Review: Speedpaint markers by The Army Painter

Painting miniatures is now easier than ever – no brush required, just a single application and done. That’s the promise of the new Speedpaint Markers from The Army Painter. I’ve tested them to see whether they’re the real deal or just another hobby scam. In this review, I’ll also tell you all you need to know to get the best results, how to avoid damaging the tips, and compare them to their predecessors: the Speedpaint Markers from Deep Cut Studios.

The new Speedpaint Markers from The Army Painter just landed on my desk. The Starter set with 10 markers and replacement brusht tips is up for preorder from September 29, 2025, along with an introductory set with 3 markers. These repackage the popular Speedpaints in pen form – so no brush needed. I’ll explain how they work in a moment, but first: haven’t we seen these before?

Yes, that’s right. Not long ago I made a video about all kinds of miniature paint markers, including a test of the Speedpaint Markers from Deep Cut Studios. But don’t worry – there’s no bad blood between The Army Painter and Deep Cut. The partnership is still going strong and the original markers are still available. It seems those Deep Cut markers were a trial run, and successful enough that The Army Painter is now bringing markers to their main product line.

Watch my video here:

Unboxing the Speedpaint Markers Starter Set

Each marker contains 6 ml of paint, exactly 1/3 of a regular Speedpaint bottle. As the starter set with 10 markers will retail at 49 Euros or $59, a single marker will cost about the same as an 18 ml bottle of Speedpaint. So you’re paying quite a premium. Then again, you won’t need to buy any brushes. And because you can remove the nibs, you could refill the markers with bottled Speedpaint, as long as the tips aren’t too worn out, of course. As you can see in my video, the shape and build are identical to the Deep Cut Studios markers, and their logo is printed on the new pens, as Deep Cut are still handling the filling.

That said, the colour range is not identical. Deep Cut offered 20 colours in their largest set, while The Army Painter plans a total of 28 according to this leaflet. However, there are some colours like Ancient Honey that didn’t make the jump to the Army Painter markers range, so keep that in mind. All the marker colours are taken from The Army Painter’s bottled Speedpaint range, which now includes 91 colours, counting the two John Blanche set exclusives. The leaflet shows which colours are available as both bottles and markers, but I recommend consulting my free Speedpaint swatch instead:

Patreon bonus content: An ultra high-res, uncompressed version of this swatch can be downloaded here.

I painted the actual colours on white-primed plasticard and digitised them professionally. I’ve just updated the chart with new icons that note which colours are also available as markers.

Testing the Speedpaint markers – scam or actually useful?

Alright, time for the test. For this, I grabbed a skeleton warrior from the new HeroQuest edition and primed it white. A can of spray primer is the only thing you’ll need to buy in addition to the markers, as the paints are transparent and need an undercoat to adhere to. I used white, but you can experiment with how other light primers, like Wraithbone or Grey Seer from Games Workshop will affect the result.

Before using one of the markers for the first time, you need to pump the paint into the tip. The caps have a small indent at the front for this. Be a bit careful so you don’t damage the nibs.

Once the tip is loaded, you can apply the paint to your model. Speedpaint is a transparent paint that flows into the recesses and gathers there naturally, creating shadows and a three-dimensional effect. What surprised me was how perfectly the paint flows from the tips. It’s not too much, not too little, just right. Personally, I think the nibs could be a bit smaller, and because of the chunky marker bodies, it can be tricky to reach tight spots. That said, using the markers feels very intuitive, and even beginners should get the hang of it quickly. Just remember to let each layer dry fully before applying the next.

There are also metallic markers in the range, though these are more semi-transparent due to the metallic flakes.

Two things to keep in mind

So far, so good, but there are two things you really need to know before using these markers.

• First thing you need to know about Speedpaint is that you can’t just paint over mistakes because the paint is transparent. Instead, you’ll need to repaint the whole area with your basecoat colour, which is white in my case. I’ll also use a marker for this, which comes from AK’s Real Color range. Multiple coats might be needed, and once dry, you can reapply the Speedpaint for a perfect cover-up.
• And the second thing is, the felt nibs can dry out if you don’t use the markers for a while. The starter set comes with 10 replacement tips, but of course, those won’t last forever. To prevent this, I recommend rinsing the tips in water when you’re done painting, storing the markers upright to prevent the paint from running back into the tip, and always capping them properly.

The final result

Here’s the finished skeleton warrior. It might not win a painting competition, but it took me under 10 minutes to paint, not counting drying time. And painted models always look cooler than unpainted ones, even if they’re not perfect. You’ll notice that your skills will improve quickly with practice.

Speedpaint markers & Slapchop

And if you want to level up your paint jobs, the next step is trying the slapchop method. Instead of priming white, you spray the models black, then drybrush white to bring out the depth. For best results, use synthetic drybrushes with a rounded, domed tip – I really like the Techlon Tiger Drybrushes from Chronicle (check my review here), great quality and quite affordable. The Army Painter’s Masterclass drybrushes work too. Moisten your drybrush slightly by dragging it across a kitchen towel soaked with some drops of water. Load it with a white paint like Matt White from the Warpaints Fanatic range, then wipe it off on a textured palette or structure until only a little paint remains. Now drybrush the model gently until it looks something like this. When you paint over it with transparent Speedpaints, the black-and-white undershading will add to a more dramatic, three-dimensional effect.

This technique also works with other Speedpaint-style paints like Citadel Contrast, Vallejo Xpress Color or AK Quick Gen. If you enjoy working with paints like these, then check out my hand-painted 6-in-1 comparison chart that shows you real paint samples from all six major brands, sorted by colour families. You’ll find it on my Patreon for a small donation, and it’s perfect for finding the ideal colour for your next project, so you never buy the wrong paints again:

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.

This post here tells you all about the different types of miniature paint markers and brands (like AK Playmarkers) and their strengths and weaknesses, so go read this next:

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.