The Warhammer Community team paints a pair of spectacular Nightbringer C’tan Shards

The C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer is probably in the running for best Warhammer 40,000 miniature of 2026, even though we’re just two weeks into the year – impressive stuff considering the calibre of miniatures in 2025. But there are lots of amazing miniatures to come, and you’ll see your first glimpse of what else is on the way this year in the New Year Preview tomorrow. For now, though, we’re a little bit obsessed with this huge, scythe-wielding deathdealer.

Two members of the extended Warhammer Community team were given the chance to paint their own versions of the Nightbringer, with entirely different approaches. Here’s how they got on.

Joel: I’m a big fan of co-operative games, and I’d never painted any Necron models until Kill Team: Tomb World came out. I loved all the miniatures in that box, so I picked it up on release. Recently I’ve been working my way through that set and I’ve also really been enjoying playing co-op Kill Team with a friend, so the idea of a “boss” for the game really appealed to me.

My Necrons are painted relatively simply since they’re mostly just NPOs for my Kill Team games, but I wanted to spend more time with this one since it’s such a fantastic sculpt and deserves a more extravagant paint job.

I sprayed my Nightbringer with Chaos Black spray and then airbrushed Xereus Purple* on the lower half of his robes. I love purple and relish any time I get to paint it! The black parts of the robes were highlighted with Naggaroth Night and then Xereus Purple, while the lighter parts were highlighted with Kakophoni Purple.

The body was painted Iron Hands Steel and then layered with Stormhost Silver, before receiving a wash of thinned down Luxion Purple, and a final highlight of Stormhost Silver again. The green lightning/energy was painted with Warpstone Glow then layered with my all time favourite paint, Moot Green. I mixed some Flash Gitz Yellow into the Moot Green to brighten it up for the highlights. This was the last colour I painted, before I added a bit of subtle object source lighting around the Scarabs. The bases for my Necrons are sanded down and then painted with a wet blend of various green paints to make them look a bit like blackstone.

I love how it has turned out and I’m pleased with my colour choices – now I’m just excited to shoot him to pieces** with my friend!

Luke: When I first saw the Nightbringer I knew he would be the centrepiece model of my Necron army and was so excited to paint him. I have already been using the C’tan Shard of the Void Dragon in most of my games, so the idea of bringing his best buddy along too was so cool.

I chose a paint scheme that would match my current army, which is based around a few simple key colours. All my Necrons are painted to be as bright, shiny coloured as possible, as I like the idea that they look like a kind of molten living metal that could re-mould at any point.

Starting with a Chaos Black basecoat spray, I picked out all the necrodermis parts in Leadbelcher. These were then drybrushed with Runefang Steel to make them as shiny as possible. The cloak has a Corvus Black base with a Nuln Oil wash, then a selective drybrush of Skavenblight Dinge on the lighter areas. The red glow was painted with Mephiston Red, into Wild Rider Red, then Fire Dragon Bright as the brightest colour. The lightning effect is Dechala Lilac with a Druchii Violet wash, and some edge highlights with White Scar. 

I am super excited to run him in some games very soon and will of course be using the new Pantheon of Woe Detachment so he can team up with all his star god friends. I need to practise plenty so I am ready in time for the Warhammer Open Maastricht!

Cheers to both Joel and Luke! If you need some more inspiration, you can check out how hobbyists from the wider community tackled the Nightbringer in this article stuffed with examples. When you’ve got a plan in mind, you can pre-order the monstrosity yourself. Make sure to share the outcome with us on the official Warhammer Instagram and Warhammer 40,000 Facebook pages.

*This requires mixing in some Air Caste Thinner.

**Well… more pieces than it’s already in.