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Hi all,


I've been working on some Necrons for a friend lately and wanted to ask if anyone knows any little tricks for getting a good neat finish on the glow of the weapons? After a little practice I've gotten the hang of it on the ribs, but the Immortal gauss guns are proving a challenge to get a crisp finish on without a magnifying glass...

here is one of them thus far! (suggestions/Recommendations welcome!

Try thinning your paint right down so it runs like milk, then load up your brush and basically just "encourage" it to fill in all the cracks, like if you were using a wash...maybe do that with white paint first to start off, let that dry, and then do the same thing with your "glow" colour...that will help achieve brighter result.

I'm no expert though...there's probably several better/more advanced ways of doing that, but I've done it that way a few times, it's simple and it's worked fairly well IMO...

 ZoBo wrote:
Try thinning your paint right down so it runs like milk, then load up your brush and basically just "encourage" it to fill in all the cracks, like if you were using a wash...maybe do that with white paint first to start off, let that dry, and then do the same thing with your "glow" colour...that will help achieve brighter result.

I'm no expert though...there's probably several better/more advanced ways of doing that, but I've done it that way a few times, it's simple and it's worked fairly well IMO...

Thanks! Starting on a white/light yellow background might work better, I tried with a bright orange first but it doesn't have that "radioactive" glow to it I've been after. after the darker wash it just starts looking red because of the size of the crack I think. I start going cross-eyed trying to paint the tiny yellow highlight back in manually it's that small

Start with the lightest colours first - white, yellow, then orange.

Then paint the 'body' of the gun.

It's really not that hard. The glow is just an illusion created by the recess being darker than the outline around it.

First, the green: you could just paint the recess a light green and gently wash it, or (better, in my opinion) paint the recess white and glaze it green, for example, waywatcher green. This prevents the recess from looking too flat.

Then, with a steady hand and a good detail brush, outline the around the weapon with a highlight color of either the green, the weapon casing, or a blend of the two (to make it look like the green is lighting up the weapon).

The same technique works for grav weapons.

 Talys wrote:
It's really not that hard. The glow is just an illusion created by the recess being darker than the outline around it.

First, the green: you could just paint the recess a light green and gently wash it, or (better, in my opinion) paint the recess white and glaze it green, for example, waywatcher green. This prevents the recess from looking too flat.

Then, with a steady hand and a good detail brush, outline the around the weapon with a highlight color of either the green, the weapon casing, or a blend of the two (to make it look like the green is lighting up the weapon).

The same technique works for grav weapons.

I'm going for orange glow, not green, but I see what you're saying

I've actually ordered a magnifying lamp as I think the main reason I have been struggling is my eyesight/lighting, as I only get time to paint during daylight hours on the weekend. I'll give the white glazed orange technique a go though, that sounds promising. What GW colours would you recommend for the glaze? (look at the tubing for a rough match, but with 1 lighter highlight to go)

I think the best way to do crevices to look like they are glowing is try and get the centre of the crevices a brighter shade of your colour than the outer portions.

I also paint the crevices first and then paint the surrounding weapons so I can get nice sharp lines and you aren't fighting as hard to do super detailing in to the crevice because you just cover any mistakes when you paint the rest of the weapon.

White base glazed orange like Talys suggested can potentially work, but it depends on the geometry of the crevice as to where the glaze is going to accumulate. I'd just make your own glaze from whatever paints you have available, a medium like Lahmian Medium or Vallejo's Thinner Medium and maybe a bit of flow improver and thin it down with water is what I use, though you can probably google formulas other people use and they might work better.

Also, while I use a #1 brush for 99% of my painting, even the fine detail stuff as long as the tip is good it usually works fine. However painting in to crevices is one of the few times I actually bother to crack out my smaller 4/0 brush. The smaller brush has a smaller body which gives you more control when you're actually trying to paint in to a crevice.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

((snip))

I also paint the crevices first and then paint the surrounding weapons so I can get nice sharp lines and you aren't fighting as hard to do super detailing in to the crevice because you just cover any mistakes when you paint the rest of the weapon.
((/snip))

This is what I just did for the weapons on my son's ghostark kit, really amazed how well it works tbh. You can be pretty messy while doing the crevices, and just cover it up with your base colour afterwards. It seems great for necrons specifically since there seems to be quite a lot of inset type patterns like on the guns.

Just wish I hadn't figured it out half way through lol

I always paint the area roughly first, then paint the glowing area.
I can then go back and tidy up the edges and around it.

My Necron army is based around orange glow. Lychguard especially have the texture you're talking about, I replaced those bits on most of my models with a plain rod I can freehand over.

A white base color is the most important thing you're missing. It really makes it pop in a way that you can't get on a black base. I undercoat my models black, but paint all the glowy bits in several layers on white before I go onto red/orange/yellow.

Also, more radiant paints are important. I use Troll Slayer Orange and Yriel Yellow. Those pots of paint almost have a glow to them, so intense is the color.

 Bocete wrote:
My Necron army is based around orange glow. Lychguard especially have the texture you're talking about, I replaced those bits on most of my models with a plain rod I can freehand over.

A white base color is the most important thing you're missing. It really makes it pop in a way that you can't get on a black base. I undercoat my models black, but paint all the glowy bits in several layers on white before I go onto red/orange/yellow.

Also, more radiant paints are important. I use Troll Slayer Orange and Yriel Yellow. Those pots of paint almost have a glow to them, so intense is the color.

Very nice Necrons! good work so far, the contrast in colors really works nicely. I'll try with the white base coat in the cracks tonight, I see what you mean about how it makes it "pop" more. Might try it on the standard Necron gun rods first to get the hang of the color blending though, I've never actually worked from white base, Always black built up light with a little wet blending. I'll try and get some more pictures up of the results tonight (hopefully on a better camera... The phone just doesn't cut it)