Hobby Markers

What are hobby markers?

Hobby markers are a tool that allows you to paint miniatures without needing to load paint, manage wet palettes, or clean bristles as you would with an airbrush or brushes. Hobby markers solve these issues by integrating the paint reservoir and the applicator into a single hand-held device.

The main advantage of a hobby marker is control. Its rigid body allows you to hold it like a pen, providing physical stability that flexible bristles cannot match. This is crucial for drawing defined contours, outlining panels on sci-fi models, and creating intricate freehand details.

These tools also provide a constant and regular paint flow. The internal feed system delivers paint at a consistent rate, preventing accidental pooling. You can paint anywhere without complex workspace setups, water cups, or palettes. Just shake it, prime the tip, and start painting.

Differences between a traditional brush and hobby markers

These tools work as a complement to traditional brushes. Traditional brushes excel at organic blending, dry brushing, and smooth gradients over complex, curved surfaces thanks to their flexible bristles. However, they require a high level of hand control to keep the paint thinned and the lines sharp, and wet paint can dry inside the ferrule, ruining the brush.

By contrast, a hobby marker has a durable felt tip that keeps its shape under pressure, ensuring uniform line widths. This makes it an improved alternative for drawing straight lines, panels, panel lining, and adding details that require high precision, such as lettering, runes, or geometric patterns.

For applying base coats, larger marker tips allow you to spread paint quickly and evenly. Since the paint is enclosed inside the airtight body, it cannot dry out midway through the project, ensuring a consistent finish.

Types of hobby markers available at Green Stuff World

Our collection consists of two types of hobby markers:

• Paint markers: these ready-to-use, pre-filled tools contain specialized, fluid dipping paints. They are designed for quick contrast painting, allowing you to apply shadow, depth, and color with a single tool.
• Refillable markers: these empty tools feature customizable reservoirs. They allow you to pour in your own paints, inks, and custom mixtures, giving you full control over your color palette.

Both products share a high-quality construction, including an internal stainless steel mixing ball. This ball acts as an agitator when shaking the paint inside, ensuring the pigments remain perfectly suspended. Both types can be disassembled, cleaned, and refilled, making them durable, long-term investments for your workbench.

How do you choose the right tip size for your hobby markers?

Choosing the correct tip size is important to achieve the finish you are looking for in your projects. Our range offers four different sizes designed for specific tasks:

• Size 0.5 - Rotring-type tip: this tip features a fine metal-sheathed tube. It is specifically designed for ultra-fine lines, micro-lettering, and tiny details on miniatures that require absolute precision. If you need to paint eyes, facial details, or draw microscopic lines, this is the ideal tool.
• Size 0.7 - rigid conical tip: a versatile felt tip that excels at freehand illustration, intermediate decorations, and final highlights on a gradient. The conical shape allows you to slightly vary the line width by adjusting the angle and pressure, giving you excellent control over the stroke.
• Size 1 - fine conical tip: this size provides the perfect balance between paint coverage and fine detail. It is designed for outlining medium-sized areas, drawing defined contours, and achieving smooth, uniform transitions on small and medium areas of a miniature. It is the most versatile option for general painting tasks.
• Size 2 - broad chisel tip: with greater paint capacity and a broad, angled felt tip, this size is designed for high-volume tasks. It is useful for applying quick primers, base coats, washes, varnishes, and high-intensity inks over larger surfaces. It allows you to cover large areas of models or terrain quickly and evenly without brush marks.

Which paints work best in a refillable hobby marker?

The versatility of empty hobby markers lies in their compatibility with a wide range of paints. However, paint viscosity must be controlled to ensure that the fluid moves smoothly through the internal feed mechanism until it reaches the tip. Several types of paint can be used directly in the tool without thinning:

• Acrylic inks: highly pigmented and fluid, they flow perfectly and produce vibrant, opaque lines.
• Airbrush paints: formulated with pre-thinned pigments for airbrush use, these paints have the ideal viscosity for immediate use.
• Contrast paints and dipping speedpaints: these thin, translucent formulations flow smoothly and are perfect for quick shading.
• Alcohol-based inks: they flow exceptionally well and dry almost instantly, making them excellent for custom washes and glazes.

