This is a Guest Post by Vitor
With the second wave of Necrons finally here, I had an idea to use left over sprue to make a base with some Necron type crystals on it.
To start with, take your standard base and grab a few pieces of left over sprue. I like to use smaller pieces for smaller bases and bigger pieces for larger bases. You can also use left over greenstuff for the crystals if you press it into small bricks before it cures. I do this with my leftovers and then have it to use as rubble on my other bases.
Take your sprue pieces, cut them into various short lengths and shape the top end into a crystal like structure. It doesn't have to be perfect, a series of angular cuts that taper to a point are all you need. Now use PVA glue to stick your sand on.
Undercoat with black, in this case Chaos Black.
I went for an 'ash waste' type world, so I used a progressively lighter shade of Chaos Black and Codex Grey to highlight the sand area. I then painted the crystals with Dark Angels Green. Here I used a mixture of Goblin Green and a small amount of Bubonic Brown to highlight the crystals.
To bring out the details I used the lightest mixture to hard edge the sides of the crystals. After that I mixed in some Bleached Bone and applied this in small dots to the corners of the crystals only. I also wanted to create an area on the sand that was 'Glowing' from the reflecting light coming from the crystals. To do this I started with a heavy wash of Thraka Green.
Then once this was completely dry I drybrushed Skull White over the area concentrating more on the area closer to the crystals and fading away the further you move away. Finally another wash of Thraka Green on the furthermost edge of the 'Glow' effect and pulling it in towards the crystals to blend in the transition from light to dark.
Make sure to check out these posts as they might help:
Basing with free stuff
Basing and going the extra step
Do you paint your bases before or after your model?
