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Sup!

I recently decided to buy an airbrush and figured I'd use my unpainted Necron army to learn to use it. I'll also be adding pictures of my Grey Knights as I finish them off, and there is a CSM army awaiting airbrushing too. I don't really like the idea of a WIP blog so I'll just be showing finished stuff. Models from other armies may find their way into here too.

So to start with, I have my Triarch Praetorians and Doomsday Ark. They're painted to what I'd consider to be a table top standard, neat and effective but nothing really special. I don't like spending alot of time on individual models apart from characters, so there isn't much detail to these models. But I hope you'll like them anyway! They were sort of quick to paint, and enjoyable too!

I know these aren't the best quality photos but forgive my first attempt, I'm sure I'll work out proper camera operation as I go along.

C&C is welcome, but no complaining about "Eughmahgerd moar Nercreuns".






I'm not planning on basing the Ark, I'm happy with it clear. Is this OK?

My my!

At first sight, they could seem a little boring, BUT! the glowing effects you made are so neat and well done that it gives them some style.
I really like them even if I'm a big fan of washes.

Good job I say

I love how smooth the ark looks, and the green glow at the back is just fantastic! Very nice work my friend

Have you thought about dipping them?
It's a quick and dirty way to give them at least some depth.

I can understand that some people don't like to spend a considerable amount of time on models, but this does not cost you very much time and would improve the look 100 fold.

Simple and clean... like it alot!

Tasty! Love how clean it all looks. May we know how long it took you to do the barge?

I agree with the notion that they could do with some washing and/or dipping. As they are, they look extremely flat, and the OSL lacks depth.

wow, you actually somehow managed to find a lazier and more boring way to paint up the Necrons than the typical silver green/teal....

gratz they look smooth, but you used an airbrush, so if they didn't; you'd be doing something severely wrong. But with no detail at all and lazilly done OSL, looks like you took the airbrush and slowly brought it closer to the model as you intensified the spray. For the ark, I would honestly be surprised if you even touched the model at any point with a brush....

this will prolly come out harsh, but I think it needs to be said. By any standard, these aren't even close to being "finished" products or even tabletop quality. I had to re-read the post bc I honestly thought this was a WIP thread from the pictures.

Didnt think i would ever agree with anyone with a harche response as overlordweasel. But i do agree with him. I think what you did miss a few steps... Like if you sprayed on a layer of wash inbetween and re-highlighted them and added more then one shade of green for your attempt of osl they would look a lot better

overlordweasel wrote:
wow, you actually somehow managed to find a lazier and more boring way to paint up the Necrons than the typical silver green/teal....

gratz they look smooth, but you used an airbrush, so if they didn't; you'd be doing something severely wrong. But with no detail at all and lazilly done OSL, looks like you took the airbrush and slowly brought it closer to the model as you intensified the spray. For the ark, I would honestly be surprised if you even touched the model at any point with a brush....

this will prolly come out harsh, but I think it needs to be said. By any standard, these aren't even close to being "finished" products or even tabletop quality. I had to re-read the post bc I honestly thought this was a WIP thread from the pictures.

yeah I'm going to have to echo this, they look like you've spent an hour with an airbrush and left it at that. A wash or something would work well but as it stands it's just some silver necrons with hastily sprayed on green bits :/ also try picking out some details with another colour. so far they're not even 3 colours safe

it does look a two colour model but it is incrediably smoothe o-o

 Sasa0mg wrote:
it does look a two colour model but it is incrediably smoothe o-o

as has been said, if it wasn't then he's useing that airbrush the wrong way

Wow, that's some seriously divided feedback!

Where to start... After the two-tone silver I sprayed a layer of watered-down black wash. I'm not sure how more wash would go on the flat surfaces, it would probably ruin the consistency. The OSL was a two-step thing: a brushed on layer of Goblin Green followed by the airbrushed Scorpion green. That's why the green parts have more intensity than the surrounding silver parts where the 'lighting' happens. The different shades of silver didn't come out too well in the picture. Also, there're several details I picked out with Shining Gold but the picture doesn't show them up well enough.

But I'll take some of what has been said on board for the next Necrons I post: I'll make the OSL a bit 'deeper' and use some washes to create more dynamism overall.