Denser standard paints require careful thinning with a specific acrylic thinner to achieve the proper flow and prevent the felt tip from drying out or clogging:

• Standard acrylic paints: they must be thinned with at least 50% thinner to achieve a milky, fluid consistency.
• Metallic acrylic paints: due to the presence of metallic particles, they require approximately 25% thinning with thinner. Thinning is necessary to ensure proper flow and prevent premature tip wear.
• Oil-based paints: oil paints and enamel washes can be used, but they must be thinned with the appropriate mineral spirit or oil thinner to ensure they pass through the internal sponge without clogging it.

What is the best way to paint miniatures with hobby markers for a high-contrast finish?

To get the most out of fluid, translucent speedpaints, apply them over a light base. For the best contrast effect, we recommend priming miniatures in white or light gray. Since these paints are semi-transparent, they rely on the light base to reflect light through the pigment, producing vibrant colors.

You can also use these tools to carry out the Slapchop technique. To do this:

1. Prime the miniature completely in black.
2. Apply a heavy dry brush of medium gray over the entire model.
3. Finish with a light dry brush of pure white on the highest edges to establish highlights.
4. Apply the fluid paint directly onto the model using the marker. The translucent color will spread over the previously shaded gray and white highlights, instantly creating deep shadows in the recesses and clean, bright highlights on the raised details in a single coat.

When applying the paint, use smooth, steady strokes. Avoid going back over areas that have already started to dry, as this can lift the semi-dry paint film and create unwanted texture.

How do you refill a hobby marker?

Refilling these tools is a simple process that allows you to fully customize your palette. Follow these steps to refill or mix colors:

1. Disassemble the body: unscrew the cap and carefully unscrew the neck of the marker to separate it from the main reservoir.
2. Remove the dispenser: gently pull out the internal dispenser plug to open the reservoir.
3. Pour the paint: pour the chosen paint or ink directly into the body. Make sure the paint has the correct viscosity; if you are using denser paints, mix them with acrylic thinner before pouring.
4. Mix custom shades: one of the greatest advantages of these tools is the ability to create unique colors. You can mix different acrylic inks or paints directly inside the reservoir, or mix them first in a separate container. This allows you to create custom mid-tones, unique metallics, or specific wash shades.
5. Reassemble and shake: reinsert the dispenser plug, screw the neck back on firmly, and shake the marker for a few seconds. The internal stainless steel mixing ball will ensure that the colors and thinners blend completely into a homogeneous mixture.

Maintenance and cleaning of hobby markers

To ensure these tools last for years on your workbench, proper maintenance and cleaning are essential. Since hobby paints dry relatively quickly, a simple routine will prevent clogging and tip wear.

• Horizontal storage: always store your tools horizontally on the table. Storing them vertically can cause pigments to settle at the bottom of the reservoir or overload the tip, leading to uneven paint flow or drying. Always keep the caps tightly closed to prevent solvent evaporation.
• Tip care and replacement: felt tips naturally wear down over time on rough and textured surfaces such as plastic, resin, or metal models. To extend the life of your system, we offer complete refills and replacement kits that include replacement felt tips and internal sponges. This allows you to easily replace them when they are worn out or when changing colors to prevent cross-contamination.
• Deep cleaning: if you plan to store an empty tool or completely change color families, for example, from black to white, perform a full cleaning:

- Water-based paints: fully disassemble all components and rinse them under warm running water until the water runs clear.

- Acrylic or solvent-based paints: clean the parts using acrylic cleaner, airbrush cleaner, or the appropriate solvent.

- Let all parts dry completely before reassembling and refilling or storing them.