How to Paint Necromunda Noble Houses

The Clan Houses of the spire are the only models in Necromunda you are allowed to paint clean. Everything else in the setting is rusted, patched or bloodstained; the nobles are silk, gold thread and polished trim, and they look wrong the moment you weather them. That makes them a nice change of pace and a genuine test - there is nowhere for a sloppy basecoat to hide behind grime.

They are also a small commitment. Most of these are single characters and retinues, so this is a scheme to slow down for rather than batch.

The signature look

Deep imperial purple as the dominant robe colour, gold at every edge and fitting, crisp white panels carrying house heraldry, and pale skin that has never seen the underhive. Keep the value range wide: a dark purple, a bright gold and a near-white in the same eyeline is what makes the models read as expensive. Grime, if you use it at all, belongs on the hem and the boots and nowhere else.

The purple robes

1. Basecoat Naggaroth Night, two thin coats. For a warmer, more regal purple use Phoenician Purple instead - it sits closer to true imperial purple and is a stronger base under gold.
2. Shade with Druchii Violet into the folds. Keep it in the creases; a wash over the whole robe kills the richness.
3. Layer Xereus Purple across the raised cloth.
4. Highlight Genestealer Purple along the top of each fold, thinner as you go up the model.

The fast route: undercoat Wraithbone, then a single coat of Shyish Purple contrast for a cold, blue-leaning purple, or Magos Purple for a warmer pink-leaning one. Both look genuinely good on robes because the fabric folds do the shading for you. A tidy Genestealer Purple highlight afterwards takes it the rest of the way.

Vallejo Royal Purple or Imperial Purple and Army Painter Royal Purple are close equivalents for the base.

Gold trim and cloth of gold

There are two golds on these models and treating them the same is the commonest mistake.

Hard gold - trim, fittings, jewellery, weapon furniture:

1. Basecoat Retributor Armour.
2. Shade Reikland Fleshshade for a warm, glowing gold, or Agrax Earthshade for an older, heavier one.
3. Layer Auric Armour Gold on the raised metal.
4. Point-highlight Liberator Gold, then a tiny catch of Stormhost Silver on the sharpest corners only.

Cloth of gold - robes and sashes woven through with gold thread. Basecoat Retributor Armour, then glaze thinned Casandora Yellow over it rather than painting flat yellow. The metallic underneath keeps a fabric sheen instead of a mirror finish, and it stays clearly different from the hard trim beside it.

Vallejo Old Gold into Polished Gold, or Army Painter Greedy Gold into Bright Gold, do the same job.

White heraldry and pale skin

House devices sit on white panels and sashes, and they are the only clean cloth in the game. Basecoat Grey Seer, shade the folds with thinned Apothecary White, then bring the raised cloth up to White Scar. Do not wash white with a brown or black shade - it turns it into old bone, which is the exact opposite of the point.

Skin: Kislev Flesh basecoat, Reikland Fleshshade in the creases, layer back with Kislev Flesh, then Flayed One Flesh on the brow, nose and cheekbones. Spire-born nobles are pale and slightly waxy; keep the flesh light and the shading gentle.

Hair and furs take Rhinox Hide shaded Agrax Earthshade and drybrushed Stormvermin Fur, or Zandri Dust into Ushabti Bone for the blonds.

Tips and common mistakes

• Thin the purple properly. Purple is a poor coverer and a thick coat leaves visible brush marks on a smooth robe, where there is no texture to hide them.
• Two golds, not one. If the sash and the buckle beside it are the same finish, the model looks like painted plastic rather than metal and cloth.
• Keep the white cold. A grey-white next to a warm gold is far more convincing than a cream one.
• Restrict the dirt. A little Steel Legion Drab dragged onto the hem and boot soles says they walked here. Anything more and they stop being nobles.
• Spend the time on faces. These are character models seen at arm's length. A face that took an hour is visible; a robe that took three is not.

When you are happy with the palette, open this scheme in the generator to swap brands or shift the purple warmer for a different Clan House.