How to Paint Necrons — Step by Step Guide

Weathering and Battle Damage

Once your base paintwork is complete, adding weathering effects brings your models to life with a sense of battlefield realism that elevates them beyond a clean tabletop standard. Weathering tells a story — every scratch, scorch mark, and rust streak suggests a history of brutal combat across the grimdark battlefields of the 41st millennium.

Start with sponge weathering using a torn piece of blister pack foam. Dab a small amount of dark brown or black paint onto the sponge, remove most of it on a paper towel, then lightly press it against edges, corners, and raised surfaces where paint would naturally chip. Focus on areas that would see the most wear: knee pads, shoulder pad edges, weapon housings, and the leading edges of armour plates. For a more refined look, go back with a fine brush and add small scratches using a light silver or metallic colour inside the larger chips, simulating exposed metal beneath the paint.

Mud and dust effects work wonderfully on legs and lower hull sections. Mix a brown wash with a touch of texture paint and stipple it around feet, tracks, and lower armour panels. Rust streaks can be painted vertically downward from rivets and bolt holes using thinned orange-brown paint, creating the appearance of rainwater carrying oxidised metal particles down the surface. Finish with a matte varnish to unify the weathering effects and protect your work during gaming sessions.

Speed Painting Alternative

Not every model needs hours of painstaking layering. Speed painting techniques using Citadel Contrast paints, Army Painter Speed Paints, or similar one-coat systems can produce impressive results in a fraction of the time, making them ideal for batch painting large squads or getting an army table-ready for an upcoming tournament.

The key to successful speed painting starts with your undercoat. A zenithal prime — spraying black from below and white from above — creates natural shadow and highlight gradients that Contrast paints will follow beautifully. Apply the Contrast paint in a single, confident coat over the zenithal prime, letting the translucent formula do the heavy lifting. The paint naturally pools in recesses and thins on raised surfaces, creating instant depth and definition without any manual shading.

For batch efficiency, work in assembly-line fashion: complete one colour across all models before moving to the next. A squad of ten can be speed-painted to a solid tabletop standard in two to three hours this way. Pick out key details like lenses, weapon casings, and insignia with regular paints for contrast, then apply a quick drybrush highlight to add extra definition. The result is a cohesive, battle-ready force that looks great on the table and holds up well at normal viewing distances.

Display Painting Tips

For painters looking to push their skills beyond tabletop standard, display painting techniques offer the opportunity to create true miniature works of art. These methods require patience and practice but produce stunning results that stand out in competitions and showcases alike.

Edge highlighting is the foundation of display-quality painting. Use the side of a fine-pointed brush rather than the tip, drawing it along armour edges to create clean, consistent lines. Build up highlights in two to three stages, using progressively lighter colours and applying each layer to a smaller area. The final highlight — often a near-white mix — should touch only the sharpest corners and most prominent edges, creating the illusion of light catching polished surfaces.

Non-metallic metal (NMM) painting replaces actual metallic paints with carefully blended regular colours to simulate reflective surfaces. This technique uses stark transitions between dark shadows and bright highlights, placed according to how light would interact with the surface. Wet blending — applying two colours side by side on the model while still wet and blending them together on the surface — creates the smooth, seamless gradients essential for convincing NMM effects. Practice on spare models or test pieces before committing to your display miniature, and reference photographs of real metal objects to understand how reflections behave on different shapes.

Community Showcase

The Warhammer painting community is one of the most welcoming and inspiring creative spaces in the hobby. Platforms like Reddit’s r/minipainting and r/Warhammer40k, Instagram’s thriving minipainting hashtags, and dedicated Discord servers provide endless inspiration and constructive feedback for painters at every skill level. Sharing your own work — even early attempts — is a fantastic way to track your progress, connect with fellow hobbyists, and discover new techniques. Many local gaming stores also host painting competitions and hobby nights where you can learn directly from experienced painters in your area.

Necrons are one of the most beginner-friendly armies to paint in all of Warhammer 40,000. Their skeletal, metallic bodies mean you can achieve a stunning finished model with just a handful of paints and simple techniques. If you have just picked up the Warhammer 40,000 starter set or are looking for an army that looks incredible on the tabletop without requiring hundreds of hours of painting, Necrons are the perfect choice. This guide walks you through the classic silver and green scheme step by step, from primer to finished model.

