How to Assemble and Paint Necrons Flayed Ones for Tabletop Play

Quick answer

Assemble Flayed Ones by dry-fitting every clawed limb and skin cloak before gluing, then paint them in sub-assemblies: body, cloak, and arms separate. Use a bone-and-blood palette over dark metal, and base them with textured earth and gore so they read as a unit on the tabletop.

Flayed Ones are the messiest, most characterful unit in a Necron army, and they punish rushed assembly. Their overlapping skin cloaks, long claws, and hunched poses make it easy to glue yourself into a corner. The fix is simple: plan the build order before you touch the glue, and paint in sub-assemblies.

This guide walks through the full process for tabletop-ready Flayed Ones, from cleaning and dry-fitting to basing and varnish. It also covers a common mistake at each stage, plus how secondhand Necron character models from Frontline Gaming can fill out the rest of your force while you work through the squad.

Prep the parts and dry-fit before any glue

Clip every component from the sprue and clean the mold lines with a hobby knife and fine sanding stick. Flayed Ones have thin claws and trailing skin strips where mold lines are most visible, so spend extra time there. Lay all parts out by pose and dry-fit the torso, legs, and cloak together without glue. Check that the feet sit flat on the base and that the cloak does not collide with the arms.

This dry-fit stage is where you decide your sub-assemblies. Most painters keep the body, the cloak, and each arm separate until after basecoating. If a cloak overlaps the chest, you will never reach the skin underneath with a brush once it is glued. Mark hidden contact points with a small dot of paint so you know where to apply glue later.

• Common mistake: gluing the cloak before checking arm clearance, which locks the pose and hides detail.
• Checkpoint: every part should sit flush with light pressure and no gaps before you commit to glue.

Glue the core pose and keep sub-assemblies separate

Assemble the legs, torso, and head first, then set that core aside to cure. Use thin plastic cement for plastic kits and gel super glue for any resin or metal parts. Attach the arms and cloak only after the core is solid. If you are building a full squad, work in batches of three or four so you always have something curing while you clean the next model.

Keep the arms and cloak off the body until after you have basecoated both. This lets you reach the chest, inner cloak, and the gap between the legs. When the sub-assemblies are painted, glue them with super glue rather than plastic cement so you do not melt the paint around the joint.

• Common mistake: assembling the entire model before painting, which makes the chest and inner cloak unreachable.
• Checkpoint: the model should stand on its own without wobbling before you move to painting.

Prime and basecoat the sub-assemblies

Prime the body, cloak, and arms separately with a thin coat of grey or black primer. Short bursts from 20 to 30 cm away prevent the fuzzy, textured finish that ruins fine claw detail. For the metal skeleton, a dark metallic basecoat followed by a brown or black wash gives you the corroded look Flayed Ones need without extra work.

For the skin cloak, start with a bone or pale flesh tone, then wash it with a red-brown or purple wash to push it toward a flayed, unhealthy look. Do not try to blend the cloak and the metal in one pass. Keep them as separate paint jobs and let the contrast do the work.

• Common mistake: spraying primer too close on a humid day, which creates a chalky surface that paint will not stick to.
• Checkpoint: the primer coat should show crisp claw and skin texture, not obscure it.

Paint the metal body and the flayed skin

On the metal body, basecoat with a dark silver or iron, then wash the recesses with a brown or black wash. Drybrush a lighter silver over the raised edges to catch the ribs and limb joints. Keep the eyes and any glowing elements for last so you do not cover them with metallic paint.

On the skin cloak, layer a lighter bone tone over the raised folds and leave the wash in the recesses. Add a thin glaze of red or purple around the edges where the skin meets the metal to suggest irritation or blood. This is the step where painting Flayed Ones becomes fun, because the messier the transitions, the better the effect.

• Common mistake: applying thick layers on the cloak, which fills the texture and makes it look like smooth cloth.
• Checkpoint: the metal and skin should read as two different materials from arm's length.

Base the model for tabletop play

Flayed Ones basing should tell a story. Spread textured earth or crackle paste over the base and press in a few small skulls, bones, or debris while it is still wet. Once dry, paint the ground dark brown, drybrush it with a lighter tan, and add a red-brown wash around the feet to suggest recent violence.

Keep the base rim clean and paint it a solid color that matches the rest of your army. If you use a gaming mat, match the base tone to the mat so the squad blends into the battlefield. Do not overbuild the base; tall debris can make the model unstable and hard to rank up in melee.

• Common mistake: piling on so much texture that the model's feet no longer sit flat.
• Checkpoint: the base should look intentional and match your army's basing scheme.

Varnish, assemble, and touch up

Once the sub-assemblies are painted and fully dry, apply a matte varnish to protect the paint. Glue the arms and cloak to the body with super glue, holding each piece for 30 seconds until it sets. Work from the inside out: attach the cloak first, then the arms, so you can still reach the joints.

After assembly, check for shiny glue spots or paint chips at the contact points. Touch them up with the base colors and re-varnish those small areas. Let the finished models cure overnight before you pack them for a game.

• Common mistake: handling freshly glued parts too soon, which leaves fingerprints in the paint.
• Checkpoint: the model should feel solid with no loose arms or cloak edges.

Flayed Ones assembly and painting steps at a glance

1. Clean and dry-fit every part: Remove mold lines from claws and skin strips, then test the pose without glue. Checkpoint: no gaps and no hidden contact points.
2. Build the core and keep sub-assemblies separate: Glue legs, torso, and head first; leave arms and cloak off for painting. Checkpoint: the model stands on its own.
3. Prime and basecoat in sub-assemblies: Use thin primer coats and keep metal and skin on separate paint paths. Checkpoint: texture stays crisp.
4. Paint metal and flayed skin separately: Wash and drybrush the metal, layer the skin, and glaze red or purple at the joins. Checkpoint: the two materials read differently at arm's length.
5. Base with earth, bones, and a clean rim: Add texture and debris, paint the ground, and match the rim to your army. Checkpoint: the base looks intentional and the model sits flat.
6. Varnish, assemble, and touch up: Matte varnish the sub-assemblies, glue them with super glue, and fix any chips. Checkpoint: no loose parts and no shiny glue spots.

Secondhand Necron and Chaos options from Frontline Gaming

• Warhammer 40,000 Spiritseer GEE-25: Secondhand Shop Product sales are final and sold as-is. Items are "What you see is what you get" and are purchased exclusively from clients through our Secondhand Store Program. A secondhand character model can fill a support slot in your army while you focus your hobby time on the Flayed Ones squad, but the as-is policy means you should check the photos carefully before buying.
• Chaos Space Marines: Lord With Jump Pack: This multipart plastic kit builds one Chaos Lord with Jump Pack, an agile airborne leader for your Chaos Space Marine armies in Warhammer 40,000. This formidable hero offers a variety of customization options, allowing you to choose between a helmeted or unhelmeted head, along with several weapon configurations. If you want a painting project with more weapon and head options than a fixed-pose Flayed One, a multipart kit gives you spare parts for conversions and basing debris.

Flayed Ones reward patience more than any other Necron unit. Dry-fit everything, paint in sub-assemblies, and let the messy skin and corroded metal do the storytelling. Once the squad is based and varnished, they will look like they crawled straight out of a tomb world and onto your tabletop.