Well, I will throw in my 2 cents as well

I find Raphael 8404 and the Windsor and Newton to be on par with each other.
A slight step down would be the army painter and reaper pro paint brushes.

I can't really add to anything other than be careful with your brushes, don't mix your paints with your good brushes, don't let paint dry on the bristles and if you paint a lot clean it every week and after every long paint session. The paint gets up into the ferrull (sp?) very quickly. You can use a 1 or 2 size for the majority of your painting. Each brush will be a little differnt so just stick with one set and get used to how it delivers paint to the model.

A good brush will always come back to a nice point, once it stops doing that or hooks at the end it is time to relegate it to mixing and dry brushing.

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richmondwarmancers we play Lord of The Rings, Battlefleet Gothic, Infinity, some board games, and really whatever tickles our fancy..

I love Windsor & Newton Series 7 brushes. Best brushes I've ever used. My current WN7 is at least 2 years old. The point is just starting to get a little dodgy.

In fact I went to get a new one last week and right now there is a ban on Kolinsky Sable brushes here in the US.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has a hold on products from Siberian Weasels, till the Chinese companies supply the hair to European Brush manufacturers can establish that they are obtaining the brush hair in a way that does not endanger the species."

I also learned that Kolinsky Sable brushes are not made from Sable hair, but Siberian Weasel.

From Wiki


Now I am looking around for an alternative.

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Xintao

I know a good workman never blames his tools, however, I am really struggling painting on eyes and after watching a few videos on youtube I noticed the brushes the artists use are much smaller than my Citadel FD brush. I have only been painting miniatures since January so up to now have been using Citadel brushes. However a lot of people have been raving about Winsor Newton Series 7 000 is this brush a lot smaller smaller than the Citadel Fine detail brush or are there any alternatives? Any help would be much appreciated.

It's not so much about the size of the brush, it's about the flow of the paint, and the tip of the brush. I use a Raphael 8407 (I think) size 0 for my eyes, and it works just fine.

Thanks Avenger I will look into that. I can sort of manage on most of the eyes I just find Hobbit eyes very frustrating. I really want to encapsulate Frodo's/Elijah's big blue eyes, however every time it ends in disaster. I really need to just keep practising I suppose.

The answer to the paint brush question really boils down to your intent. Are you painting to a tabletop standard? A competitive standard, a display standard or are you just trying to cover the bare material? The source of your intent will answer the question for you. Much like tennis shoes, in the world of brushes you get what you pay for. Personally, I really dislike synthetic brushes. I have many of the citadel brushes and what I can tell you is that they do a fine job for painting table top quality minis. Their biggest down falls are price, break in time and belly. They aren't as cheap as many of us would like. My brushes all had a break in time of about 4 months of use before they really hit their stride, and lastly every single one of them is nearly devoid of a belly.

What's a belly? It is the bulb-ish part of the brush next to the ferrel. What's the ferrel? The metal thing next to the handle. The reason you want a nice bulbed belly is that a good belly holds paint and reduces the number of trips you make to the paint pot. It sounds silly, but once you've used a brush with a good belly, you will wonder how you lived while burning all those extra calories making trip after trip to your paint pot.

I use the DaVinci Maestro series 10 size 1 almost exclusively. A good brush is going to cost you a pretty penny ($10+) but the results are far better. Also, when investing in a quality brush, it is absolutely crucial that you clean it regularly.

An all natural hair brush is your friend if you want to paint tabletop quality or better. What you want to find is a brush made from kolinsky sable hair. If you can find it, male, winter coat kolinsky sable hair. This is the best stuff on the market. The best brushes are made from this material and will aid you in developing your craft.

The two brands known to use the kolinsky sable hair brushes are Winnsor Newtons and DaVinci's. I know citadel claims to use sable hair, but like I said, their brushes leave a bit to be desired. On the other hand, I am 100% satisfied with my davinci and highly recommend them!

As far as painting eyes is concerned, here are a few tips. 1 paint the eye first. A citadel purest will tell you to paint them last, and their is nothing wrong with that, but team 'eavy metal is a group of full time painters. They are very skilled. For those of us who don't get paid to paint minis and are new to the hobby, paint the eyes first. This will allow you to color outside the lines, then cover your mistakes with your flesh tones.

Next, a brush with a good point is a must. Lots of time we think, "I need a small brush to paint small eyes." *wrong!* To paint eyes you don't need a small brush, you need a fine tip. Yes, many small brushes have a fine tip, hence the small eyes need a small brush train of thought. But no, to paint eyes it is more important to have a fine tip as opposed to a small brush.

Lastly, and most important. Practice, practice, practice and practice.

I am painting them for display purposes so I want to paint them to a high standard. Naturally when you first start this hobby there is a massive outlay as all the paints, models and brushes and tools etc have to be bought at pretty much the same time. However, as I have now acquired a good collection of paints and models buying good a top quality brush seems the natural course to take. The Citadel brushes do not seem to be very durable however that is probably down to my technique. Thanks for the advice. Spending £10-20 per brush isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things.

