Review: AK Quick Markers

I’m testing the new Quick Markers from AK, and stacking them up against  Speedpaint Markers and the refillable markers from Green Stuff World. AK Quick Markers aim to rival The Army Painter and likewise promise “maximum contrast in a single coat”. However, there is one crucial difference: the design of the tips. Which marker technology comes out on top?

So for this video review I’ve prepared two trials: first, I’ll put the Quick Markers to the test using a HeroQuest Skeleton Warrior. Second, I’ll paint a Chaos Marauder with a zenithal base coat in “slapchop” style. For this I’ll use a combination of Quick Markers, Speedpaint Markers, and the refillable markers from Green Stuff World. And after that, you’ll get my honest verdict on which marker I would recommend and which not, so you can find the perfect product for your needs:

What are AK Quick Markers?

Quick Markers promise “maximum contrast in a single coat” and contain AK’s Quick Gen paints in brush-tip markers. Quick Gen are semi-transparent inks like Warhammer Contrast paints or Speedpaint from The Army Painter (check out my review here). You apply them over a white or light primer, and through their special flow properties the pigments collect on flat areas and especially in recesses, creating a three-dimensional effect with just a single application.

The Quick Marker range comprises 34 markers or colours, taken 1:1 from AK’s bottled Quick Gen paints. The markers are available individually, in themed 5-piece sets, a starter combo set with 10 markers and 6 AK 3rd Gen paints, or a complete box. One marker contains approximately one-third of the content of an 18ml Quick Gen bottle for about the same price, and they’re not refillable.

Painting a Skeleton Warrior primed white

For this test, I’ve primed this Skeleton Warrior from the HeroQuest board game with white spray primer. Quick Markers are transparent, so you need an undercoat. This doesn’t have to be white, you can also experiment with other light colours. Before you can start, you first need to pump paint into the brush tip. To do this, you need to remove the cap at the back and press the pump button until the bristles are soaked with paint. Note that the Quick Markers are identical in construction to AK’s Playmarkers (refer to my review here). The difference is that the Quick Markers are transparent, while the Playmarkers use opaque paint.

I begin by painting the skeleton’s bones with QG Bone Brown. As with the bottled Quick Gen paints, the pigments settle very well into the recesses, creating an instant shading effect.

My issue with Quick Markers

However, I’m facing a problem: I find it quite difficult to get the perfect amount of paint onto the model. You mustn’t apply Contrast and Speedpaint-like paints too thinly, otherwise the medium can’t do its job and the result becomes patchy. But if there’s too much paint on the brush tip, the markers start to drip and you lose control. In practice, this meant I constantly had to pump more paint while wiping off the excess. That quickly became somewhat annoying.

What I do like, however, is the colour selection. Among the 34 colours taken from the Quick Gen palette, there are many useful brown tones, like QG Light Leather here, or QG Wood, which I used for the dark leather and scythe handle. However, there are no metallic paints like you get with The Army Painter’s Speedpaint Markers, so I’m painting the blade with Wolf Blue Grey instead (which is identical to QG Blue Grey, for some reason they decided to rename this colour for the marker version).

And this is the finished Skeleton Warrior. Not a masterpiece, but super quick to do and much  better than a game with nothing but unpainted plastic. As I said, I had some problems getting the perfect flow with the Quick Markers. Whether the Speedpaint Markers do better, I’ll show you now in the big comparison.

Comparing marker types: Chaos Marauder test

So next, we’re painting this Chaos Marauder with a combination of Quick Markers and Speedpaint Markers (and the refillable markers from Green Stuff World). I’ve primed the Chaos Marauder black and airbrushed white from above. This simulates natural light direction, and in combination with transparent paint helps to create extra volume. This is called a “zenithal base coat”. For the popular slapchop technique, you can instead drybrush the model with white paint if you don’t have an airbrush, but the idea is the same.

I’ll start again with AK’s Quick Markers, first with QG Black. The flexible brush tips allow good control once you get the hang of them. Nevertheless, I never get the perfect paint flow for too long. With the identically constructed Playmarkers I didn’t have this issue as much, but then, they use a different type of paint. For the skin I’m using QG Vampire Flesh, a quite transparent colour. This lets a lot of the black-white gradient show through, creating a more dramatic effect than on a flat-colour primer. For the leather I’m using QG Strong Grey, which has a significantly colder and more bluish undertone than on AK’s colour chart, so watch out for that.

Pretty much all of the official paint range graphics deviate strongly from what the colours look like in real life, which is why I recommend my hand-painted colour swatches instead. My Stahly Swatches System has the only colour swatches with real, hand-painted samples, professionally digitised and therefore cross-compatible between different brands. Never buy the wrong colours again, and if you want to compare colours even more easily, on my Patreon you can grab an extra-large chart with all “one coat” paints from the best-known brands like Contrast, Speedpaint, Xpress Color, and Quick Gen, with similar colours grouped together:

This hand-painted swatch is available in my Patreon shop for a small donation (or by becoming an Autarch tier member). I also have swatches for Citadel, Vallejo Game and Model Color, Warpaints Fanatic, AK 3rd Gen and more – all cross-compatible with each other so you can compare colours across different brands. Check out my shop for details.

Speedpaint Markers in direct comparison

So far, so good, but now we want to make a direct comparison with the Speedpaint Markers. And as I mentioned before, there is one crucial difference: Instead of flexible bristles, you have classic tapered felt-tip nibs here. Although you also have to pump the paint into the tip first with Speedpaint Markers, once the nib is soaked, enough paint flows through so you don’t have to keep pumping all the time. I find that so much more convenient.

One last word about the different brush tip designs: There is one advantage that Quick Markers have. Should the paint dry on the tips, the flexible synthetic bristles can still be cleaned reasonably well with brush soap or even a paint stripper. This is crucial because Quick Marker tips can’t be replaced, so you need to keep them in good shape. That’s why I recommend rinsing both the Quick Markers and the Speedpaint Markers with water after every painting session.

Where to get

You can find the latest hobby products at our 🇬🇧/🇪🇺 partner stores Wayland Games, Element Games, and Firestorm Games, at 🇩🇪 Taschengelddieb and PK-Pro, and at 🇺🇸 Noble Knight Games with a welcome discount of up to 10 – 15% over RRP. Using our links helps to support Tale of Painters at no additional cost to you, so thank you very much for using them!

I hope you found this review helpful, feel free to leave a reaction or comment below, or post your questions here or discuss on our Discord channel.