Modeling Tutorial: Re-posing Necrons

In this tutorial, I go step-by-step through the process of cutting and re-posing Necron Warriors.

In a recent Twitter conversation, someone asked about how I re-posed my Necrons. I explained it as best I could, but figured that a little tutorial with pictures would be better. I converted two models, one kneeling, and one standing, to show how you can get a wide range of movement out of the basic Necron Warrior kit.

Cutting the Legs

Use a hobby knife with a sharp, fresh blade so you can make precise, clean cuts. (Take care not to cut yourself when working!) Begin by separating the legs from the pelvis.

 

 

Next, slice apart the knee between the bolt and the thigh.

 

Clean the rough spots, and round the underside of the thigh so it fits over the knee bolt.

 

This allows you to position the knee at any angle:

 

Use a pin vise to drill through the pelvis. Make your drill points in the center of where the leg was attached.

 

Then, insert a paperclip "pin" through the pelvis.

 

 

Carefully, drill into the top of the thigh, making the hole at a slight angle, through the hip where it was attached originally to the pelvis.

 

Then, you can pin the legs back onto the pelvis, and bend the pins to get different positions. Trim the pin shorter so the hip sits snugly against the pelvis once you've settled on its final position. When working, make sure you dry-fit everything to make sure the parts line up properly before adding super glue and permanently fixing the parts in place.

 

Standing Position

To make a model standing with one leg up on a rock, position the legs as you see here:

 

 

Take note of the piston rod on the back of the knee. This bit was trimmed away when the knees were separated, but we are going to use a pin to rebuild it and add stability to the joint.

 

Drill a hole into the thigh and the calf where that piston rod used to be. Note that the back of the knee bolt has also had a small recess cut into it to help accommodate the pin.

 

Then, cut a length os paperclip, and pin the two leg halves together. If you were going to make a Necron standing upright at attention, you would do this for both legs.

 

Since this model will have one leg up, the second leg can simply be glued together at the knee. The piston on the back of the knee is hidden, so there is no need to add a metal pin. Make sure that the feet are both level and parallel.

 

With the pose of the legs set, attach the model to its base, and model the object that its raised leg is standing on. I've used some resin bits and sprue rubble. I find that it is easier to build the legs and then raise the ground to accommodate them, rather than make the base first and then try to get the legs to properly stand on it.

 

Kneeling Position

For a kneeling Necron, attach the thighs in this position:

 

 

Attach the upper leg at the knee. You may need to shave a little plastic off the back of the calf to get the leg to fit together at more than a 90-degree bend.

 

For the lower leg, cut off the toe section of the foot. When making this cut, slice the toes at an angle, and then trim the top of the foot at an angle so you are removing a "V" shaped section of plastic.

 

This allows the toes to fit in place with a bend. Don't worry if the join isn't very precise, the sand on the base will help conceal any imperfections.

 

Glue the lower leg together, and ensure that the foot, knee, and toes are flat on the ground.

 

The spine curves off to the side too much, and needs correcting so the upper body will be properly balanced over the model's center of gravity.

 

Slice off the spine between the vertebrates, drill holes, and add a pin.

 

Then rotate the spine until it curves upright, and glue it in place. The small flanges on the sides of the spines are misaligned, so they can simply be sliced off. (No one will notice they are gone.)

 

Glue the model to its base and add the basing material.

 

Upper Body Position

The standing model will be holding his Gauss Flayer upright and pointing with his left arm. Select the gun arm with the most bend in the elbow. With the arm holding the gun up, the shoulder doesn't connect with its socket.

 

 

Slice off the top part of the arm.

 

Rotate the shoulder and pin the pieces back together.

 

Now the arm can socket in place at the new angle.

 

Use the same process for the left arm, but cut the shoulder bit at a slight angle before reattaching it. Also drill the pin hole all the way through the shoulder so the arm can pin into the socket. I've had to bend the pin on mine to adjust the angle. To get the Necron's head looking in the direction that he is pointing, you will need to trim a little off of the back of his chin and the collarbone, and trim the left neck piston so the parts can fit better.

 

 

The hand is a little bit of a challenge, requiring a spare hand from your parts bin. Here, I've used a space marine fist, cut from a chainsword. I trimmed away the index finger and inserted a pin, notched with my clippers to create the pointing finger. You might be able to find a simpler solution depending on what you have in your spare parts. If you're using the arm with the bent elbow, the model could simply be shaking his fist, in which case any spare Necron or marine fist will do.

 

 

To get the kneeling Necron to be firing from the shoulder, trim the forearm as you see here:

 

Next, cut the "ball" off of the shoulder.

 

This allows the arm to fit in closer to the body. Attach the upper arm so the gun hand can be attached with the gun upright rather than at an angle.

 

Then, attach the left arm. Depending on the positioning, you may also have to remove the shoulder ball to get the shoulder and wrist to line up properly.

 

Getting the head to look in the direction of the rifle is more than difficult than before, so the nect neest to be build up more. Add some plastic rod or tube that's the same size as the neck vertebrate, and replace the neck pistons with longer bits of thin plastic rod.

 

Trim these so that the head sits in place properly atop the neck and can look where the Necron is aiming.

 

 

With these techniques, you can add variety to your Necron Warrior units, or designate some as squad leaders. It's also a useful way to re-pose your spare models as casualties to scatter into your scenery. Have fun with it!

 

If you want a quick method for painting Necrons, check out my tutorial: Speed Painting Necrons.

'Til next time!