still painting.



I finished the needed warriors for my list. With them ALL the infantry in intend to paint for this army are complete, at least for a while. Huge milestone passed.



I mentioned before that I’ve not been overly compelled to paint the wraiths. While I like the models, they are to damn fragile (the whip coils were designed foolishly). These are my redesigns for this Thokt project. I was worried that the models would not fit the scheme, but that is no longer the case.

Last Saturday I was looking at this project found a problem. As a whole the army looks good, but it was lacking something. It’s been bothering me for weeks now and finally I figured it out. The army has no centerpiece. Couldn’t have that now could I?

I have 2 whip coil designs that I should have finished shortly. They’ll be posted soon. Before NOVA I promise!

Shawn G. (SoI)

The Wraith on the left looks a little misplaced (still looks Tomb Kings-ish to me), but otherwise they look good!
Best of luck finishing in time for NOVA!

Best looking necrons I have ever seen. WOW!

Very well done! Excellent scheme and quite unique! Thank you very much for sharing!

Wow....just...wow.

LOVE the design. makes me want to respray my entire nexron army.

I like how you used the Tesla Annihilator for the H.Destroyers. I was thinking of getting a couple of heavy gauss cannons (off the Stalker kit) from a bitz site and going the same route. Are they about the same size do you know?

@Razieltemplar - Black with an orange glow would look very good as well. Be sure to add 1-2 other colors to add some additional contrast and to break up the scheme.

@ Dr. Temujin - I have to agree with you, that one does look pretty archaic next to the Necron line. I wanted a unit that would stand out in my army and this unit does that well.

@ Rabid Ferret & Flachzange- Than you!

@ Praxiss - The H. Gauss from the stalker kit is pretty large. It's shorter, but thicker then the Tesla A. I got from the barge kit. I thought it would make the unit look a little off balanced so I didn't use it.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Thanks for the insight, i thought it might be too bulky but i was hoping....

i have seen a pic in the gallery of a conversion someone did with chopping the end off the gauss cannon and repacig it withthe barrel froma Deathmark - looks alright and i already have the bits so think i will try that.


EDIT-
Found the gallery image...

@Praxiss: hmmm.... that could be a really cheap yet effective way for getting a Heavy Gauss Cannon. Looks much better than going for the Resin version, or trying to find one on eBay for a somewhat reasonable price.

I dunno, heavy destroyers ca be netted on eBay for a price similar to normal destroyers. In fact, I recently scored 3 of them for $22 a piece. The old metal ones and everything.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, everything looks amazing. I think I'll have to paint up some models in this scheme. I primarily play with my Sautekh models, but you know how Imotekh likes to requisition resources from other dynasties.

Yeah, H. Destroyers are not very popular right now so you can get them on the cheap online if you dig a little. I just made these for S & G's.

I've been hammering away on my display tray. I had it finished last week, but I changed my list so it had to be redone. I'm kind of glad as the original one was pretty boring. This new one is not that much of an upgrade, but it is a big improvement. It should be done today, but I wont have pics for it till Sat or so as this afternoon is going to be pretty hectic.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Love the troncrons man. Exalted. I agree with your assessment on whip coils though they are quite fragile. do you still have the tiny wires bit that goes on the bottom of the spiders model? you could likely replace either a abdomen bulb or a small leg on a wraith model and use it as whip coil. i would allow it as WYSIWYG personally. just a thought as i LOVE the new wraith model and would love to see one painted in your scheme


Automatically Appended Next Post:
just had a thought... you could use that same bit i just mentioned and model it to the end of the wraith tail like the classic metal wraith.

i dont think anyone would argue that the tail with those on the end would not count as whip coil

Hmmm, that wire bit from the spider sprue would work well. I'll give it a try. It will have to wait till after NOVA though.

Shawn G. (SoI)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
My display is done. Thank god for that!



Here’s a group shot of the right side of my army display. It took me forever to get one good pic at this distance. I really need to get better with my camera…

Just 3 models left till I’m done:
2 Wraiths
1 Night Scythe

I can knock those out in 5 days...

Shawn G.

Very cool display you got!

Looking pretty good, SoI.

Absolutely love this color scheme bud, great execution! What kind of material did you make your Necron-y crystals from? That's one of the next things on my to do list for my tomb world board, and I figured I'd make them from the vast amount of Styrofoam I have laying around, but I thought I'd ask. But like I said, everything looks great man!