Why Necrons Are Perfect for Beginners

There are several reasons Necrons are consistently recommended as the best beginner painting project:

• Minimal colour palette: You only need 4-6 paints to achieve a complete look.
• Forgiving surfaces: Metallic paints and washes are very forgiving of minor mistakes.
• Drybrushing heaven: The skeletal, mechanical bodies are perfect for drybrushing, one of the easiest techniques to learn.
• No skin, no eyes, no faces: You skip all the hardest parts of miniature painting.
• Quick to batch paint: The simple scheme means you can blast through squads rapidly.

What You Will Need — Paint List

Step 1 — Assembly

Necron models are generally straightforward to assemble. Many modern Necron kits are push-fit, meaning they snap together without glue. For multi-part kits, use plastic cement for a strong bond. Clean up any mould lines with a hobby knife — Necron models tend to have mould lines along their limbs and spines that are worth removing.

Unlike many other factions, Necrons rarely benefit from sub-assembly painting. The simple metallic scheme means you can paint them fully assembled without difficulty. The only exception might be Necron Overlords or other characters with complex staffs or capes that obscure body details.

Step 2 — Priming Black

Prime your Necrons with Chaos Black spray. Black is the ideal primer for Necrons because any areas you miss with subsequent metallic paint will read as deep shadow rather than an obvious mistake. Spray from approximately 20-30 cm away in short, sweeping passes, rotating the model between coats. Ensure full coverage, paying attention to the undersides of arms and the gaps between ribs.

Alternatively, you can use Leadbelcher spray to combine your priming and basecoating steps into one. This is a huge time-saver when batch painting an entire army, though you will lose some of the deep shadows that a black undercoat provides.

Step 3 — Leadbelcher Basecoat

Apply Leadbelcher to the entire model. This is the main colour for your Necrons, covering the skeletal body, limbs, ribcage, head, and most surfaces. You can be quite quick and messy with this step — metallic paints are forgiving and tend to self-level well.

Use a medium-sized brush and apply one or two coats for smooth, even coverage. Make sure to get the paint into all the recesses between the ribs and joints. If you miss a spot, the black primer underneath will provide a natural shadow, so do not stress about perfection.

Step 4 — Nuln Oil Wash

Apply Nuln Oil liberally over the entire model. This shade paint flows into every recess, crack, and joint, darkening them and creating dramatic shadows. Nuln Oil over Leadbelcher is one of the most effective combinations in the entire Citadel paint range — it transforms a flat silver model into one with depth and dimension.

Apply the wash generously but watch for excessive pooling on flat surfaces like the tops of shoulder plates or the face. Wick away any pools with a clean, damp brush. Let the wash dry completely — this takes at least 20-30 minutes. Do not touch the model until the wash is fully dry.

Step 5 — Necron Compound Drybrush

Drybrushing is the technique that brings your Necrons to life. Take a dry brush (or an old, splayed brush), dip it into Necron Compound, and wipe most of the paint off onto a paper towel until the brush is almost dry. Then brush it lightly across the raised surfaces of the model — the edges of armour plates, the tops of the ribcage, the brow of the skull face, the knuckles of the hands.

This deposits paint only on the highest points, creating bright silver highlights that contrast beautifully with the dark recesses created by the Nuln Oil wash. Build up the drybrush gradually — it is easier to add more than to fix overdoing it.

Step 6 — The Green Glow

The eerie green glow is the signature visual element of a Necron army. You have two approaches:

Method A — Tesseract Glow (Easiest)

Tesseract Glow is a Citadel Technical paint that creates a glowing green effect in a single application. Paint it into the eye sockets, along the power conduits on weapons, into the chest orb, and over any energy nodes on the model. It naturally collects in recesses and creates a convincing glow effect with zero skill required. For best results, paint the areas white first (using Corax White) before applying Tesseract Glow — this makes the glow much more vibrant.

Method B — Traditional Green (More Control)

For a more controlled look, paint the recesses with Warpstone Glow as a base, then apply a highlight of Moot Green to the centres and raised areas of the glowing sections. Finally, add a tiny dot of white (Corax White) to the very centre of orbs and the brightest points. This creates a more refined gradient glow effect that looks excellent up close.

Step 7 — Additional Details

Necrons are blessedly low on extra details, but there are a few areas to address:

• Weapon casings: Paint gun stocks and any non-metallic weapon components with Abaddon Black.
• Gauss rods: The energy rods on Gauss Flayers should be painted with Warpstone Glow and highlighted with Moot Green. Some painters paint them in alternating green and white segments for a power-conduit look.
• Resurrection orbs and other artefacts: Use the same green glow technique as the eyes.
• Dynasty markings: If you want to add dynasty symbols or markings, paint them on shoulder plates using a contrasting colour. The Sautekh Dynasty uses a lightning bolt symbol in green.

