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Based on the short Youtube video from Lukes Affordable Painting Service (APS), I was curious to see how quickly I could "paint up" Ultramarines from the Battle for Vedros Starter Set using only Sharpies.

I first primed the Space Marines with The Army Painter's Ultramarine Blue. I then proceeded to "paint" the miniatures via Sharpie pens, afterwards dipping the models. Unfortunately, the dipping media did dissolve some of the pen marks, so I had to reapply after dipping. The colors white and red were a pain. For red, I first had to color the spot white, then add the red afterwards. I also had to use flesh paint for the faces (Sharpie doesn't make a flesh-color pen).

More lessons learned and photos on my blog....
https://mezmaronslair.blogspot.com/2017/09/painting-40k-space-marines-with-sharpie.html

I used gold and silver sharpies years ago to get a SM army to "3 Color minimum" for a tourney. It did the job.

Nice to see other people doing it as well.

In the end, it did save a little time - especially setup of painting station. But overall, not as much saved as I would have liked, or was expecting. The metallic pens will be my primary method going forward for metallic colors however. Mez

I've used this kind of thing occasionally, and my brother has had good results with metallic pens. Nice work!

Is it easy to get a good even coverage coat with a metallic pen? I ussualy think it can be tedious with a brush.

Do you have to go over the surface with the pen just once?

Haha to be fair they look pretty decent, don't felt tip pens rub off very easily though?

 DanceOfSlaanesh wrote:
Is it easy to get a good even coverage coat with a metallic pen? I ussualy think it can be tedious with a brush.

Do you have to go over the surface with the pen just once?

Yep - just once. Coverage is awesome for the metallics. I recommend getting an extra Space Marine and quickly painting one with the method as a test. No paint setup, can do it anywhere, and fast.

Mez


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kroem wrote:
Haha to be fair they look pretty decent, don't felt tip pens rub off very easily though?

Not when they are permanent Sharpie pens. Only reason mine rubbed off is because I dipped AFTER using the pens, and the dipping media acted as a solvent. I recommend dipping first, then doing markers. Perfect!

Mez

Bought some of the metal markers on sale at my Michaels yesterday, planning on doing the brass and gold highlights with them.

While not the cleanest job, they're TT ready, and being able to do it on the go is probably a huge boost! Hope to see how the Landspeeder turns out!

Mortarion's Herald wrote:
Bought some of the metal markers on sale at my Michaels yesterday, planning on doing the brass and gold highlights with them.

While not the cleanest job, they're TT ready, and being able to do it on the go is probably a huge boost! Hope to see how the Landspeeder turns out!

Yes, as I get older, quicker to tabletop is replacing desire for awesome paint job. I'll be starting the Landspeeder soon and will post when complete, and with a total time estimate it took for completion.

Anyone have a picture of the metallic sharpies next to a painted equivalent?

Mezmaron wrote:Sharpie doesn't make a flesh-color pen

Y'know, I'd honestly be really disturbed if they did

They really do look pretty damned good, though

AnFéasógMór wrote:

Mezmaron wrote:Sharpie doesn't make a flesh-color pen

Y'know, I'd honestly be really disturbed if they did

They really do look pretty damned good, though

My biggest take-away is that for the following colors, using the Sharpie markers was worth it:
*White (if small, like skull bits, etc.)
*Black
*Silver
*Gold
*Bronze

Anything else (Red, etc.) was not and better to just pull the paints out.

Mez

Recently painted up three Black Legion models via Sharpies, and also posted some photos of a Land Speeder using the same method:


http://mezmaronslair.blogspot.com/2018/10/painting-40k-chaos-space-marines-black.html


https://mezmaronslair.blogspot.com/2017/11/painting-40k-space-marines-with-sharpie.html

I've found Sharpie pens good for fine lining larger recesses but that's about it, normally the pen rubs off quite easily after a few touches.

Also for hard to reach areas, they really are not that practical.

