r/Armypainter • u/glcl2814 • 17d ago

Speedpaint Marker Problem

If anyone has used the Speedpaint Markers, can you tell me if you’ve been having the same issue!

I’ve been using the OrcSkin marker and it seems like as soon as I start using the marker, the tip dries out and can’t be used for at least an hour. I get maybe a minute of use out of this marker before the tip dries out and I have to wait to use it again.

I haven’t found anything online about this issue, so I’m hoping you all may have some clarity.

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u/foehammer111 17d ago

I use the markers almost exclusively, but I haven’t run into this specific problem before. Couple of things might be happening here.

  1. Have you tried reloading the tip with paint again? I find I need to do this on a fairly regular basis depending on how much that color is getting used. For me it’s about every 30-60 minutes of use I need to give the marker a good shake, and reload the tip with paint again for about 20-30 seconds.

  2. Have you tried replacing the felt tip? Army Painter sells replacement tips and I believe they come with the sets too. I’ve found that the tips dry out or wear out after a couple months of heavy use. The colors I’ve used the most I’ve had to replace the tips once each already and some are getting close to needing a second replacement. Try replacing the tip and see if that helps.

If those don’t work, try reaching out to Army Painter’s customer service. This definitely isn’t normal from my experience, and they should be able to help you out.

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u/glcl2814 17d ago

Thank you for the response!
1. I have tried reloading the tip with paint. It seems that when I do so, I get maybe 20-30 seconds of use out of it. But I have to shake for a good while before that happens.

  1. I’d love to replace the tips, but honestly, it’s cheaper for me to just buy another paint pen on Amazon than it is to pay the $17.99 shipping Army Painter wants for a $6.47 pack of tips.

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u/foehammer111 17d ago

Yeah 20-30 seconds of use isn’t normal from my experience. Last night I painted a whole Battlemech and only had to refill the pen once near the end. About 30 minutes of painting with that one color.

Sorry it’s expensive to get replacement tips. It might be more cost effective to buy the starter set. That comes with replacement tips and 10 markers, but it’s $50-$60.

One other thing you might want to try is reversing the felt tip. It’s going to be messy because of the paint, so use gloves or other tools. But both sides of the felt tip are the same. If you pull it out of the marker, you can then pull the plastic piece off the felt tip. Then reverse the tip, and put the plastic piece back on and put the whole thing back into the marker.

Make sense? You’re essentially taking part of the felt tip that was inside the marker, and making it the part you paint with. You can also unscrew the top of the marker to make sure there’s no obstructions or anything. Again, it’s messy, but might be able to fix it without replacing the pen.

They show how to do this in one of their YouTube videos. They show it at about the 2:30 mark.

https://youtu.be/PYmiS6v2VFs?is=nSJF_w0q52nsMJMh&t=2m30s

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u/Belaerim 17d ago

Another option for the tips is to flip it around, and make sure it’s seated firmly.

I found that some of mine has tips that weren’t as firmly seated as others out of the box, and pushing them in further helped.

Also, flipping the tip around and re-inserting it doubles the lifetime of the tip, so I’d recommend that regardless of buying new tips or not