WIP: Necron Army - Part 6: Broken passengers, broken earth.

Work continues on the Necron battleforce as I finish the bases and tackle the Ghost Ark's many parts.

Good progress on the battleforce this week, as Destiny slowly loses its hold over me. Frankly, I think it's the biggest gaming disappointment of 2014.

I started on the passengers for the Ghost Ark, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they weren't just regular warriors. The unit inside the Ark has seen some serious shit - they're missing limbs, have their eyes torn out, and are generally in rough shape. Each has some fun little story happening, and it gives them a ton of character in an otherwise uniform army. My favorite is this poor sap, who's missing his jaw and an eye!

I tried something different this time, when painting the models. Instead of painting them silver, then using poster tack to mask the ENTIRE model to paint the yellow shoulders, I did the reverse.

This time, I painted the yellow of the shoulders first, and then simply masked them off with a quick brush of liquid mask. Liquid mask is a goopy, liquid that is easily applied, and dries into a rubberized shell.

When the mask dried, I applied vallejo gunmetal to the models. As we've applied the mask thouroughly, the yellow is protected underneath.

After washing and dry brushing the models, I removed the liquid mask with a toothpick. A gentle rub with the side of the pick pulls up a corner of the rubberized mask, and then the entire thing pulls off to reveal a clean shoulder underneath.

And we see the final result here! Definitely the way to go - and certainly the technique I will use when creating the other 15 warriors in the second battleforce box.

I also decided on a basing theme for the army, and applied it to the assembled models. After trolling the internet for ideas, I saw promising videos for GW's Agrellan Earth technical paint. When applied in heavy layers, it cracks during the drying process, creating a desert surface.

One or two trial bases later, I had the needed consistency down to get a reliable effect every time. Add a little dry brush to bring out the edges, and they really come together.

That's it for this week. Next week I'll finish the Ghost Ark and my Overlord, and will have a fieldable army ready for battle!

-trip