However, they do have their uses which is why we haven't entirely put them to bed

Brown is a flesh color ;D

Very cool! They look great, I would never have thought of something like this! I imagine applying a final varnish with an airbrush (rattle cans can dissolve some types of paint) should provide plenty of protection.

There are sharpies with brush tips out there and other manufacturers that offer a myriad of permanent colours in brush tip. That should help with the precision and in cracks and crevices. I've used them for writing Japanese characters on some period inspired models, though only the black and white, never tried the metallics, and I'm liking what I'm seeing.

One of my most recent attempts has been to paint some Poxwalkers, using Army Painter color primer and Sharpie pens.

After priming them green, (with a zenithal overprime of a lighter green primer), I used Sharpies before dipping them using Royal Walnut Satin Mixwax Polyshade.

I used normal acrylics to paint the the bases and added some flocked foliage to complete the models. I used a silver Sharpie for the eyes which turned out looking great.

http://mezmaronslair.blogspot.com/2019/01/painting-40k-poxwalkers-with-sharpie.html

I used silver metals on Marines all the time for the trim. then touch it up later. Looks good to me though !

How do you not get high as gak doing that lol

They can also be useful for doing stuff like a filigree pattern in metallics. I've messed with them before, but in my opinion the metallic ones work the best.; although you've managed to get some pretty good results with them here.

I recently used some sharpies on a speed painting project (painting only with washes). After using a silver one on some parts, I wanted to do a black wash. However, the silver parts were really glossy and non-wetting, so my wash didn't work much (a little glossy is better, but too glossy is awful).
Did other people have that problem too? It seemed to work fine over a bronze sharpie (I used the brand named ones).

fresus wrote:
I recently used some sharpies on a speed painting project (painting only with washes). After using a silver one on some parts, I wanted to do a black wash. However, the silver parts were really glossy and non-wetting, so my wash didn't work much (a little glossy is better, but too glossy is awful).
Did other people have that problem too? It seemed to work fine over a bronze sharpie (I used the brand named ones).

Yes, the glossy surface can interfere with the washes. One option is to matte spray the model very lightly before washing, which seems to tone down the glossy surface. Of course this adds an extra step, and limits some time-savings which is a main point of using the Sharpies....

Mez

I tried to speed paint some Eldar Guardians a few months back, using just a quick purple wash and metallic Sharpie for the Shuriken Rifles. This was before the release of the new Contrast Paints.



https://mezmaronslair.blogspot.com/2019/11/painting-40k-eldar-with-sharpie-pens.html

I mean...I guess if it gets painted minis to the table faster it's good. It is a very...unique method.

Hmm might try this for a Tyranid army. I'm guessing the models cannot be stripped afterwards?

Neverwinter27 wrote:
Hmm might try this for a Tyranid army. I'm guessing the models cannot be stripped afterwards?

I haven't tried it, but I wouldn't assume that; I don't think a Sharpie is that much more resistant to chemicals than acryclics and other painting supplies?

Hmm might just try it anyways. I'm trying to figure out the Hive fleet scheme using only the recommended sharpie colors of white,black,silver,gold, and bronze.

I "painted" more Chaos Space Marines (Black Legion) models with Sharpie pens - I added a few Chaos Cultists and two Possessed models.

https://mezmaronslair.blogspot.com/2020/03/painting-more-40k-chaos-space-marines.html

These models showed me the limits of the Sharpie painting approach as I found the paint job to just barely achieve what I consider tabletop quality. Still, sometimes getting painted models to the table is more important than a quality paint job. I plan to use all the model for a One Page Rules Kill Team, and for that purpose, I believe they will serve me well on the battlefield....

I was thinking about this thread last week. Not to paint full minis, but my black was almost dead, and I use it to paint the rims on my bases. So I thought “If he can do whole minis with a sharpie, I can do some bases”.

Turned out looking just fine.

I was since able to source some new paint, But this idea helped out in a pinch.