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Painting up a necron army
What I'm thinking is a bit like the following examples:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/858217272713982512/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/858217272714014979/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/804033339695523077/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/521150988101391295/

https://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/scarabs2.jpg

Silvery metal - moving parts, blades/weapons

Black - armour (I had thought of having this red-edged but I think that coupled to the glow colour it would be a touch too much; though the inlays and symbols will be red)

Red - Glowing bits (guns - eyes - inlays)

bronze - armour (giving a break up so that its not all just pitch black).


I'm no good at choosing what colours to layer up to gain an effect or do edges and the like; so I'd greatly welcome some suggestions as to how I can carry this off and get a good effect. I can search colours on the GW app (and since most of my few paints are GW it would be easier to stick to them unless there's a very good choice to add in another brand for) though whilst the app might give some structure it might not give the best results for the difference surfaces I'm thinking of nor how one might layer the paints on the model to build up to the complete effect (esp for things like washes)

Might help if you let us know what army you're painting up

lol can't believe I forgot to put that - edited the post with the details - Necron

So going through GW's paint app I've come up with the following possible combinations

Black:
base Abaddon Black
edge iconbreaker
edge nuln oil

Metals:
base leadbelcher
wash nuln oil
layer ironbreaker
edge runefan steel

Bronze:
base Warplock bronze
shade agrax earthsahde
layer brass scorpion
edge runelord brass

Reds:
base khorn red
shade carroburg crimson
edge swazdakka red
edge wild rider red


Although I think that the reds it gives are more for an area than a glow effect; meanwhile I'm also concerned that the metal and bronze might be a touch too close to metallics in as much as having that shine to them, which would clash with the black armour on them. Ideally the silver and bronze want to hold the colour, but not the shiny sparkle of metallics?

If you're still painting these in a few weeks time you might want to check out our INSTAR range, the colours that Overread listed would work well for your paint scheme and we can match those colours easy and save you money.

Washing the metals for a second time (a light wash that is) after applying the layer and edge highlights would reduce the shine somewhat.

Thanks Shandy - though I am overrread (talking to myself )

Would you think a black undercoat would work better for this or a white? Black certainly goes ok for the silver and black parts; I just wonder if it will mean more layers for the brighter bronze and red effect -- esp since the red glow effect is going to be on th smallest areas of the model and thus not an easy area to paint or put multiple layers onto.

Also the red I've got there only comes from the paintapp and seems geared more toward covering areas of armour; not really going for a gemstone/iris/glow effect which might work with a different combo?

Haha, sorry I didn't realise you were the OP, still getting used to this new phone

It depends on what you want, if you want a darker scheme then go for a black undercoat, if it's a lighter scheme you want then go for a white undercoat. In regards to the glowing effect, you would want a darker selection of reds so that it doean't look washed out and the opposite for the darker scheme as you'll want it to be noticed.

If it's a darker scheme, parts you want brighter will take more coats to make them stand out and less for a white undercoat.

Try loooking up glow effect tutorials on Pinterest or YouTube, they'll give you some idea of what colours you'll need to go for to make it work

The scheme itself is quite dark, though that lends me to think that a white undercoat might be more suitable in achieving a final result that has a dark tone without being so dark that it starts to lose contrast and clarity


paint wise the red choices I've got listed above should cover for a darker red effect?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
See this is why painting ends up confusing me, or at least leaving my high indecisive. It's like photoshop in that there's a thousand different ways to a similar end result.


For the red glow effect I'm now thinking that it might be easier to go with:
Eyes

White Scare - as the base (even if the model is undercoated in white chances are after darker washes from other areas the red areas might have some contamination)

Wazdakka + Lahmian Medium


Lenses (canoptek units and the like):

leadbelcher - base
spiritstone red


Glow areas for weapons/larger areas than eyes

Unsure here if the same method for eyes is enough to carry the effect or if it would be good to go with

White Scare - as the base
Wazdakka - layer
A wash - likely a different red shade than Wazdakka? Something brighter?

Best way to test would be to do it both ways on two different models, it's your army after all

Whichever one you decide to go with, just soak the one you don't like in alcohol and scrub it clean so you can do it in the effect you did like.

Aye, though much as i can trying to comfirm it "works" from others that have done similar helps. Esp since I'm a painting novice so knowing that a combo of colours "should" work means that any error is user error not paint error; plus I've got to buy a fair few of the paints so being sure I'm making the right choice helps too.

While it doesn't help too much, this is where INSTAR helps as we have 2ml sample bottles available, enough for a model so you can see if a colour scheme would work.

It sounds strange but if you can find an outline drawing of a necromancy, you could colour it in and see how it looks, low tech and basic but it's how I came up with my Tau scheme (Look at the "Hold the Line" competition entry) before I started painting it for real.

Aye I've tried doing that, but for me its not just so much the colours and where they go but getting a proper effect with the paints itself.

Right now I'm thinking:

Warrior

Undercoat White - dark scheme overall, but I don't want it too dark, plus should make painting the bright spots easier.

Abbadon Black - shoulder armour, weapon and other areas in

Leadbelcher - remainder of exposed model (barring areas for red light)

Iconbreaker - Edge black regions

Warplock Bronze - edge of crest on chest

Nuln Oil - wash majority of model

Ironbreaker - layer on silver metal area

Runefan Steel - edge silver metal area

Brass Scorption - layer crest on chest

Runelord Brass - edge crest on chest

White Scare - base areas to be painted red

Wazdakka + Lahmian Medium for the eyes and likely weapon

Wazdakka layer for remainder of larger red areas (rear of gun) and crest on chest

I then need a wash or possible edge colour for those final red areas?


Shifting to a lord or canoptek the areas of bronze would increase and there'd be the addition of lens red to paint with the following:

leadbelcher - base
spiritstone red

The effects I can't really help you with unfortunately, though there should be plenty of tutorials available if you type in what you're looking for with miniature painting as the keyword.