How to Paint Necrons: a simple guide for fleshy humans

Necrons are spooky robot skeletons who get very angry when you wake them up from a nap.

The Necrons are an ancient civilisation who abandoned their organic bodies millennia ago, instead inhabiting skeletons of living metal. For countless ages they slumbered in their tomb worlds as younger species rose and fell. Now they have awoken, seeking to reclaim their place in a galaxy that long ago dismissed them as myths and rumours.

To outsiders, they appear as merciless robotic beings with unknowable drives and inscrutable purposes. In truth, many Necrons possess deep and subtle personalities, and are capable of strategy and mercy just as much as they are of inexorable violence.

Today we’re going to look at how to paint a Necron Warrior. The basic Necron Warrior is a silver skeleton – part Terminator, part ancient Egyptian, part Harryhausen monster. As we go through the steps, I’ll name three different combinations of paints: 1) the colours used in GW’s own ‘Battle Ready’ tutorial, 2) my choice if you only have the 13 paints from the Paints + Tools Set, and 3) my choice if you only have the 6 paints from the beginner ‘Necron + Paint’ box (this third option is somewhat limited, but it’s really great if you’re an absolute beginner, or have a kid just getting into it. The models are push fit too!).

Obviously the first step is to assemble a Necron. Basically any will do; necrons are roughly similar in terms of the sorts of things you need to paint. Stick your first one together and off we go.

First you’ll want to undercoat your Necron. Runelord Brass (1, 2, 3) is the usual colour to pick, though some painters use different bases. Whatever you pick, make sure you get an even covering without laying the paint on too thick (remember to get your brush/palette a little wet to thin the paint slightly).

The next step is to paint the basic metal body parts in Iron Hands Steel (1, 2) or Runefang Steel (3). Some parts of the model can be left in brass, and you can also avoid the deepest reaches and any parts you want to seem worn and rusted. Remember, thin careful coats are what you want. This will help you build up the colour without filling in too many details.

Some parts of your Necron, such as crown, chest cartouche or loincloth can be picked out in Retributor Armour (1,2), but you can also leave them silver/brass (3). Features such as weapon handles and gun casings can be picked out in Corvus Black (1) or Abaddon Black (2, 3). Painting gun casings separately is common on many miniatures to help the outlines of the various parts stand out. Parts that will eventually be green should be picked out in Corax White (1,2) if you have it.

Next is the shading, the part that gives depth to the model. As the different parts of the Necron are different colours, the ideal choices are to use Cryptek Armourshade (1) on the silver, brass and gold parts, Basillicum Grey (1) on any black parts and Agrax Earthshade (1) on any metal parts you want to look particularly shaded. The quick, basic and budget option for this is simply to use a thin coat of Agrax Earthshade (2, 3) on all of the above. In either case, remember not to shade the bits we’re about to paint green.

Along with their metallic stylings, Necrons are known for their luminous green weaponry. Helpfully, GW has produced a technical paint, especially for this called Tesseract Glow (1, 2, 3). Apply a thin coat of this to parts like weapon blades and the little orbs on the side of the guns.

Finally, there’s the base. The default base for Necrons is usually a bleak desert type wasteland: For this you’ll want to give the base a coating of Astrogranite (1, 2, 3) and then a quick ink wash with Agrax Earthshade (1, 2, 3). Of course, your Necrons might come from somewhere else, and stand on bases portraying any sort of weird sci-fi location you can imagine.

And with that, your Necron is complete!

One of the trickier techniques with Necrons is making the Green Glow have even more depth and luminance. The ‘parade ready’ technique for this is to highlight the green bits in the increasingly light colours of Warpstone Glow, Moot Green and White Scar. At even higher levels, painters will create an effect known as “object source lighting”, but alas this advanced technique is beyond the scope of this tutorial. Still, there are plenty of videos about the technique out there.

While most Necrons are a simple silver, there’s a wide variety of looks available. Once you’ve got the basics of how to paint a necron warrior, you can look at whether you want to go for an alternative look. Codex: Necrons contains a bunch of canon Dynasties, and can also serve as inspiration for your own ideas. Some armies look clean and functional, while others will look aged and rusted. Some constructs are clad in flawless armour, while others wear skins and robes. Some dynasties sport bright almost heraldic colours, in contrast to those in the dark tones of death.

When it comes to actually playing an army of necrons in 40k, new players are well served: necrons appear in the 40k starter sets and they get their own combat patrol which will give you a nice range of units to choose from.

In battle, Necrons can bring a lot of short range firepower and can do serious damage in melee, but they are perhaps lacking in long-range options. They can also be somewhat tricky for new players, as you need to synergise your best abilities and tricks. The USP of Necrons is their astonishing durability: units can soak up a lot of damage and you can even revive dead models. Supporting these durable troops are your character options: these lads aren’t super dangerous themselves but they provide a lot of bonuses to your units. Finally you’ve got good area denial and board control, as many durable units can move very fast, or even teleport.

So, that should do it for a basic intro to Necrons and how to paint them. Hopefully this has whet your appetite – and who knows, maybe someday I’ll find myself across the table from you, staring down your army of spooky metal skeletons.