Badger Air-Opaque Paint - Technical Pen

There are two distinctly different types of "Technical Pens". One consists of two spring steel nibs. The space between them is adjusted by a screw, and the distance between them is what controls the width of the line. Spacing varies with the pen, but probably 0.01" to about 0.125" would be average.

The second type are similar in appearance to normal pens. They usually consist of a cylindrical ink reservoir in the handle and a tip assembly. The tip assembly is tubular and the diameter of the tube determines the width of the line.

The first type work with just about any kind of liquid. The second are designed for ink but should work fine with thinned paints. I know several people who use both types for detailing and panel lines.

I always used Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph pens when I was drawing. They work well but are very finicky. They absolutely, positively MUST be kept spotlessly clean or they will gum up and fail. There is a wire that goes down the tube that acts as a cleaner and any ink (or paint) that is left to dry will cause it to stick in the tip and it will usually break off when you try and pull it out. The caps are pretty airtight though, so leaving it for a day or so should not be a problem.

You might also be interested in what Kemper Fluid Writers can do. There are two sizes. I've drawn all over stuff with model paints through them. I haven't used them in actual model painting yet, but they sure do work. These are for when you want to just draw something somewhere instead of the usual hand brushing or masking & airbrushing. So, it's actually a rare occassion that such a job is at hand in model building, but these things are great to have when that time comes.

Thanks for the replys, great information. For things like headlights, vision blocks and other molded on details in armor, these might be a good way to go.

do u guys think that they would work well for detailing things such as cockpit panels, dash boards, bolts and screws? where just a tiny drop of paint is required? or do they release to much paint?
thanks!

I don't know about the technical pens, but the fluid writers can do instrument panel detail with paints where you control how much thinner you put in. I just now tested a few things out on a car dashboard with the small fluid writer. I could do all the raised detail with gloss enamel thinned 2 drops paint to 1 drop mineral spirits, but using Acryl was too thin right out of the jar. Acryl is already thinned, so it did let too much paint out for that kind of detail.

Both Acryl and thinned enamel sure did lay very nice lines into recessed panels.

It's a real neat tool to use. It fills the gap between a hand brush and an airbrush. It's like you can hand brush without dipping into the paint constantly, or it's like an airbrush without overspray. Plus, you actually touch the fluid writer onto what you're painting, so it's a lot easier to control than an airbrush stream.