One More Annihilation Barge Done!

So I just finished another Annihilation Barge. You get stuff done so quickly when you're not painting scythes!

This is a permanent Annihilation Barge, it is not magnetized to double as a Command Barge. I already have one CB, and wanted to keep Overlord bits to use for a Destroyer Lord conversion somewhere down the line.

I also touched up on the old Barge, painting the inlays black on the wings and the central blue column.

Thanks for looking!

Annihilation/CC Barge Done!

After magnetizing and converting the Barge, it was ready for painting. The Barge was the first vehicle I painted, and as such, it was the first time I encountered certain Necron themes that are not present on infantry. Namely the wings and the tail of the barge.

The wings and the tail are stylistically present on all Necron vehicles: large plates, laid over a curving and narrowing shape, with a visible space between them that opens up the layer underneath. Sometimes these plates have electrical circuit-like lines inlaid.

It was straightforward to paint the these plates with gray-blue gradients. However, the circuits and the space between the plates was a problem for me. I tried a few things on the lower side of a wing:

Having these circuits in black stood out too much, and besides, black lines over blue was not present thematically anywhere. The burning red between lines didn't look either at all, even though I was sure I should have looked great. It just didn't.

I tried various other approaches. As I previously painted Warrior shoulder plates gray with blue close to the edges, I tried doing the same thing on these plates, with entirely blue lines between. It just didn't work.

I stopped taking pictures, but I also tried inverting the gradient on these plates: to be blue center, gray towards the edges, with entirely gray space between the plates. After an outline of Ulthuan Grey (a very pale gray color, just off white) I got to something I was happy with:

As for the black and red parts, they were straightforward, even though it took a lot of time to get all the gradients right (these pics are from before I completed the blue parts):

With that, completing the Barge and the Annihilation Barge specifically was easy. To complete the Catacomb Command Barge I needed to paint the Overlord too. There is nothing notable to say about this, here is the end result:

And, with that, the Barge was done!

Annihilation/CC Barge Conversion

I always found it funny and distracting that Necron vehicles are piloted by troops that have fully functional bodies. Not only do their limbs hang around arbitrarily, but we know that Necron can work without limbs (as Destroyers demonstrate) and can be closely integrated into vehicles (Tomb Blades being an obvious example, plus all those pipes that connect the rider's spines to the vehicle). These pilots also have little to no free will, as all low-tier Necrons do. Finally, it's simply funny that a Necron, a member of the most technologically advanced race that has ever existed and that is a full blown cyborg, would command a vehicle by sitting in a comfy chair and typing on a keyboard of sorts.

So wouldn't it be obvious that there pilots would be integrated with the vehicles? Permanently tied to them. This sinister perspective, besides being more believable in my opinion, works great with the overall theme of my army.

The Barge has two pilots:

They, as described before, are sitting in chairs with comfy foot stands even though their chest is held in place by the vehicle and fused with their spine. Those foot stands, and their legs, had to go.

As for their hands and keyboards, that wasn't as easy of a choice for me. By removing them, a whole section would be removed from the vehicle when looking from above. The front would seem emptier and lighter. This wouldn't be a bad thing necessarily, just different. I went online to see if anyone has done something similar.

And, of course:

The barge looked great even without the riders altogether. The keyboards wouldn't be missed.

First I chopped off the chairs bottom parts used an old bass guitar string to create spines that lead from the pilots to the vehicle. The models were almost designed for this. I used a 3mm drill both in the chestpieces and in the platform thing to ensure that the string would stay firm; then I covered gaps with green stuff.

As for the arms, I was inspired by this model by From The Warp:

I used thinner bass strings, only one per arm socket was enough:

Eventually, after painting, the conversion turned out amazing:

Annihilation/CC Barge Magnetization

The Barge is one of the best value kits in the Necron army. You can either assemble a Annihilation Barge (AB) with a Necron Overlord on foot, or a Catacomb Command Barge (CCB). That is a lot of points for a ~$30 kit. It is no secret that, with some work and a few magnets you could have them convertible.

IDICBeer is a YouTuber with amazing, detailed tutorials on magnetization of Necron units. Be sure to check it out. I found it very helpful and inspirational.

There are three fronts for magnetization. The first is being able to replace the AB cannon with the Overlord's feet and Command Barge console thing. The second is to make the Tesla/Gauss weapons underneath the model replaceable. The third would be to make the front bit replaceable. I didn't care to do that and just glued the larger front bit. Even though it may have negative gameplay effect, it looks so much better that way.

To make the AB cannon removable, I put 2x1mm magnets in the cannon's platform and in the base:

Notice that I put only two magnets in the cannon's platform. The two small bits sticking on the side would keep the platform from moving and I didn't want to make removal too difficult. This was strong enough. Note that, unlike IDICBeer, I glued the cannon to the mount. It is not difficult to remove it in one piece once you figure it out.

As for the CCB, I put two small magnets in the Overlord's feet and in the console thing:

I didn't want to glue the Overlord to an infantry base and then magnetize this base to the model. This would be an easier solution and more stable, however, my bases are very bright and textured and this would stand out too much.

To fix the Overlord's feet to the model I needed to put magnets on the underside of the Barge's platform. I drilled from the other side until I was able to put magnets flush to the platform's surface, without affecting the detail on the upper side:

Given the distance between the feet and the platform's surface, the Overlord was barely standing in place. I had to make the contact stronger, and so I stacked two 2x1mm magnets per foot. This made the magnets too deep and I needed to drill a hole in the part that the platform was resting on:

And that's it! The overlord snaps in place and stays there even if you shake the model or turn it upside down.

As for the weapons underneath, that was straightforward and similar to how IDICBeer has done it. I didn't even take close-up pictures, it's very easy.

In addition, I wasn't sure if I wanted to assemble the Overlord with or without the Resurrection Orb (ResOrb). At the time I was doing this, there were rumors floating around about Necrons being updated to 7th edition. I wanted to keep my options open. As it was, I considered the ResOrb to be must-have with infantry, but to be arguably useless in a CCB.

So I just made his left arm convertible:

And with that, the Barge was ready for conversion, assembly and painting: