Favourite Brush?

[Dave C]

Quite recently I read one those threads that goes something like: 'What brushes would you recommend?' And true to the supportive nature of this forum folk replied stating the brands to which they loyally follow. But I wonder how of you many of you out there have lots and lots of brushes but tend to use the same one or two over and over again?

On my work bench I have three old coffee mugs stuffed with brushes of all shapes and sizes: 'cheapo' ones for rough work and dry-brushing through to expensive fine pointed sable for detailed work. However, for most of my general work for a couple of years now I've tended to use the old fella in attached photo. Yes, he's a W & N Series 7 OO and as you can see he's seen better days! Oh, he started life doing great things like painting the pupils on 28mm infantry but time has seen his sharpness wane and now he's relegated to camp patterns on 15mm tanks.

I'm sure the day is approaching when he'll make his last stroke. But when that time comes I don't think I could bring myself just to throw him out with the trash. No; after such loyal and dependable service some small space on the work bench will be set aside as his retirement home!           

[Major_Gilbear]

I find that my brushes, when they get old, "hinge" at the ferrule. Sooner or later, they all do.

At that point, a few of the better ones get relegated to applying metal paints... The others just get binned. Life's too short to piss around with a duff brush, and I get little enough done as it is with a good one.

But otherwise, I normally just use a W&N7 size 1 for pretty much everything until it's dead. Then, I reflect a few moments on it's life, bin it, and break out a new one (unless it's better than my current metals brush, in which case it's switched and the old metal brush gets binned). I don't go as far as a eulogy though. 

[CPBelt]

Escoda Optimo Kolinsky Sable brushes, as recommended by the local artist community over W&N 7's. (Cheaper than W&N as well.) While short handles are available, I prefer using the long handle brushes. These have amazing points.



Good luck finding sable brushes in the US! They are gone gone gone for the time being.  

[carlos marighela]

Basil.

[FramFramson]

Escoda Optimo Kolinsky Sable brushes, as recommended by the local artist community over W&N 7's. (Cheaper than W&N as well.) While short handles are available, I prefer using the long handle brushes. These have amazing points.



Good luck finding sable brushes in the US! They are gone gone gone for the time being.  

I've been using 5/0 Escoda Reservas as they are the only fine Kolinsky sable available locally without resorting to mail order. They're decent but not great and they sure break quickly (funny enough I prefer them most after they've broken just a little as that sharpens them up a fair bit).

I feel like I should invest in better brushes, but I'm so hard on them I'm not sure it'd be worth it for me, even though as it stands now I'm spending $5 every four to eight figures on brushes.

[sundayhero]

Personaly I paint my minis with a mix of cheap sable brushes and Army painter sable brushes.

I've got the army painter brushes for years (I can't remember exactly, probably more than 2 years), and they still in good shape after (literraly, take a look on my WIP topics) hundreds of miniatures. I just wash them with soap and water a few times a week. 

The cheap brushes are usefull for rough works, and even for fine work (one fo them is a very short 5/0 tip, now more looking like a 3/0 or even a 00, perfect for speed highlights).

I have a few synthetic brushes only for drybrush and very rough work (like varnish, or base texture paint or glue).


I don't think I'm good enough to take advantage of a 10euros brush, but I definitly see the advantage of natural sable hair.

[SotF]

I've actually gotten more out of some of the cheaper brushes from the Wal-Mart craft section with the plastic bag full of different brushes for a few bucks than I have from any of the more expensive ones.

[leegwonfu]

Oddly enough, I always use synthetic brushes. Since I'm pretty meticulous about keeping them clean, they seem to last a long (relatively) long time. I do have some Rosemary sable/synthetic blend brushes that I'll be trying, too. And I do have some Series 7 brushes, but those I only use for pen and ink drawings.

[Mindenbrush]

Rosemary Series 33 short handle, usually a size '0' for majority of work and '00' for detail work.
http://www.rosemaryandco.com/pure-kolinsky-pointed

They maintain their point very well, the bristles are not too 'stiff' and they last reasonably well - I clean mine with Tamiya Thinners once a week and then apply hair conditioner, allowing them to sit for maybe an hour and then washing the conditioner out with clean water.

During painting sessions they only get cleaned between colours by dipping them in tap water (from the cold tap) that has a squirt of dish washer liquid in it and then swished around in clean filtered water.

I buy a batch from the UK, usually combining with other gamers in and around Montreal to reduce the postage.