White Paint Pens - part two

I tried the paint pens this week.  They are not the perfect solution but they are neater than my freehand, more consistent and a lot faster.  They do need a good shaking before each use otherwise the paint and medium separate.  I was hoping for a perfect 0.7mm or 0.5mm line and that isn't what I got.  In both cases the line is thicker as the paint spreads.  In fact the 0.7mm nib gives a narrower line than the 0.5mm as it has a tapered nib while the smaller nib is more like that on a fine liner pen.  I'd say the 0.5mm gives a line closer to 2mm while the 0.7 is around 1mm. As a result both need a bit of touching up after the paint dries but not a huge amount.  The paint goes on smoothly and dries quickly and most importantly is a good solid white even over a dark base coat like Dark Prussian Blue. 

Part painted and pre touch up on the cross belt, but you can see the coverage is good

With a paint brush I can get a better result than  the above about 25% of the time.  The problem is the other 75% of attempts!  I tend to be a bit messy with the initial coats anyway and tidy up any over painting at the end so touching up cross belts is no biggie.

After a tidy up

I shall persevere with the pens as I think that with more practice I could probably get a more consistent and thinner line. The main point is that overall I'm no worse with the pen than I am with the brush and it is a lot faster in use.  The time on touch ups is still less than the faffing about trying to get a brushed line right.  So for me pens are useful, if you are younger than me and have good eyesight and coordination the paintbrush may still be the best solution.