Attention Speed Painters: cut your paint time in half...

[SgtSlag]

If you want to paint fast, to a tabletop standard, what I call GEtGW (Good Enough to Game With, at arm's length, 3-5 feet away), read on.  I paint as quickly as possible, using block painting techniques, on figures organized by pose, applying the same paint + technique, on each successive figure, in each figure pose group.  It is a means to, "Git 'er done, Son."

I cut my per figure, painting time, from 10 minutes, down to 4-5 minutes.  My "secret ingredient", is Acrylic Painting Pens.  I recently finished painting 48 em4 Dwarves using nothing but spray primer, Acrylic Paint Pens, and by brushing on The Dip Technique, followed by spraying them with matte clear coat.

Not only did I finish the 48 Dwarves, I also finished painting 48 em4 Orcs, also using Acrylic Paint Pens.  Saving 4-5 minutes of painting time on 96 miniatures, amounted to 8 -  9.6 hours of time saved!

I paint to a low standard.  I am very happy with my painting standards.  However, I do wonder what other people could accomplish using these same Paint Pens.  Bear in mind, with Paint Pens, you cannot dilute your paint.

Bottom line:  if you are a basic painter, interested in speed, while maintaining a basic quality, I suggest experimenting with Acrylic Paint Pens.

Using the Paint Pens has motivated me to paint figures like nothing ever has.  I used them to finish painting a group of Kobolds, which were 90% finished, but I just did not want to tackle the last bit of painting they needed.  I am still excited to keep painting more figures.  I have never been this excited to paint, nor have I ever finished painting so many figures, in such a short time period!

This is my second "Jedi Mind Trick" to get myself to paint figures.  This one, however, is more effective than anything I've ever tried before...

I've used around three different brands of Pens.  Price does not seem to matter, as they all appear to have similar quality results.  I got a pack of 48 colored pens, for $6.99 + S/H + Tax.

If you have read this far, obviously you are interested in seeing some images.  Here you go:  Dwarf 1; Dwarf 2; Dwarf 3; Dwarf 4; Dwarf 5; Orc 1.

Again, my purpose is in sharing speed techniques.  Speed over quality.  When you cover a large gaming table with figures, "Quantity has a quality all its own."  Cheers!

[Frugalmax]

Paint pens- cool tip! ... ...

I might give it a shot. I'm a bit more interested in a slightly more "effort-intensive" result, but if they speed up the application of the base layers, that alone could be worth it. Do you have any thoughts about the quality of the paint in those pens? Does it seem to match miniatures paints or is it more like craft store paints or something else? Are they relatively opaque or slightly transparent?

Thanks for sharing!

[Moriarty]

Looking good! Certainly ?good enough for what it?s for?. Can I ask what colour primer you use?

For those on this side of the pond, Home Bargains have a selection of 12 colours for ?3.99 - Colvin & Co Artists? Acrylic Paint Markers.

[Mammoth miniatures]

i also love a good acrylic paint pen. I'd also add to your recommendation - a 0.05 black fineliner pen. I use them for dotting eyes, blacklining fine detail, adding outlines to patterns, and generally just all the things you'd normally do with a very fine brush and black ink.

Thick posca pens work really well for doing tank camo & markings aswell.

If you want to get REALLY fancy you could splash out on some fancy gundam pens.

[SgtSlag]

Paint pens- cool tip! ... ...

I might give it a shot. I'm a bit more interested in a slightly more "effort-intensive" result, but if they speed up the application of the base layers, that alone could be worth it. Do you have any thoughts about the quality of the paint in those pens? Does it seem to match miniatures paints or is it more like craft store paints or something else? Are they relatively opaque or slightly transparent?

Thanks for sharing!

Their paint is akin to craft paints in the bottles, as far as I can tell.  Most are opaque enough, some (yellow, light tan colors) are less opaque, requiring 2-3 coats, letting each coat dry fully.

Like I said, I am an "Army Painter", and unabashedly proud of it.  LOL!  I agree, though, they would likely speed up the base layering for more advanced painting techniques:  no decanting, no brushes to clean up afterwards.  I am all about speed...

On top of their speed, they are motivating me like nothing ever has before.  I have 20 Chaos Archers, from a BattleMasters game, which have sat in my paint queue since 2000...  They were primer'ed gray, with some having Caucasian paint on their faces.

Yesterday, I repainted their skin a darker color for a tropical island army; today, I expect to finish a few straps, brush on The Dip, apply a matte clear coat, and finish their bases, making them table ready, tomorrow.  Damn, this technique is FAST!  Cheers!

[SgtSlag]

Looking good! Certainly ?good enough for what it?s for?. Can I ask what colour primer you use?

For those on this side of the pond, Home Bargains have a selection of 12 colours for ?3.99 - Colvin & Co Artists? Acrylic Paint Markers.

I use cheap, sandable, automotive spray primer gray, from Wal-Mart.  It does not obscure too much detail on the figures.  It dries slightly rough, taking craft and paint pens, superbly.  The aforementioned Chaos Archers have small skulls molded into each end of their bows, and a larger skull plate on their chests.  I painted these with the gold pen, which, after The Dip is brushed on, will appear to be bronze.  I expect they will come out nicely, when the figures are finished.  I will post photos of them here, tomorrow, if I get them done today.  Cheers!

[SgtSlag]

Latest figures, 20 BattleMasters' Chaos Archers:  primed around 23+years ago; some Caucasian flesh painted on a few faces, then nothing, until yesterday, when I began painting them with Acrylic Paint Pens.  Here they are, finished, ready for the tabletop, another view, and a 3/4's view showing the bronze skulls, chest and tips of the bows.

They will be used as army figures for a tropical country within my game world.  Until I thought of using them as a Kretan Island Army, I could not come up with a color scheme for them.  I've been wanting to make up a Kretan Army, for years...  Now I have a jump start, with other BattleMasters figures ready to stand in to fill out the infantry ranks.  You have to know your destination, before you can start mapping your path to your goal.   

Found a set of 54 colors, dual tip, paint pens, for $31.99, on Amazon ($0.59/pen) -- when my pens run dry, I will order a set of these, to gain more than double the colors.

Damn, these painted up fast!  I like that!  Cheers!

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Good stuff. Anything that helps more little chaps get painted is a good idea! I recently bought some AK pens in WW2 German camouflage colours as doing it by hand on 15mm was fiddly and was becoming hard going on my brushes. I?ve only done a little bit so far (a 250/8) but it already seems like the pens may be a game changer. I love painting (but fully understand that some don?t) and welcome any invention that allows for more painted forces to see the tabletop.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain