The ZIG pens sold in the scrapbooking section have several shades of gray.

Hi.

I'm still kind of new to all this (read a lot before starting) and recently tried the TLX Armoury. I edged the walls with a Permanent Marker and that seemed okay at first. But when it came to smaller parts like that little air conditioner thingy it turned out to be a "bleeding mess".
So I tried a lot of different markers I had laying around to always the same result: Scored edges always had a lot of bleeding into the print (laser printed and good 210g/m³ paper, btw ).

Yesterday however, I found my little brothers wax crayons.
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IFAC some like that)
And... ta-dah: No bleeding and no white lurking around For the glue tabs I would still use a marker, of course, since these wax crayons don't paint flat faces very well if you don't use a good amount of pressure or repetition. But for the edges it works just fine. At least for me.
Anyone else tried this?

Regards,
Stefan

I really agree with the first page recommendation, Crayola markers 10 pack. Cheap and they don't bleed.

I use Letraset promarker because:
-i have a "double marker" in one (fine and a large point)
-i can use it to help me when i glue (other markers are too large)
-they are a lot of differents colors (more at 100)

I use a combination of black or brown crayola markers, and a method I don't see listed.

See my biggest problem is that I don't have a steady hand. Rulers are my best friend when I'm cutting and scoring. So I found a rather interesting way of scoring.

I use daubers (like from Bingo, except my mom got them from Stampin' Up) dipped in black rubber stamp ink. Then I wipe it over the edge. The effect is that it makes almost a gradient fade to the edge. It looks less like a lined edge and more of a natural darkening. I used this on my Thoumonts build, and I have never been happier with edging.

Of course the daubers can't get into small areas, but for the large sides, it works well and it's faster than using a marker.

I can post a picture if anyone's interested in how it actually turns out, or even how to do it.

That sounds very promising Ron. Yes, please post pics

Yes Ron, I'd be very interested in the process. I find my edges to be a bit too stark, and your process sounds like it has promise to fix that.

I'd recommend going with a larger gradient of crayola colors. That way you can get close to the color you're trying to match. For example for my Maiden build I've used a combination of orange, brown, yellow, black so it all sort of blends together. I have to go over it a bit again since there was some touch ups I wanted to do but it generally looks good, even in close ups:



Here's a good variety of colors I'd recommend to get:

Anyone ever tried Bic Colored markers? They have a new 36 pack.

IIRC they were similar in use to Sharpies.

Grey markers are hard to come by? Brown is expensive? Perhaps things have changed a bit in the past few years, but I found both quite easily at Office Depot this past weekend. There was a rather large display of individual Sharpies in both fine and extra-fine tips and they had both for about $1.19 each. The only problem is that they bleed quite a bit. Used in the right spots though the grey isn't so bad when it bleeds. It often just looks like weathering and in some cases even blends in seamlessly with the existing weathering on a piece.

Sharpie has individual light grey and brown markers, but unless you want to order straight through them, you have to buy them in a pack. Recently, looking for something to edge the Deadfall Wiilderness anchors, I couldn't find a Sharpie that didn't look way too dark. Went to a local graphics design mom and pop store store, and found a line of graphic design markers (Flame Twin). I ended up getting a pack of 12 grey markers. They were gods awful expensive, but there were 6 different "cool" greys and six different "warm greys. Warm Grey 2 turned out to be perfect for edging the Deadfall "desert" anchors. Warm Grey 4, 5 and 6 were all very good for Deadfall buildings, and most likely would work well with Thoumonts.

My next experiment is seeing how long they last. Like I said...expensive.

I've been happy with the store brand markers from Blick Art Supplies. I'm lucky that I have a store in town, but maybe they are worth mailordering. They are far cheaper than the Pantone markers (what I started with for colors) and seem to last longer.

Steve

Michael's has a display that they keep year round of single sharpies in several colors. Dont remember if any browns were in there, but there were yellows, blues, reds etc. Personally I use good ole el'cheapo walmart packs 24 count for 2 bucks. A rainbow of colors and easy to replace. I like greys for my stuff too as most is scifi, my biggest concern is the paper cuts that go into the marker tips over time flaying the tip.

I actually just started using one of those big, black chisel tip markers and surprisingly enough I couldn't be happier with it. For long, straight runs it edges incredibly fast. No more painstakingly taking my time and then going over more than once to get everything. Just swipe it along the edge and you're done. The wide tip just won't fall off.

Not so great for detail work or anything other than black, but its much better than the fiddly edging I was doing with Sharpies.

Good point. I was using one of the rounded-tip markers today and it was a pain for the edges, although it was nice for pinpoint detail.

I would love a gray fat-tipped Sharpie. Do they make those and are they worth the price?

I did a quick search on Sharpie's website, and it does not appear that they offer a chisel-tipped gray.

I didn't turn anything up either. I will stick with my grays that I have for now.

you mean like this? Not a Sharpie, but...

That looks perfect. What brand is it and where did you find it?

Flame Twin. I picked them up at [url=ArtPrimo]http://artprimo.com/catalog/flame-twin-marker-12set-mixed-grey-p-3156.html[/url].

Warning....Expensive! You have to buy the set....6 cool greys and 6 warm greys, for $27.

Wow, that is pricey. For that kind of money I think I can afford to just take a little bit more time with a Sharpie. Or find some thick Crayolas (do they even make a grey?). The bleed on Sharpies really bothers me, but they have a great color line for a nice low price.

Prisma Colors are great too, but pricey. For now, I bounce between stealing the gray out my my 2-year old's Crayola 8-packs (we have a half dozen or so packs), the gray Sharpie I have and the Prisma Color I have.

I reported my pens, a while ago ...



http://colshofer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/colonels-cardstocking-compendium-part-9b.html

Got a few more, since then ... working up the lighter greys and browns. No reason all would need so many, once shade decided.

Glory about these, is that they are refillable, so the initial purchase is soon offset

CS

Shofer, do the twin pens use alcohol based ink?

Yup ...

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Kuretake-Zig-Kurecolor-refill-ink.html#a15056

http://www.polkadoodles.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=4795

No commercial connection to these folks !!!

CS

Colonel, does the ink in those markers bleed at all? I've tried a bunch of other brands like Sharpies or Bics, but they bleed like crazy through the paper I use. Those are expensive, but if they're refillable, then that makes them more reasonable.

Hi N,

Yes, like any solvent-based pen (on absorbent paper) they will bleed, to some extent, although this range is certainly not 'sloppy'.

The 'damage' really depends on the colours ... dark edging on a lighter colour will be more obvious, the reverse is the case. Speed and 'blowing' is also a skill worth developing.

In saying that, I have seen some bleeding effects, which created quite a pleasant blending to a sharp edge.

If I want to avoid bleeding, on absorbent paper (or on very non-absorbent surfaces), I move over to my acrylic paints (and/or pigments) and a fine brush (essentially, targeted dry-brushing) ...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-duiYeLBa6ds/UPVUHxzreKI/AAAAAAAACoY/IWX4lMxn6Jc/s171/stonedge.jpg

They also have a cheaper, one-tip, range ... buy one and give it a go

Did a little demo for you (this paper is very absorbent ... as non-blotting papers go ) ...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ruCTNWVgWf0/UPVP5tXEG2I/AAAAAAAACoE/MtB4OfUlrJs/s912/Bleeding1.jpg

Cheers

CS