@NakedSeamus - I used the green crystals from Gale Force 9. They come in 2 other colors (red & blue) and are likely just what you are looking for.

I'm waiting till I get the last 3 minis done before I show the whole display.

Shawn G.

Looking really nice so far SoI, cant wait to see the full display.

This is amazing. I love the blue

Absolutely love them

Scythe finished. The last 2 wraiths will be done tomorrow.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Good luck. And those models are simply amazing!

Oh my gosh, this is among the most gorgeous Necron armies I've ever seen. I'd love to see a Monolith painted up in this scheme.

Better hurry up, man. Tick, tock

Well, I’ve finished all I intend to bring to NOVA, and with 2 days to spare!





I finished my second Night Scythe last night. I was a little surprised at how quick I was able to hammer this kit out. It inspires me to field some more, though I can’t say that about the Ghost Ark… That kit is pure madness!





While on the topic of vehicles, I forgot to post this last week. I finished another Annihilation Barge while I was working on those last few warriors. Turned out well.





Next up are the last 2 models I needed to finish for NOVA. I’ll be using these beauties to represent whip coil wraiths. I may have overdone it a little with the colors on the back of their hoods, but finished is finished.



Here’s a group shot of the whole unit. I now have a proper centerpiece for this army.







Last up are some additional shots of the army on its completed display. I’ve piss poor lighting in my basement so getting a good full shot is nigh impossible. It’s either that, or I have no idea how to use my camera correctly… (My wager is on the latter…)

I would take this over to the GW shop to get some good pics like I did last year for Blob’s Creek, but that shop is depressingly small with worse light then what I have at home. I’ll take them upstairs and see if I can get some good shots there.

Well, that’s it! I’m ready for NOVA and I’m getting pretty damn stoked.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Thats crazy good! Im a big tomb kings fan, its cool to see the models fit with the cron style.

Good luck at the tourney!!

Looks great man! Your "wraiths" deff look good but im still hoping for at least one with the spider wires bit I mentioned, i just love the new wraith too much i guess
board looks brilliant. GL at NOVA

Thanks All!

@Keltikhoa - I will give that a try here soon. Just taking a break before diving into NOVA. Likely next week.

Shawn G.

Awesome display! Looking good, Iron.

Lovely display board. Models are so beautiful, Iron. Do you have a tutorial for the display board?

Wow SoI the display board is looking amazing.

Thanks all.

I'm about to head to NOVA for registration. I'll be staying at the Hyatt so I don't have to transport all this stuff. Don't think I'll make it for the 7pm cut off.

@Leohart - I think I could put something together. Give me some time and I'll replicate it small scale.

Shawn G.

Awesome. Thanks Shawn.

Cool Crons there brother, I also like the custom paint scheme, very nice work with the blues.

Well, I'm back from NOVA. I had a BLAST and I have to say, I'm now hooked on competitive gaming. My crons went 5-3 for the weekend.

I'm now trying to pin down my next army project and I'm taking commissions from friends to help me fund it. This army was about 75% funded. I want my next project 100% funded. Nothing like doing something I love for free!

Shawn G.

Awesome sauce. As someone already said, the Troncrons looking good

havent seen this thread in a little while gld to see the necrons lcomming on good if your still working on them thought you might be intrested in this


http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/anarchy-models/anarchy-crystals/blue-anarchy-crystals/cat_1629.html

have you guys seen the red version

I've been following your blogs for the past several years, and wanted to say that your work's been very inspriational.

I have (cumulative) about 6,000 points of Tomb Kings and Necrons that have been dying for glue/paint for several years. I'm finally getting back into 40k/Fantasy, and eager to try out the techniques you've posted. Keep up the great work!

Buried and long since forgotten, the Thoct Dynasty rises…

Damn, Been a while since I touched this tread…

Hello people, Soul’s back in his painting chair prepping for Adepticon ’15. I’m building/painting new force to participate in the Team Battles. I have some new units I’ve been working on so this thread is going to see some much needed action.

First new unit – The Ghost Ark







Back in 2012,I built and painted a Doomsday Ark. I’m unsure if you are aware, but hat kit is a NIGHTMARE to assemble. It has a mind-numbing amount of parts and I swore I would never build another, but they are so good now. Like scary good. And the Adepticon list we are building calls for 4.

