This article was originally posted by stgm on his blog weetoysoldiers.com.

September 18, 2005

Sakura Corporation of Japan makes a line of fine art pens called Pigma Micron. In my humble opinion, they are an indispensable tool for the miniature hobbyist.

They’re marketed as “fade-proof and waterproof, archival ink.” They come in multitude of colors of varying fineness, all the way from 0.20mm to 0.50mm.

The top pen in black is “01″, which is 0.25mm, and the rest are “005″, which is 0.20mm.

I use them to add definition in miniatures where there’d be shadow or to add a hard dividing line. Sure I can attempt to do the same using a 20/0 brush, but these pens are much easier to control.

Here is a crude attempt to show how “fine” the 0.20mm and 0.25mm pens are:

No award-winning penmanship here!

… and here is an applicatioin on a miniature. Remember my Necron Warriors?

I used the .25mm (”01″) black pen on the old-style model on the right to give his shoulder plates some definition:

The ink comes out glossy, but as the miniature will be sealed with a final protective coat of flat lacquer, that’s not a problem.

They sell locally here in craft stores or arts supply stores for around $2.50 per pen, or you can get them from online places like Dick Blick for less than that.