James' Tsarakura Dynasty - Canoptek Scarabs

Ah yes, another new hobby project in a year where I told myself I'd focus on clearing out my backlog...

Why can't I ever stick to the plan?

When the new Necron range was released last year, the army went from one I had only a passing interest in to one I knew I had to collect at least some of. I started off by getting myself a Recruit Edition of Warhammer 40k for some of the new Necron Warriors to paint a test model. It's now a project I plan on slowly adding to throughout the year, and with the recent announcement of Hachette's Warhammer Imperium series, I've got lots of cheap models on the way!

In this post, I want to show one of the recent additions I've made to the collection in the form of some loveable little Canoptek Scarab bases. 

One of the little perks of the new Necron Warrior sprue, outside of lovely new models, of course, is that it includes three bases of Canoptek Scarabs. To me, they're one of the conic Necron units despite their small stature. You rarely see an illustration or read a story not involving these critters, so I wanted to give the models a snazzy paint job. These are also the first models I used the Tsarakura dynasty scheme on where I didn't have a reference picture available, so it was fun working out how I wanted the colours to go on the model.

When painting the models, I didn't want to put quite as much work into them as the Warriors. They are, after all, swarms; they're not going to be the focus on the tabletop, so it's OK to skimp on the finer details. As you can see, the core colours on the model are still blue-black and Kabalite Green, but unlike the Warriors, the Kabalite is now front and centre on the model. It's a small change, but I like that the "carapace" on my Necrons will have a consistent colouration. I gave another attempt at applying small amounts of battle damage to the models, but I imagine that of all Necron units, Scarabs would actually be one of the least damaged. They are, after all, responsible for doing the repairs themselves. Can't have your handymen not working properly!

The focal point of these models and the area I really wanted to emphasise is the ocular lens and power core. I used the same technique as on my Warriors to paint the gauss glow but spent a bit more time working on the light catching any hard edges around the source. It's a simple process, but I think it really adds a lot to the models. The idea of Guardsmen encountering a swarm of these Scarabs in a darkened corridor, being able to see nothing but the eerie glow coming from them, speaks to the space-horror theme I'm trying to capture with the army. 

I did make one further change with these models, and that's to the basing. I wasn't happy with the grass flock that I'd used previously as it was too bright a green. This meant that the model's overall composition was just "off" for me, and I wasn't happy with the final look. I believe it was due to the colour saturation present on the model and base, which meant both drew the eye equally, leading to nothing being a focal point. I've exchanged it for much more muted olive green grass tufts, and I think they do a better job. My overall plan for the basing is to pair my Necrons with all my Imperial units, so I want a neutral scheme to work with various colours. This does the job and is simple enough to replicate over many models and a variety of base sizes. 

So this is my completed Necron army so far. Pretty impressive, eh? I intend this to be a slow build army, where I'll just add a unit every once in a while until I've painted all the kits I want to. Once I'm all done, I'll see if I can piece together something of a playable force with everything and have some fun on the table. 

I'm currently sitting on a small stockpile of additional units to paint. Up first is finishing off the other eight Warriors to complete the unit, but after that, I've got several characters to paint up, which are:

- An Overlord

- A Skorpekh Lord

- A Royal Warden

- Two Cryptothralls

I'd ideally like to get the Warriors and Royal Warden done to complete the Recruit Edition set before I buy any more models. My goal is to complete more of my backlog this year than I add to it, so as much as I love these models, I don't want to get too out of control with my spending. Hachette's new Imperium magazine will offer me a good opportunity to add many models to the collection, so I'll try to pick up any issues I'm interested in as they release and get the models painted up shortly after. 

That's all for now. The Tsarakura Dynasty is waking (very, very slowly), so I'll be back with more models soon!

Until next time,

James