This thing took hours to build and longer to paint, I’m rusty and I’ve been trying some new things to cut completion time. I opted do not include the ‘crew’for two reasons. Firstly, the 10 mounted warriors are 50+ parts to assemble. 50. Seriosuly. 50+. Second, I didn’t think the paint scheme I designed for my warriors would lend enough visual interest to warrant such suffering in assembly. I was worried I would not like it when it was complete, but I do. I like the ‘openness’ of it.
I built a cool base for it to float over. I used some pine bark for the rocks, but I suck at base design. I’ve never been happy in any base scheme I’ve created save for snow bases. A base redesign may be in order. I’ll try a few things and post my results to get your opinions.

Shawn G. (Soul)

Thats looking really nice, I think it looks fine open without the crew.

Good to have you back.

I feel like if you ever feel up to revisiting it, you could maybe look at some sort of bas-relief detailing, with panels set up between some of the ribs, with rest-pose warriors embedded in them. Think Han Solo in carbonite.

I really like the two-toned color scheme of your Necrons. Looking great, keep it up!

GiraffeX - Thanks. Feels nice to be painting again.
Anvildude - What you suggest sounds cool, but I'm terrible at sculpting. That's a little beyond my talents.
Warboss - Thanks.

I'm in the process of modding this scheme some. I've gotten better with my airbrush and its cut my painting steps down by quite a bit. I'm going to try my new techniques in large scale and finally paint the monolith I've had primed for years.

Soul

Who said you have to sculpt? Granted, it might take a bit of greenstuff, but you can buy it cheaper than GW gives it out, under the brand name Kneaditite- get a blob of it, roll it into a slab, press the upper torso of one of the passengers into it and let it dry. Tada!

Ah, I understand you know. I don't think that would work for me.

I would love if the kit had some sort of layout where you could display a mounted battle ready crew. Kind of like how the dark Eldar hang of their raiders. As it stands I'll just likely leave it open.

Soul

I've bee kicking around the idea of changing my armies bases for a while now. since I'm so bad with base work, I've decid to go with what I know. Snow.

Here's a mockup using pine bark rocks and baking soda snow:





Here’s it next to one of my new destoyers. I’ll have the unit finished this week and I’ll post and go over the revision of my paint scheme.





Shawn G.

Glad to see the Dynasty rise again!

Just wanted to say that its great to see this thread in action again. Looking forward to your new work.

So anyone familiar with me is aware of my love for a good dice box. I’m always on the look out for one for my armies. I have two for my tomb kings; one I’ve shared and the other I’ve been sitting on for a few years. And I’ve one that is actually Imperial designed that I recast and painted to go with my Necron army. The second box while awesome, never settled well with me. The colors may match, but the theme is all wrong! And my neurosis would not grant me satisfaction until I found a suitable replacement. I searched and searched but never found one that was acceptable and years ago, 2012, I said to myself you’re going to have to build one. I never got around to it, and then I fell into my funk and everything went to the wayside. Till now.



Last month I started conceptualizing this dice box project. I sketched some ideas out on paper (badly) and ran it past some friends. After some re-working I started gathering parts.

First off it needed to be round. I went digging around the plumbing isle in Lowes and found a 3” repair coupling that fit the role perfectly. After a bit of sanding the piece was perfectly smooth. I did have to grind some ugly parts off and it will need some additional filling/sanding closer to the end but so far so good. I started hunting for the parts add onto the frame. Off to Plastruct!

After perusing Plastruct’s catalog for several days, I built myself a nice list of parts and made my order. Also need a lid and that took several days to find. I found this company, MSC Industrial Supply, which sold plastic disks perfect for my project. I piced up two 4” plastic disks. After they arrived, only took a day, I measured the coupling and it was just shy of 4 inches. Damn my luck. I’ll just have to fix that flaw in production.

It took another few days for the Plastruct order to arrive and by then the lid disk was nicely sanded and line divided into three parts. I also divided the coupling into three parts to make adding the plastic elements easier.

Time to begin production!









I knew a round design was going to be a pain, I had no idea. Bending that plastic was a chore that took hours. First I boiled some water and dumped the pre-cut pieces into to soften them up for bending. Little did I know that 100 degrees was not hot enough to work this plastic. I need to go HOTTER!

The oven was right out there was not way I’d be able to keep the parts from melting if it got to warm so I decided to give my wife’s hair dryer a run. The air that rushes out of the business end is really hot on the highest setting and I bet it would warm the plastic up perfectly if I was patient and careful. It took a little trial and error, but I managed to get 6 pieces bent around the coupling frame with some strong clamps. With that done, it was time to start to glue.



