Necron Theme Basing, Crystal Death

In my last article here on Spikey Bits I mentioned a quick and easy method for thematically basing your Necrons, so I'm going to cover that topic now. This method is colorful, inexpensive, quick and easy to do yet adds a fun flare to the bases of your models.

First you will need to hang onto the sprues from the little green rods that come with your Necron Warriors, Necron Destroyer and Necron Monolith kits. This is the essential component for creating the crystals seen on the bases in this article. All you'll need beyond that are some hobby clippers and textured paint.

The sprue to be used is shown in the photo below. After you've removed the little green rods for use on your models you are left with quite a bit of transparent green plastic. This will be used to make crystals for your bases.

Next, cut some pieces off of the sprue at odd irregular angles as shown in the next photo. The angular nature of the cut pieces will catch some light once they are on the model bases. I not only used the larger chunks I deliberately cut I also used some of the smaller flakes and bits that were generated in the cutting process.



Cover the base around the model with textured paint. Vallejo Black Lava is already the color I wanted for this project and it saved me time since I didn't have to paint it black after applying it. When the paint starts to set just a bit push the cut plastic crystals into it. Be sure to have a good portion of them projecting at angles out of the textured medium as this will allow them to catch some light and actually look like crystals.

After the paint is completely stiff and dry carefully dry-brush it with some grey to give it a highlight. Be careful not to get the grey paint on the crystals or the Necron model.

Your finished base will look something like the one below. Of course, you can use more or less crystals to your taste or make them larger or smaller as you desire. You could also use colors on your texture other than just black and grey to suit your taste so long as they don't clash with the model or the green crystals. I tried to have some noticeably larger green chunks with tiny irregular sized bits and flecks here and there as I wanted a naturalistic look suggesting the crystals were growing.


This is how the bases look on my finished Necron Canoptek Wraith unit. When I find some time I was planning to use this method on the flying stands in my Necron army as well.


Judging by the positive reaction I've had to this basing method from passersby at my local GW Bowie Battle Bunker  I believe I've hit on something fun and evocative using bits of clear green sprue this way. It's extra fun finding a cool use for things that would otherwise end up in the recycle bin.