Acrylic marker pens

[Dirigible-Al]

Does anyone have any experience with acrylic marker pens? I have used ink based marker pens and permenant fine tip markers with various levels of success on kits, they can be a blessing when they work. I felt it was time to get some more but came across these. I had not heard of acrylic marker pens!

[ColonelKrypton]

I have used Posca brand acrylic paint pens for years. They are convenient, cover well, and are robust but are limited to common colors but do have some earth tones and pastels within their range of colours.

A relatively new one is Ak Interactive Acrylic paint markers.  I have just started to try these and so far I am impressed. They work much like the Posca markers but are in colors more commonly used for model making.

I have not tried the other Asian Amazon/Aliexpress/art type acrylic paint markers however so I cannot comment on those.

cheers, Graham

[richard.kiss]

Just started trying AK markers too, like Graham. I tried them:

• on dark grey plastic (e.g. Eduard) and achieved full coverage in the 3rd coat.
• on shiny, steel-coloured PE parts of seat harness: full coverage in the 2nd coat.

I have not tried them on resin and 3D printed parts yet.

A big question for me is how long will the painting last when I work with the PE parts (e.g. bending)?

The colour selection is relatively poor, even if you buy this full box of 34 colours:


The expected advantage is the time saving when painting small parts. Painting small parts with airbrush is an extremely time-consuming process, mainly not the painting process itself, but the additional work (dilution and mixing, color change, cleaning the airbrush).

[NigelR]

I've tried the AK Interactive markers and found them to be a waste of money for what I wanted. Based on many rave reviews on the internet, I thought these would be really useful for things like interior cockpit framing (in German grey/green) and doing the base for wood on fuselage interiors. I was hoping these would save me having to break out the airbrush to paint these small parts.

I found that the coverage is poor and they don't work well over plastic that hasn't been undercoated. So they are useless for what I was going to use them for, they do nothing that I can't do with a paintbrush and they are less effective than a paintbrush. So definitely not for me, but of course YMMV. 

[Dirigible-Al]

Thank you Nigel, Richard and Graham for your advice and experience. I will try them tentatively by buying just black, red, white and blue rather than splashing out on a set. I found marker pens most useful making stripes or bands often found on wings/fuselages as well as touching up decals so I will see how I get on initially doing that with them.
Alan.

[WD]

Dirigible-Al,
                 In terms of the AK markers, I have no experience with any of them, and as Nigel says, I'm willing to brush paint. However, I have seen several modelers state that the AK white marker is terrible. Your madness may vary.

Warren

[Dirigible-Al]

Cheers Warren. To do white lines or touch ups I have in the past used either white decal or white paint brushed on. This thread has however convinced me to not buy an expensive set of pens but instead just get 3 or 4 cheapies next time I am in a hobby shop and see how they work. I won't get upset if I waste 5 quid on them all but I would if I wasted as much money on an AK set as a model kit would have cost.
Alan.

[WD]

Alan,
        Did you get the email from AK too, selling the set?    I looked at, looked at the price, and decided I'd buy one or two and try them out. No way I'd ever utilize all of those colors anyway.
(As a side note, I did get their watercolor pencil set, those I'll definitely use.)

Warren