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What brushes do you guys use?


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Hey there! Long (long long) time lurker and this is my first post. I have been wanting to get into the hobby for years now, but...well no time. The kids have gotten older and my wife's desire to make more has gone down :wacko:

and now I have some alone time.

 

My big problem? The brushes from GW are crap (well the dry brushes don't seem half bad). I then went to our friend Dick Blick and got some Kolinsky Sables. They are now bending at the tip. I have heard things about Windsor and Newton but cannot find a good site to get them.

 

Can someone offer me some brushes and some good places to get them? I have cleaner and restorer, the tub soap also. I try to keep the paint out of the ferals and I try to treat them nice so I tend to blame the brushes.

 

Help me out.

 

Thanks

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From Dick Blick:

 

** Winsor & Newton Series 7 **

 

** Winsor & Newton Series 7 Miniature Series **

 

I think Size 1 is the biggest I own and it barely gets used.

 

Just buy online, the store near me had a horrible selection. They're also locked up so you have to ask for them. Some clerks don't even know what they are and can't find them. At my local store they were right within the checkout area and they couldn't find them :wacko:

 

Never had a problem ordering from Dick Blick online.

 

While you're ordering, if you do any Greenstuff work, pick these up.

** Mini Color Shaper Set of 5 **

They're like magic. They don't stick to Greenstuff even without any lubrication. Lovely.

The WN series & are nice brushes, though, recently I decided to purchase a "cheap" brush (comparatively) and picked up a Vallejo. Its a size 2 and has kept such a sharp point that its really the only brush I use anymore. I have found no need to use smaller sized brushes, not even for little stuff such as eyes. I'm sold on Vallejos now...

I use Robert Simmons Hobby mini-series (15/0 being the smallest I have) and W&N series 7. The RS brushes are synthetic but I think they are great!

 

 

 

As with any type of brush, proper treatment in terms of usage and cleaning is key. Treat your brushes right and they can last for years.

I have a few of the W&N Series 7 brushes, and I have several of the W&N University Series ones too. I like the synthetic white taklon of the University series ones. My size 0 of my Series 7, turned into utter crap on me the first time I used it. It's now forked right down the middle, it will not hold a point for me. I've got something like 30 brushes sitting in my jar on my desk, from Series 7's to the whole GW set, and everything in between, synthetic to Kolinsky Sable.

 

The 3 brushes that I get the most time out of, and could probably paint an entire tabletop army with just these 3 brushes:

 

Loew-Cornell Size 2 Filbert. Flat brush, with rounded corners on the flat. Excellent basecoating brush, really does the job well. I refuse to do basecoating and large areas without a flat anymore. Golden Taklon bristles.

 

Loew-Cornell American Painter series 5/0 Spotter. My absolute favorite brush in my collection for doing edge highlighting and detail work. I have handpainted 9 letter words quite clearly and legibily into the banner on a Grey knight shoulderpad with this brush. Today I used it to write the word "REPENT" on a terminator powerfist scroll, as well as every highlight seen on my Angels Sanguine terminators. holds the point rediculously well. Golden Taklon bristles.

 

Windsor And Newton University Series 233 size 000. Just a really great "finishing up around the edges" brush. Big enough to do coverage fast, and hold a decent amount of paint, but small enough to flip it on it's tip, and get into the tight places cleanly if I need to.really nice feedback and snap from the White Taklon bristles.

 

All 3 of these, I think I can walk into a Micheal's craft store here in town, and pick up all 3 for less than $10.

 

For drybrushes, there's a set of makeup brushes that Wal-Mart sells in the cosmetic section. it's like $4, and have a really big one, a medium, and a couple of smaller makeup brushes. These brushes are made for basically drybrushing foundation onto a woman's face. The Angled Shader out of that set is the perfect size for drybrushing 40k sized models. They do a really great job at drybrushing. The first two or three models you do with them, you will have to keep stopping,and picking out bristles that have fallen out. After a bit, all the loose ones get worked out, and it's smooth sailing.

Hey thanks for all the great info. I have a Micheals just down the street, but they seem to have a really sparse selection of brushes.

 

It seems there is no real consensus on synth or natural fibers then? I may have to just use what I can get my hands on and decide.

 

I just finished up my first squad of marines and my brushes are basically crap now. All bent and forked. I really try and take care of them, clean them soap em up etc etc.

 

thanks for the links -Q-, you have no idea how long I have looked for that very link!

 

Kurgan-

 

 

Where do you get the Simmons brushes from? I think I may get some WN and those babies to try out the natural and synths.

 

Thanks to all others that answered!

I got a few W&N brushes I never use, and I got lots of GW brushes I always use. I think the GW brushes are very good for painting anything but display miniatures aimed at some painting competitions. Offcourse, if there's an art store near you, you can go buy some similar sized brushes of various producers and try them out.

 

Cheers

Kurgan-

 

 

Where do you get the Simmons brushes from? I think I may get some WN and those babies to try out the natural and synths.

 

Thanks to all others that answered!

 

 

 

I get mine from a local art supply store but I'm sure you can find them at the links Q provided or other online art supply houses. They cost slightly less than Series 7 but not much. They have fat black handles with a colored section at the top for which type of brush they are (liner, round or flat).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On another note, I removed the last few posts of the thread as it had gone off on some bizarre tangent. If you got issues with a post, please PM the OP or use the report button to notify a mod.

I use the Citadel Masters.

 

In my opinion after over a decade of painting these brushes are uncontended. However it is up to you to decide weather they are worth the considerable price tag.

 

Arguably the Windsor Series is as good.

 

Good Luck.

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