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My second attempt at painting up a Necron warrior; overall a good result but there are some glaring issues that I would greatly appreciate some help and advice with (as well as any general pointers based upon what you see). I've listed out below the methods used - I should note that the photos are "quick and dirty" and that the above light I've used has somewhat increased the edge highlight on the silver areas of the model more than is apparent in reality (didn't have space to setup my lights to the sides).







Method used:
Undercoat in white spray

Paint majority of model in Leadbelcher (basically everywhere aiming to avoid the areas for red or black)

Wash all metal painted areas with Agrax Earthshade (I think I was a bit to conservative with this layer as not all recesses are as dark as they should be)

Layer Ironbreaker over the metal areas; note I left some areas like the "guts" of the model, backs of legs/joins and the neck area of the model without this layer. I might have also painted a bit too heavy and masked one or two bits of the recesses

Paint a layer of Abbadon Black over shoulders and wrists.

Edge meals with runefang steel; also edged one shoulder of black with this (other edged poorer with white scar)

Base of Warplock Bronze on chest plate

layer of Brass Scorpion on chest plate

Edge of Runlord Brass on chest plate


Right now I'm thinking that getting the black effect I want is not really going to work as well as I'd hoped and that the edging to really get it to look good is beyond my current skill (without burning through half the army learning). I'm tempted to shift to using the bronze instead for the second primary colour on the model; however this leaves me without a third colour (good for details on lords and also for breaking up the colours on bigger vehicles and the like).
A dark gold or copper could work, although I worry that gold could be too bright whilst copper too similar to the bronze


Gun
Much the same only when coming to the red areas I experimented with
layer of leadbelcher
layer of wazdakka red and lahman medium (potentially too much paint not enough medium);
layer of Spiritstone red.

It's had an effect but its closer to blood than the glow of a red "light" that I wanted (also wanted it for the eyes on the main model).



Overall I'm pleased with the result of the core body metal and the bronze chest. The black just doesn't seem to be working whilst the red also needs some adjustment. I'd greatly welcome any input and feedback into this method and any suggestions for improvements.
I'm already thinking that the weapon body needs to be something other than silver; I could bronze that and then have the other primary colour be the detailing for shoulders and wrist/ankle brands. Or I could leave the weapon without the further layer of ironbreaker and instead use that for an edge highlight only (giving the gun the darker effect of the guts/joints).

Looks clean and appropriately "Necronish" - if that is a word... I do agree with your comment about being a little too conservative on the wash. The recessed areas could be a bit darker to give more depth, as that is the only thing I see lacking. I might also recommend the ball joints of the arms and legs to be in another color - maybe a darker silver tone.

All in all, great technique!!

Thanks MDSW - any tips or ideas on how to give the glowing red areas more depth and glow to them? I feel like the red effect I've got now fits for a blood or paint type, but its not really "glowing" as such.

Id say touch up on the silver. like on his chest crest thing.

as for the glow, edge highlight the red area with a lighter red or orange.

alternatively paint the coils and eyes white and paint over that with a red ink or wash. its thin enough that it will pool so the white still shows from underneath looking like a glow rather than a solid red part.

Thanks Desu - I agree about touching and tidying things up, though as this was mostly a tester I was not too concerned with darting into fix things; more about the order of layering the paints down so that what I put down worked rather than backfiring (eg first one I tried out I added the black a lot earlier which proved to be a pain when layering the next silver layer on and it impacting the shoulder regions with messy edges).

I did just catch Ghools wash thread
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/747908.page

so might try that for the red zone.

Any suggestion about a gold or copper paint scheme I could use instead of the black; or touching the black up better or another colour instead?

I think it looks rather bland.

Perhaps it will look better with the green rod contrasting the red eyes. Or with a base.

The eldar used to call the necrons the silver warriors, it sertanly fits that, but I don't like it. I would at the very leats try to grease it up some. Perhaps very lightly some steps earlier if you wanne keep the silver. The problem is that silver don't really contrast with a lot. So you could try to go for a white/light dark contrast. More red can make a white red contrast that can be pleasing.

Well warriors are pretty bland as it gets.

the lack of details leaves only weathering to tell a story

besides their favorite energy flavor.

I'm thinking what I'll do is undercoat in white, then Leadbelcher then do a proper wash with Agrax Earthshade.

However I'll leave the guts, arm sockets, arm joints, neckline, basically anywhere moving or shaded without the Ironbreaker layer on top. That should help in giving those areas a different colour toward the effect without me actually having to add another colour. If I leave all joints it also makes it a lot easier when I come to add the gun as I can just leave those sockets and joint area at the agrax earthsade stage.

I've also been playing around with the red. I'm still not happy with the eyes or gun; however I've also tried adding some red between the ribs. I thought of doing this for just the Lords, however having seen it on the warrior I think it adds something good to give a bit more colour, and it goes with the eyes really nicely.

The Black areas I'm still on the fence about. I'm thinking of doing the gun in the bronze from the chestplate, then using a brighter bronze or copper for the shoulders and wristbands whilst saving a gold colour for additional details on lords and other units.

On the gun if the main body is bronze, the blade in silver like the body then all I need is to find a way to get the red effect how I like. I also plan to modify my warriors with the coils from an Immortal kit so those areas would want to be inlaid with red - though I'd rather save all the converted warriors for a final working paint scheme.