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I'm going to be starting a Carcharodons army and while I'm fairly adept at free-handing, I reckon I could benefit from something far more controllable with all the Polynesian styled decoration I'll be doing. Cheating I know, but does anybody have any idea where I can get a white ultra-fine nibbed 'paint' pen suitable for this type of work. Ideally, I'm looking for something that is compatible (i.e. fixes well, without needing varnished and has a smooth finish) with the mediums we all use, and something that is easy to remove/conceal with acrylic paint within an appropriate time-frame should I make a mistake.

Any help would be most appreciated.

I don't see why its cheating if it gets the job done.

I've seen sharpies being used in some online tutorials and they look convincing..Dunno if that's something.

It's absolutely fine to treat your final product as being "multi medium". There's no rule that tells you can only use brush and pot paints. Hell, if something like that existed, then even airbrush would be 'cheating'. Matter of fact, your standard primers aren't exactly the same type of medium (oil solvent vs water based).

As for the product youre looking for, they typically go by "fineliners" - primarily used for drafting. They're water based and can be wiped off with water. They should be spray varnished after you've achieved the results you want.

What ever works the best for you is the right choice, nothing wrong with using Paint pens at all, it's more about art and very little about science when it comes to painting models. ( Thats what i have been told any way, and it makes sense ).

Check out Gundam Markers, they seem exactly what you are after.

Thanks for the suggestions all - I've looked into Gundam Markers, but they also threw up Micron Pens and Copic Multi-Liners - which also seem promising. So, thanks again

I'm just a little OCD when it comes to going outside the box of brush and paint - I have pre-conceived notions of how it 'should be', which is probably the main limits to my progression. So, here's to the first step outside the wall

I like to use ultra fine paint pens to do eyes. I still suck at painting eyes, but I find the pens easier than brush painting for eyes.

I find it easier to freehand with a brush. I've never come across a pen with a point as fine as a good quality fine paintbrush.

Ill have to check this out as well, there was a youtuber that I watched a while back that was using pastels on some bigger models from Creature Caster, I believe he also dyed some type of glue to get a good gore effect. Use whatever works, brother.


Edit: it was Uhu glue and printer ink.

No such thing as cheating, they said that about the air brush, now you cant paint a tank without one.

Im also looking to free hand a picture of Thor, but i feel like im looking for a magical unicorn when it comes to a good ultra fine paint pen.

The best thing i found was actualy a tipex pen filled with your desired colour, easy to control very fine massive! Waste of paint.

 Warpig1815 wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions all - I've looked into Gundam Markers, but they also threw up Micron Pens and Copic Multi-Liners - which also seem promising. So, thanks again

I'm just a little OCD when it comes to going outside the box of brush and paint - I have pre-conceived notions of how it 'should be', which is probably the main limits to my progression. So, here's to the first step outside the wall

I got a 0.05 Copic just last week.

I was disappointed with it.

It would "dry out" after just a few lines and I had to swirl it around on something else a bit to get it going again....and repeat that again and again.

Not sure ic just a bad pen, bad product, or what.....but I don't see myself using it again.

Well, I've gone all out and bought a number of different fine-liners. I've yet to test them properly, but here's the preliminary results so to speak:

1. Sakura Micron Pigma - By far the most handy so far. The 0.25mm tip gives a very fine line and it's available in a number of colours (But not white). Adhesion appears to be limited, although I've only tested on primer so far and didn't leave overnight to cure. My initial thoughts are that it would require varnish to fix it. I got both 0.25mm tips and the Brush tip. The Brush tip appears to be superior, as it literally ends in a needle point and can give very fine lines. Also, being foam, it has the advantage that, unlike the hard tips of the other nibs, it doesn't catch and draws smoothly over surfaces.

2. Sakura Pen Touch (White) - Advantage being that it's white, and fixes very firmly, even on to bare plastic. However the disadvantage is that the 0.7 'Extra Fine' nib is still too big. Also, the way the nib works requires direct contact with as much of the nib end as possible, so you can't tip it on it's edge to draw finer lines. The nib appears to work by capillary action, so it tends to put the ink in a fine 0.7mm line, but at the scale I want it just 'dumps' it. I half considered attempting to make a foam brush point for this, as that would result in the perfect pen.

3. Copic Multiliner (Cool Grey). First off - no white in this range. Cool Grey appears to be the lightest you can get, and in practice it's about the same shade as Eshin Grey. not ideal if, like me, your force is Carcharodons.... all grey, all the time. However, the 0.1mm nib is very fine, it comes in a range of other colours and appears to fix well.

4. Faber-Castell Pitt Artists Pen (White) - Still in the post, but this is my last ditch attempt to find a fine white marker. It has a brush tip, with all the benefits I mentioned for the Sakura, but the ink is India Ink (Water-based, but once dry, theoretically waterproof and fixes well). We shall have to see. I have a feeling that this one will meet the requirements of a white fineliner well, but will require a layer of varnish to prevent smudging.


For anyone interested, my Carcharodons test model is progressing, so I hope I'll be in a position to post results of the fine-lining soon.

 TheMeanDM wrote:

 Warpig1815 wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions all - I've looked into Gundam Markers, but they also threw up Micron Pens and Copic Multi-Liners - which also seem promising. So, thanks again

I'm just a little OCD when it comes to going outside the box of brush and paint - I have pre-conceived notions of how it 'should be', which is probably the main limits to my progression. So, here's to the first step outside the wall

I got a 0.05 Copic just last week.

I was disappointed with it.

It would "dry out" after just a few lines and I had to swirl it around on something else a bit to get it going again....and repeat that again and again.

Not sure ic just a bad pen, bad product, or what.....but I don't see myself using it again.

Spoiler:

Was that your thread I responded to? Likely a bad pen or you are gumming it up with paint. The extremely fine pen is quite sharp it can lift or cut into the paint easily. They are also very easily damaged and not a lot of ink flows through the narrow pen so it's not a "fast" thing to use.

Here are mine and a few strikes. You can't go fast or long with them. Short strokes or slow long lines are best practice. Very light touch.

Yes meaty, that was me

 TheMeanDM wrote:
Yes meaty, that was me

Aye, ok. So for those marks you see on the spear tip. I was like.. barely touching. If your tip is working right that's how it should transfer.

I mean, its a little more complex and there are things like polar molecules and how pigments might be polar and might actually be resisting the ink flow.. but.. that's all too complex and is neither here nor there. It "should" work. Mind you a lot of the pens in "retail" and not a few on amazon are OLD stock.. aka dry, or nearly so. The copics do not have a super long shelf life and a non-climate controlled warehouse does not help anything.

I've gotten bad pens before. Bad tips.

Which is what moved me more towards the metal barrel version (even though its pricey) because I could buy replacement parts and keep them on hand. Our paint can also damage the hell out of those tips.. think micro-pigment particles gumming it up.. it's terminal and needs to be replaced. It took me a GOOD LONG TIME to learn the NO PRESSURE thing and I have to remind myself every time. NO PRESSURE.