In the mean-time, I've got a couple of shots of my GK Librarian I just finished. It's a very different style of painting. I didn't use any metallic paints and did most of the work with a detail brush. I'm not happy with the staff but I'm not going to try and re-do it as I'll probably make it worse! I'd like to know what people think of this too.

 DPBellathrom wrote:

overlordweasel wrote:
wow, you actually somehow managed to find a lazier and more boring way to paint up the Necrons than the typical silver green/teal....

gratz they look smooth, but you used an airbrush, so if they didn't; you'd be doing something severely wrong. But with no detail at all and lazilly done OSL, looks like you took the airbrush and slowly brought it closer to the model as you intensified the spray. For the ark, I would honestly be surprised if you even touched the model at any point with a brush....

this will prolly come out harsh, but I think it needs to be said. By any standard, these aren't even close to being "finished" products or even tabletop quality. I had to re-read the post bc I honestly thought this was a WIP thread from the pictures.

yeah I'm going to have to echo this, they look like you've spent an hour with an airbrush and left it at that. A wash or something would work well but as it stands it's just some silver necrons with hastily sprayed on green bits :/ also try picking out some details with another colour. so far they're not even 3 colours safe

personally i disagree with both of you, i argue the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Its not like these models are ugly or anything, and these dont need to be the cream of the crop, but sometimes a little simple goes a long way. These necrons do look amazingly smooth with the airbrush, but you can make em look a little better by applying a wash,or spiffing up the bases.

wolfmerc wrote:

 DPBellathrom wrote:

overlordweasel wrote:
wow, you actually somehow managed to find a lazier and more boring way to paint up the Necrons than the typical silver green/teal....

gratz they look smooth, but you used an airbrush, so if they didn't; you'd be doing something severely wrong. But with no detail at all and lazilly done OSL, looks like you took the airbrush and slowly brought it closer to the model as you intensified the spray. For the ark, I would honestly be surprised if you even touched the model at any point with a brush....

this will prolly come out harsh, but I think it needs to be said. By any standard, these aren't even close to being "finished" products or even tabletop quality. I had to re-read the post bc I honestly thought this was a WIP thread from the pictures.

yeah I'm going to have to echo this, they look like you've spent an hour with an airbrush and left it at that. A wash or something would work well but as it stands it's just some silver necrons with hastily sprayed on green bits :/ also try picking out some details with another colour. so far they're not even 3 colours safe

personally i disagree with both of you, i argue the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Its not like these models are ugly or anything, and these dont need to be the cream of the crop, but sometimes a little simple goes a long way. These necrons do look amazingly smooth with the airbrush, but you can make em look a little better by applying a wash,or spiffing up the bases.

but....thats what we were sayig........

no one was saying that they weren't smooth, it's just that they need, like you (we) said, a wash/more detail

if you cant paint smooth layers of paint you should not be using an airbrush on your models!
but the silver lacks depth... and i know i was one of the people that suggested a wash but i now see that thats not the way to go... you need shading or highlighting with an airbrush for these models! preferably both! it makes you spend 20 seconds more per model but it does look a lot better!

and for a way to make you OSL look much better without much hassle i suggest coating the lightsource with gloss varnish and then applying a dark green wash. it will crawl away into the recesses so you will preserve your nice bright colors but it does add depth (and with that the optical illusion of a real glow) and you can dullcoat it after if you like..

believe me... all these tips, while you might have to pick up your models again, but they will make your models look much, MUCH better!

Personally, I think they look great. Simplicity has its own appeal. There are plenty of more complicated ways to paint Necrons (and sometimes I lament that I chose one of them for my Dynasty), but the simple silver and solid OSL - complimented by the well done basing (which I think is a big factor in giving it the "simple and finished" look rather than the "WIP" look) is just as effective. You could, as you and the others have said now, experiment with thicker washes, but I don't see it as a necessary step! If you like it, you aren't alone - keep it up!

The Librarian looks solid too. I'm a fan of matte Grey Knights as well, though I would have used a darker grey and highlighted up with your base color. Aren't librarians still blue power armour, even in GK? It's no matter, paint them however you want, but that's one thing I always look for in tabletop representation! Still, great details on the book and the Staff looks fine from the angle you posted - but maybe give us a shot of the Staff in full for more critique.