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Is there any "good" way for writing test on Mini's that are legible?

Very good points on brushes, thin paint or ink. Flow improver helps.

I've seen these used. Not sure on what size you'll want so make sure to do a little research.

http://www.amazon.com/Sakura-30081-Micron-Blister-0-20-mm/dp/B001CRI6O2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1398791435&sr=8-6&keywords=sakura+micron+pen

Thanks for the reply's.

Start by writing it with a pencil. Then use that as a guide for your brush.

I picked up some 0.05mm pens from an art store, it isn't perfect, but miles ahead of a paintbrush for me

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Decals. Some call it cheating, but my print can print legible text on decal sheets that is so tiny you need a magnifying glass to read it. With several thousand different true type fonts available, you can find one to look like graphiti, hand writing, calligraphy or pretty much any other form of written word you can think of (even pictograms and what not).

I usually attempt to fill a sheet half way with specific custom decals then Ill stuff the remainder with generic things I will use eventually (caution symbols, vehicle markings, exit signs...).

For doing it by hand though, you can use Micron Pens (work quite well) and even a good brush (steady hand, helps to write it with a soft pencil first). For that matter, depending on what you want to replicate, I have used pencils to draw on models and then sealed that without any paint over it (certain graphites work well to show chips and scratches on metal).

Gel pens are awful. They aren't very fine and they tend to be water soluble. They also take a a long time to dry.

I used to avoid freehand like the plague. But once I started practicing it I decided that I actually like doing it.

Fine tip sharpies can work okay. But I use a small brush with as steady a hand as I can manage.

 Dullspork wrote:
Gel pens are awful. They aren't very fine and they tend to be water soluble. They also take a a long time to dry.

OK then...please ignore my little contribution to this thread!

I'm a fan of micron pens. A fine brush can work if you've got steady hands, but the superfine markers have a stiff nib that helps keep your line width stable, as pressure is effectively removed as a variable.

 jasper76 wrote:

 Dullspork wrote:
Gel pens are awful. They aren't very fine and they tend to be water soluble. They also take a a long time to dry.

OK then...please ignore my little contribution to this thread!

Sorry man, that came out quite dickish to you, but that was not the intent. I'm still stinging from the last time I tried to use those damn things.

A fine brush with black ink will give you more fine lines thab micron pens but will take longer. Are you looking to make legible text or just the scribbles that look like writing from far away?

Black ink on a brush does indeed get finer lines. It's what I use for my scribbletext on my purity seals. For legible text, I don't think it gives me enough control, so I go with micron pens.

I use micron pens, also good for putting the pupil into an eye.

As a perfectionist, I would never freehand anything on a military piece, because unless its something that the guys have hand drawn, like mascots, kill counts or slogans, it would always be stencilled, so use decals. If its not military, eg chaos/orc messy scribbling, just freehand it with a 4/0

As a perfectionist myself it hurts that I never considered that!

Anyone know a good source of small lettering decals? My google-fu is failing me

Im sure you'd be able to find sheets of generic alphabets somewhere?

The most important thing I can say is patience. Have the patience to do only a single line at a time and then stop, compose yourself, do one more line, stop, and so on. Remember that you can go back and trim up the lines with a fine detail brush if you accidentally put them on too thick or fat or splotchy in some areas.

Also, caps-lock is best for model writing. Lowercase letters almost never look good in this medium.

Artist quality felt fine liners or self printed transfers.
Generally I hand paint then touch up with pen, I've yet to order any black transfer sheets.

QAR gave me a good idea, which lead me to this guy;

http://www.bedlamcreations.com/waterslidedecals/decals_generic/letters01.htm

Does custom stuff as well from a template, pretty cheap too considering - I am getting a quote together for a stack of generic numbers, words, ultramarine stuff and whatever else

Will see how much it ends up costing, but I am expecting about on par with what you'd pay for GW transfers - will let you good folks know

You can easily create your own, otherwise most decal companies offer several types of lettering from stencil style, to graphiti and even some gothic caligraphy. I get a lot of stuff from Archer Decals (mostly their resin decals now as I make most my own).

If you go to a site like Squadron and type lettering into the search, you will get a hundred or so results from lots of companies.

I write mediocrely with a paintbrush and white paint.

My results are eh, but they get the point across.


example.

I have been venturing into this territory myself, with mixed results.

I find it is always good to do a practice run on a piece of scrap, that way you can get a feel for what the brush will actually do. Thinned paint also helps, but try not to keep too much on your brush because any slight waver of the hand will drop the whole brush load, especially if it's thin paint.

Also, a bit of inscription work always looks good and you can use this with your legible work to give the impression of there being much more writing there.

As with all things though, practice makes perfect and you shouldn't feel daunted by getting into freehand. Those guys with murals on their tanks, they've been at it for years, so don't get discouraged!

I've had decent results with stippling the letters on rather than actually writing them with a paintbrush.

I purchased some speedball calligraphy pens, with metal nibs, and some colored india inks. Works well very fine lines, but you have to have a light touch to keep the metal nibs from scratching through the clear coat. I do my lettering after I have a clear coat on. If I screw up I can usually wipe it off quickly and start over.

Dale