The Court of the Scarab King

Grubnards GT Countdown T-8 weeks

Wow, only 8 weeks until the GT and there is still a lot to do.  Time seems to go by fast when you are gearing up for a big GT. This past week I took the plunge and started working on a new table that I will be bringing to the GT this year, along with my Tyranid terrain and ancient ruins terrain. Besides finishing painting my army I still need to finish painting up the last of my Tyranid terrain, build a display board for my Tau, and build my new necron table, or as I am referring to as, the Court of the Scarab King. It has a nice ring to it, eh?

Now due to time constraints of gearing up for the GT and trying to type up my how-to series on terrain, I am only going to focus on work in progress shots for the necron terrain now and then once the GT is done I'll go back and type up the steps I used to create the necron terrain. So for now onto the pics....



As with all terrain that I build I try to create a theme as to why two armies would be facing off against each other amongst this terrain. The necron terrain is going to revolve around the Court of the Scarab King, or simply put, this is a part of a tomb world complex where the damaged necrons end up when they phase out from a battle.

Front view of steps leading up to the power core.

So the terrain is going to reflect that aspect of a tomb world. It will have obelisks, pylons, resurrection banks, glowing power banks, portals, etc...

This first piece I am working on measures about 18 inches long x 11 inches wide and represents the power hub for this portion of the complex. By raising the structure up off the ground and adding obelisks I hope to invoke an intimidating and ancient feel to the piece.

Plague bearer model used for scale reference.

Originally I was just going to paint the obelisks and power core but after seeing Chris Courtney's Tau terrain with lighting I knew that I needed to try this out. So for the obelisks, I sketched out this scarab symbol onto plasticard and cut it out in a necron-diamond shape.

Scarab King Glyph shield/crest.

Then with a exacto I carfully cut out the scarab symbol so that when I place it over the hole within the obelisk, the light I put on the inside should hopefully shine through. (Note, the hole will be cut after it is painted.)

Scarab crest/shield will be added here. A hole will be cut into the obelisk to let the light through.

Hollowed obelisk to allow LEDs to fit inside.

As for the power core, this was a cap to an old lego set that was in the attic. With a dremel tool and razor I cut out three of the panels and plan on running lights in there as well to make it look like it is running.

Overhead shot of piece. Note that the shape is somewhat assembled to look like a scarab.

Here are some shots of the riptide nearly completed.