I got the first elements on with no problem. The hard part was getting the bent parts around the bottom of the box. I used my dremel and a round sanding bit to get the parts to fit around what I call the glowing elements. It was pretty damn difficult to get it right and I used of four of the six parts I made getting it right. I glued them down and clamped it tight for a few hours. I had to finish it one section at a time so this phase took a day or so. ~ I was so busy working on this part that I forgot to take pictures. This is a close-up the finished work. ~







The lid was easy. The pre-measured lines made adding the parts a breeze though I did have some trouble getting the vertical bits to line up correctly. I had to tear a part off and re-glue it because it was crooked. You can actually see it in the pic above.

Getting the inside of the lid has been a real trial. I could not for the life of me find a part to fit in there correctly. I settled with using some foam and some rubber bands to fill the gap. I’ll be casting this whole thing when I’m done so those parts will blend seamlessly.



I added some ½ inch plastic strips to the top of the box. These were not too hard but I did discover that my measurements for trisecting the box were off by about ¼ of an inch. Never did this before so I think that and acceptable degree of error.



Here’s the whole thing so far. Not too bad. I’m no sure on the lid as it looks like a replication of the top of the box. I don’t know what I’ll do about that at the moment. I’ll just continue with production and fix that design bug later.

Please let me know what you think so far. Feedback is very helpful!

Shawn G. (SoI)

~ Posted this from my phone! \o/ ~

Very cool. Super, super happy that you fixed the crooked strut, though I'd suggest for future 'round' projects that you don't attempt perfect division without quadruple-checking your protractors or utilizing a compass and straightedge to lay out your lines- better to have one section be deliberately smaller, or all three be deliberately different sizes. It can also add to the 'artistic' merit of the piece if you do it right. Adds more visual interest. Perfect symmetry is only really interesting when you get into fine detail stuff like fractals.


On the seal- I'd actually suggest casting it without the rubber band- leaving a little groove where you can put a rubber band after- that way you can actually have a seal on it- and it's not like gummybands are that hard to come across.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I've never done anything like this before. I opted to go with a round shape just because I thought it would be cool. The reality was enlightening...

I'm in the process of pinning down the interior detail. I'm unsure if I want to etch blocks like the monolith and add that strange coffin shape for dynasty detail, or this complex tech line pattern I have in my crappy sketch designs. I'll practice both on some spare plasticard to see how it turns out.

As for the seal, I intend on filling in that entire zone with apoxy sculpt prior to casting. Getting a perfect seal is improbable as the inside shape of this coupling is not perfectly round. What's your opinion on the top? I'm not quite sure about it while it's on the box. I think the two parts look better separate then together. It's kind of bothering me.

Shawn G. (SoI)

The 'oddness' you're seeing is probably because of a sort of 'uncanny valley' effect. The pillars are the same width as their continuations on the top, but the bits on the lid aren't the same depth- it's causing visual and tactile conflict. You'll want to either 'smallify' the parts on the side of the lid so that they're completely flush with the pillars on the sides of the main jar, or 'embiggen' the pillars on the jar to match up with the parts on the top. You don't have to make the whole things bigger (the side 'columns', I'll call them, while I'll call the ones on the top part 'caps') to make it work- you can make an angle, or a subtle or not-so-subtle curve as well, and it should look good. Just as long as it matches perfectly.

Or, you could go the other route and make them match each other by making an obvious socket for one or the other. This would have the added bonus of making it easier to line them up to each other. Your best bet there would be to just make the Caps a bit bigger and maybe give them a tiny lip to hug the outside of the tops of the columns.


It's a similar problem for the join between the white areas of the top and the container. Right now, there's just enough of a lip/gap that they don't flow as a single piece, but not enough of one that they're clearly meant to be viewed as separate. You need to either work on cleaning the join up significantly (I'm leaning towards this fix) or make the top clearly larger- maybe with a bit of decorative trim.

Easiest fix would be to sand the container walls until they match up (the whole thing, unless you want a visual curve/angle, which could be interesting potentially) and then put a deliberate bevel on the outer lips of both the lid and the container. There would be a line, but there's always going to be a line (you're not a precision machinist working with steel, after all), so it's best to make it non-obtrusive by making it obvious. A sort of "Yeah, I'm a gap, you wanna make something of it?" mentality.

Thanks so much for he feedback!

I have additional body work that should change this oddness that's bothering me.

Life has been a tad busy. Hope to get some more work in this weekend.