5 Alternative Necron Dynasties

Tutorial Video

5 Alternative Necron Dynasties

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  • Published
    23 Jan 2023
  • Updated
    05 May 2023
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Here I'll detail my process on painting the 5 alternate Necron Dynasties in my video - Szarekhan, Nihilakh, Mephrit, Thokt and Ogdobekh. I'll just be covering the main differences, things like weapon casing won't be covered.

Szarekhan

  1. Base with Leadbelcher .
  2. Wash the underskeleton with Black Templar . Don't worry about being super neat, slap it in there.
  3. Roughly edge highlight with Iron Hands Steel , then a smaller edge with Stormhost Silver .
  4. Next, base the armour panels with Runelord Brass .
  5. Base the head and shoulder plates with Canoptek Alloy . You may need a couple coats for solid coverage.
  6. I wash down with Cryptek Armourshade Gloss , but since that is out of production now Agrax Earthshade or Reikland Fleshshade are both fine substitutes. Because I'm using the gloss varnish, I matt down the deep recesses with Wyldwood , but if you don't have this colour you won't need to do this.
  7. Glaze Runelord Brass towards the top half of the segments and panels.
  8. Next take Canoptek Alloy . Firstly relayer the areas based with this colour before shading, leaving some shade in the recesses showing. Secondly, edge highlight the Runelord Brass sections to define them.
  9. Point highlight with Stormhost Silver on both areas.
  10. Base white areas with Celestra Grey .
  11. Relayer with Ulthuan Grey .
  12. Wash with Gryph-charger Grey .
  13. Layer again with Ulthuan Grey in thin layers, drawing the brush from the dark areas to where you want it brightest. Build this in a few layers, painting a smaller section each time.
  14. Edge highlight with White .

Nihilakh

  1. Base with Leadbelcher .
  2. Wash all over with Nuln Oil .
  3. Drybrush with Necron Compound . If you don't have Necron Compound, something like Ironbreaker will work great.
  4. Edge highlight with Stormhost Silver .
  5. Base any gold areas with Retributor Armour .
  6. Base any blue areas with Ahriman Blue .
  7. For the freehand designs, alternate the colour of the previous sections onto their respective parts - Blue designs on the gold are based with Ahriman Blue , and the gold designs on the blue are based with Retributor Armour .
  8. Wash both areas down Agrax Earthshade .
  9. Relayer both areas with their base colour, namely Retributor Armour and Ahriman Blue .
  10. Edge highlight the gold areas with Liberator Gold .
  11. Edge highlight the blue areas with Temple Guard Blue .

Mephrit

  1. The silvers will repeat the previous schemes steps: Base with Leadbelcher , wash with Nuln Oil , drybrush with Necron Compound , edge highlight with Stormhost Silver .
  2. Basecoat the green areas with Waaagh! Flesh .
  3. Wash down with Nuln Oil .
  4. Relayer with Waaagh! Flesh , leaving some shade in the recesses showing.
  5. Edge highlight with Warboss Green .
  6. You can point highlight with Skarsnik Green for your characters here, if you want to.
  7. Base any glowing areas with Wild Rider Red . A simple layer on the cables, watering the paint down heavily and introducing into the recesses over several passes for the rib cage, eye sockets and weapon.
  8. For the cables, mix Fire Dragon Bright and Lahmian Medium 1:4 and draw the brush from the ends of the cables to the center. Take several passes, painting over less area each time. For the other areas, simply water down Fire Dragon Bright as is and introducing again in a smaller section is fine. For the eyes specifically, I just based the eyeballs with the colour.
  9. For the cables, mix Lugganath Orange and Lahmian Medium 1:4 and repeat the last step, only covering a smaller area again. In the video I introduced a filter glaze of Yriel Yellow to knock the 'pinkness' back. For the other areas, the same rules apply - Heavily watered down paint introduced to a very small area this time for the ribs and weapon, and dotting the eyes with it.

Thokt

  1. Base with Leadbelcher .
  2. Wash with Black Templar . I wash with Nuln Oil in the video over 3 or 4 passes, but Black Templar will do the job way better way quicker.
  3. Edge highlight with Leadbelcher .
  4. Edge highlight with Ironbreaker .
  5. Base black section with your choice of black. I used Matt Black .
  6. Edge highlight with Dark Reaper .
  7. Thinner edge highlight with Thunderhawk Blue .
  8. You can point highlight with Fenrisian Grey for your characters here, if you want to.
  9. Base cream sections with Rakarth Flesh .
  10. Wash with Agrax Earthshade .
  11. Relayer with thinned Rakarth Flesh over a few layers to bring the colour back. Leave some washed sections showing in the recesses.
  12. Edge highlight with Pallid Wych Flesh .
  13. For the glowing sections, repeat the same process as in the Mephrit section, only swapping the colours. For the initial colour use Caledor Sky , then Caledor Sky and White 1:1, then Caledor Sky and White in a very roughly 1:10 ratio (A brushtip of blue into a drop of white is what I do).

Ogdobekh

  1. The silvers I repeated the steps for the Szarekhan underskeleton - Base with Leadbelcher , wash with Black Templar , edge highlight with Iron Hands Steel , final highlight with Stormhost Silver .
  2. Base armour plates with Screaming Bell .
  3. Wash down with Reikland Fleshshade .
  4. Relayer with Screaming Bell , leaving some shade showing in the recesses.
  5. Edge highlight with Hashut Copper .
  6. Point highlight with Hashut Copper and Stormhost Silver 1:1.
  7. Add some verdigris weathering in areas that would collect water here with Nihilakh Oxide . If you don't have that, Baharroth Blue makes an excellent substitute.
  8. Basecoat any green sections with Caliban Green .
  9. Wash down with Nuln Oil .
  10. Relayer with Caliban Green , leaving some shade showing in the recesses.
  11. Edge highlight with Warpstone Glow .
  12. Point highlight with Moot Green .

Adz

HowAdzPaints

I'm a casual mini painter who's fallen into the tutorial space. Documenting my progress and recipes as I go!

Citadel Painting System 42
Base 10
  • Caledor Sky
  • Caliban Green
  • Celestra Grey
  • Iron Hands Steel
  • Leadbelcher
  • Rakarth Flesh
  • Retributor Armour
  • Runelord Brass
  • Screaming Bell
  • Waaagh! Flesh
Shade 4
  • Agrax Earthshade
  • Cryptek Armourshade Gloss
  • Nuln Oil
  • Reikland Fleshshade
Layer 21
  • Ahriman Blue
  • Baharroth Blue
  • Canoptek Alloy
  • Dark Reaper
  • Fenrisian Grey
  • Fire Dragon Bright
  • Hashut Copper
  • Ironbreaker
  • Liberator Gold
  • Lugganath Orange
  • Moot Green
  • Pallid Wych Flesh
  • Skarsnik Green
  • Stormhost Silver
  • Temple Guard Blue
  • Thunderhawk Blue
  • Ulthuan Grey
  • Warboss Green
  • Warpstone Glow
  • Wild Rider Red
  • Yriel Yellow
Dry 1
  • Necron Compound
Technical 2
  • Lahmian Medium
  • Nihilakh Oxide
Spray 1
  • Leadbelcher
Contrast 3
  • Black Templar
  • Gryph-charger Grey
  • Wyldwood
Daler-Rowney
FW Acrylic Ink 1
  • White
The Army Painter Warpaints
Acrylic 1
  • Matt Black
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