Not at all. Buying a good brush is step 1 of preparing a quality mini. Also, check out these websites

http://hot-lead.org/start/paint_guide_main.htm

And

http://www.jenova.dk

And

http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft

Pay special attention to the Let it Flow and Bette Davis Eyes articles.

I have spent hours reading the information on these sights. All great info. Lastly, look at as many mini galleries as you can. Reapers inspiration gallery, dark sword minis gallery, the minis here, warseer, cool mini or not, all of them. Try and figure out how the artist painted and think of how you'd replicate the effect. This is a very rewarding and challenging hobby.

Thanks so much Jdizzy, I have learned so much in the last few months, all of these hints and tips are greatly appreciated. I will look through the links you posted eagerly. Many Thanks

I bought three Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes six years ago and their tips are still needle-sharp. So taking the time into account, they are the cheapest brushes I've ever bought, and they don't look like they would need replacement any time soon. I've painted probably something like 200+ miniatures with them.

-- Pasi

Thank Valpas, I think I am going to buy the winsor newton 0,00 and 000 hopefully they will become loyal and study tools for me. I also have a few old brushes and a few guides I have read has recommended turning your old brushes into drybrushes, is this also something you would recommend?

I've always thought this truism to be nonsense. A master carpenter isn't going to be able to get the same results with blunt, rusty tools as he is with the best tools available to him. I'm a firm believer in getting the best tool available for your skill level. Sure, a set of master craftsman tools will be wasted on a complete novice, but anyone with a degree of practice and skill will see the quality of their work improve by using a better designed tool.

The funny thing is, with a really good brush, you don't actually need it to be tiny! A size 1 W&Ns7 holds a really good point, and to a degree it's more a question of how much paint the brush holds rather than the size of the point.

I've personally always found really small brushes a bit of a pain- all but the most watery paint dries out on them, and if it's too watery then obviously it doesn't make the mark you want!

Anyway, long story short- you're spot on. Get a better brush, and you'll find that it's not your skill level that's lacking, it's the tool you're using.

p.s. eyes are a nightmare!

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You are completely right Mertaal on every count, I know a lot of people begrudge paying a lot of money for quality brushes and have found cheap alternatives but personally I have no qualms with buying a quality brush as generally you tend to get what you pay for. With regards to painting eyes Jdizzy recommended a great article called Bette Davis Eyes which has really helped me. Again thanks for all the help and advice guys, I really appreciate it.

Yeah, sure. You need tools for rough work as well, like drybrushing, undercoating (if for some reason you cannot use spraying), spreading glue for sand and static grass and things like that. One reason my brushes have lasted so long is that I never use the good ones for rough work. Old faithful ones are perfect for that. I still have my old (12 years?) GW basecoat brush as a drybrush. For drybrushing, it's good to cut the tip off so that the brush is a bit flatter and has shorter and stiffer hairs.

By the way, my W&N brushes are 2, 1 and 0. The difference between these three is only the amount of paint they hold and the size of the depression they fit inside. I used to use teeny-tiny brushes but after switching to really good quality I've never needed anything smaller than 0 anymore. I completely agree with Mertaals' opinions about the brush sizes.

-- Pasi

I do almost all my painting with a W&Ns7 size 1.

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Check out my blog: http://yggdrasilpainting.wix.com/yggdrasilpainting

Thanks for the advice guys. Brush care is something I have been 'brushing' up on -pardon the pun. I cringe when I think of leaving them in water overnight like when I first started but we learn from our mistakes.

For brush care, I just squeeze a dab of dish soap into my hand and swish my brush around in it, rinse, then repeat. There are quality brush cleaners out there though. Don't leave your brush in a cup all night. Also, store your brushes with the bristles pointing up, and don't throw out the little sleeves that come with your brush to protect the tip during transport.

[quote="jdizzy001"]For brush care, I just squeeze a dab of dish soap into my hand and swish my brush around in it, rinse, then repeat.

Thanks for the help, the articles you suggested have really helped, especially the Bette Davis eyes.

For brush care get some masters brush soap, and some natural turpenoid. Use the turpenoid after every use, and the masters every now and then, depending on how much you're painting.

Glad to hear it. When I started I had very little help. The guy who got me into the hobby encouraged me to paint but was only interested in table quality minis. I wanted something more.

Point being, I like to offer any help I can to new painters so they can progress quicker than I did. If they want it, that is. If someone wants to paint table quality and stop there, then so be it. I respect that. But if someone wants to paint to a higher standard, they need the resources so they can begin that painting.

Also, +1 on the master's brush soap. I've used it once. The stuff is great. I've never purchased though cause I always forget its name. Good soap though

Happy painting!