# Using Paint Pens



## Ravner298 (Jun 3, 2011)

Have been experimenting with paint filled pens lately for painting trim quickly and to a lesser extent highlighting. They go on suprisingly smooth and look great, however I can't seem to find the right color. I'm trying to get a shining gold equivalent in a paint pen, but after trying 3 brands "metallic gold" it comes out looking silver....anyone with experience know where I can get the good stuff?


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

Its been years (like 20) since I used a paint pen on a miniature. But I have since used them for other art projects.

What brands have you tried? (I don't recall off the top if my head which were decent ones)

I recall Sharpie's paint pens were decent, but ran out quickly.

How well are you shaking them before using them on the shoulders of your models?

Also, how are those areas painted? Metallics paints always look better over a black undercoat, it allows the little flakes of metal to shone reflect comparatively more light, than if it were undercoated with white (or another color).

So try shaking them up well, and paint the areas black before adding the metal.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,
Kreuger


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## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

I hadn't even thought about using paint pens. has anyone else got any recommendations?
how well do they cover?


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## Ravner298 (Jun 3, 2011)

TheReverend said:


> I hadn't even thought about using paint pens. has anyone else got any recommendations?
> how well do they cover?


They look a lot better than I thought they would. They cover smooth and flat, and are a lot easier to wield than a fine detail brush.

@Kreuger, I shook it for about 2 minutes, and ran a few heavy lines on a piece of cardboard before I used it. On paper, it came out yellow gold (the desired effect) but when I applied it to the model (primed black) it came out silver with a tiny, tiny hint of gold, not enough to stand out unless you REALLY looked at it. I need a more yellow looking gold. I used the krylon and some other brand I found. I have not tried sharpie yet. How fine are the tips on sharpies? Or is it just like the markers I remember from grade school.


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## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

*Ravner298*: cheers. I'll see if I can get some over the weekend from the art shop. My freehand painting is poo pants so this might help me out a bit when doing Runes and the like on my Space Puppies.


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## Ravner298 (Jun 3, 2011)

Let me know how it turns out for you, I just went out and got the metallic gold sharpie one, and the Painters metallic gold from Elmers. Ill see which one is the easiest to use, im hoping this painters one works because the tip is really fine and would be perfect.

edit; Argh. Both of them turn out the same. It's not a yellow gold, its a 'true' gold like jewelry. Both appear completely silver on black primer.


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## arumichic (May 14, 2011)

My question for this is if there's enough range of colors for paint pens to actually attempt freehand with as well as the drying time, wouldn't you not be able to do wet blending???


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## Silens (Dec 26, 2010)

It would be good to find a kind of re-fill paint pen that you could put your own paints into.

edit: they exist, apparently, but the smallest I could find were 1mm tips which I would imagine might be too thick for miniature painting.


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## Ravner298 (Jun 3, 2011)

> wouldn't you not be able to do wet blending???


my only intended use of the paint pens is to do the armor trim on chaos marines, because my freehand is shaky and I cant get it to turn out right :<


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## arumichic (May 14, 2011)

Okay, makes sense, but I was thinking of trying it out for freehanding, since I can do it, but it gets pretty annoying sometimes.


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## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

I was just going to try and use a paint pen for things like eyes, which I'm rubbish at and text/runes on things.

sounds like it's best to steer clear of the gold though :laugh:


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## Ravner298 (Jun 3, 2011)

yeah Rev make sure when you look at the package it says ultra fine tip, because you won't be able to get details with anything but. They come in a few different sizes.


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