Step 8 — Basing

Necron bases work well with a desolate, barren theme that evokes their tomb worlds. Apply Astrogranite Debris texture paint to the base, let it dry, wash it with Nuln Oil, and drybrush with Administratum Grey. This creates a cracked, rocky desert look that complements the cold metallic bodies perfectly.

For extra visual impact, add small patches of Tesseract Glow to the base as if the Necron is radiating energy onto the ground around it. Small tufts of dead-looking static grass or scorched tundra tufts also work well.

Paint the rim of the base with Abaddon Black for a clean finish.

Painting Necron Characters and Vehicles

The basic technique scales up perfectly for larger Necron models. Overlords, Crypteks, and other characters use the same silver-wash-drybrush method but benefit from extra attention to their unique details — ornate headdresses, capes (paint these in a contrasting colour like dark blue or dark red for visual interest), and ornamental weapons.

For vehicles like the Ghost Ark, Doomsday Ark, or Monolith, the same approach works but you will want to use a larger brush for drybrushing and be extra careful with the wash to avoid pooling on the large flat panels. Consider using an airbrush for the Leadbelcher basecoat on vehicles if you have one — it saves significant time.

Alternative Necron Colour Schemes

While silver and green is the classic Necron look, there are many popular alternatives:

• Silver and Blue: Replace green glow with Aethermatic Blue Contrast or Thousand Sons Blue. Creates a cold, otherworldly look.
• Bronze Necrons: Use Balthasar Gold instead of Leadbelcher, wash with Agrax Earthshade, and drybrush with Golden Griffon. The green glow still works brilliantly against bronze.
• Blackstone Necrons: Use Corvus Black as the base, highlight with Eshin Grey and Dawnstone, and use red glow instead of green (Mephiston Red → Evil Sunz Scarlet → white dot).
• Szarekhan Dynasty: The official scheme uses a darker, more bronze-gold metallic with red energy instead of green.

Speed Painting a Necron Army

Necrons are one of the fastest armies in the game to paint to a respectable standard. Here is the absolute fastest method:

1. Prime with Leadbelcher spray (2 minutes per model)
2. Wash entire model with Nuln Oil (1 minute per model)
3. Drybrush with Necron Compound (2 minutes per model)
4. Apply Tesseract Glow to eyes and weapons (2 minutes per model)
5. Texture paint and drybrush the base (2 minutes per model)

Total time: approximately 10 minutes per model. For a 2,000-point army of around 50-60 models, that is roughly 10 hours of painting — very achievable over a couple of weekends.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to paint Necrons?

Spray with Leadbelcher primer, wash with Nuln Oil, drybrush with Necron Compound, add Tesseract Glow to eyes and weapons, and texture the base. This five-step method takes about 10 minutes per model and produces impressive tabletop results.

Do I need Tesseract Glow, or can I use regular green paint?

Tesseract Glow is not essential but it makes life much easier. You can achieve a similar effect by basecoating the glow areas with Warpstone Glow, highlighting with Moot Green, and adding a white dot to the brightest points. Tesseract Glow simply achieves a similar effect in one step.

Should I paint Necrons with an airbrush?

An airbrush is nice to have for the Leadbelcher basecoat, especially on vehicles, but it is absolutely not required. The metallic spray primer and brush technique described in this guide produces excellent results with no airbrush needed.

Can I use Contrast Paints on Necrons?

Contrast Paints are not ideal for the main metallic body of Necrons, as they are designed for non-metallic surfaces. However, they work brilliantly for any non-metallic details like capes, loincloths, or tabards that some Necron characters have.

What colour should I paint the base rim for Necrons?

Black (Abaddon Black) is the most common and recommended choice. It creates a clean frame around the model that does not distract from the miniature itself. Some players match the base rim to their army’s secondary colour, but black is the safest choice.

How do I make Necron eyes glow more intensely?

Paint the eye sockets white before applying Tesseract Glow or green paint. The white undercoat makes the green far more vivid and creates a more convincing glow effect. For extra impact, apply a thin glaze of green around the eye sockets to simulate light spilling onto the surrounding metal.

Ready to learn more about the Necron faction? Check out our complete Necrons army guide for lore, rules, and army list advice. For more painting techniques, explore our drybrushing tutorial and speed painting guide.

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