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Hello,

This is my personal review on the Winsor and Newton 7 Series Kolinsky and the Richeson 6228 Kolinsky brushes.

This is merely a thread about my experiences with both brushes and I cannot speak for any other users of said products.

I'm sure most of you have heard of the Winsor 7 Series brushes. They have a reputation as the very best watercolor brushes that you can buy. I went ahead and spent the 20 odd dollars on this brush thats been receiving so much attention and praise. The first thing that really struck my fancy upon purchasing the brush was the fact that it came in a nifty little tube. I like things that come in a nice package. Hey, thats just me! The brush has a great shape and at a size 0, it's great for highlights, basic surface coloring and detailed painting. I wouldn't recommend this for base coating.



As soon as I dipped the brush into the paint (diluted 2-1) I had a great feeling about the painting session to come. I'll go over the pros and cons.

Pros- The reservoir (pool) of the brush could hold a lot of paint, while the tip didn't let it bleed all over the mini once the brush touched the surface.
- The brush had a lot of snap, so I didn't have to worry about constantly reshaping it, like a lot of hobby brushes.
- The bristles weren't terribly long, so I didn't have to fuss over getting the brush through some tight spots, while risking overpainting.

Cons- One thing that is most dreaded when doing fine detail painting, such as painting eyes, gems or doing freehand work (aside from a shaky hand, which I've dubbed "nerd wobble") is the tip of your brush drying out, right at the moment of truth!! The tip of this brush has given me a constant problem with the tip drying out, despite the paint being diluted 2x. For such a highly regarded brush, this should not be happening.
- The price! For a lot of casual hobbyists, the cost of this brush just isn't practical. When I got into the hobby, I was saving my lunch money every day just to get a new blister to paint. No way was I about to drop $25 on a brush and if you just want to get your stuff table top ready, I wouldn't recommend this.

NOW, onto the Richeson 6228 Kolinsky.

Up until recently, I had never even heard of this brush. But I was at the art store the other day looking for some stuff when I came upon a Kolinsky brush with a terrific shape and I remembered that I could use a base coating brush, and at $7, I was sold.

Nothing really stood out about this brush, except that it had a wonderful shape and it looked well constructed. As soon as I started painting, I realized that I wasn't painting with just another cheap-o "fine art" wannabe brush! This baby had a beautiful reservoir of paint, a great snap for being a larger brush (size 3), and the tip did not dry out, despite long periods of painting without re-wetting the brush. Let's jump into the pros and cons.

Pros- Size + Snap = WIN. For the size of the brush I got (size 3), the snap on this brush was wonderful. This brush did not lose it's shape once. I was blown away.
- Reservoir on the brush is fantastic. I felt like I did my whole session with one dip of the brush (not literally).
- The tip! This brush is pretty big. Great for base coating! But what really blew me away was the ability to do fine lines with it! and without the painting bleeding all over the place. That is a huge plus for me. Huge.
- The price! For $7 out the door, this brush was a steal! If you have an art store near you, I recommend ditching your Citadel brushes and pick these babies up.

Cons- I had no problems with this brush at all. Whenever I get more time, I'm picking up this brush in a size 0.


In conclusion, what do I think?

Winsor 7 Series Kolinsky - Overpriced for a brush with a tip that is unreliable. That's right.....I said it. If you have the money and are a seasoned painter, you MAY want to check it out. The brush was working great until I ran into the tip problem. You may get better results than I did. You never know.

Richeson 6228 Kolinsky - For the price and reliability, this brush is well worth it for hobbyists of all levels! If you're painting up a show army, or if you just want to get those models on the table, these brushes will really be an asset.

I hope this thread helped someone somewhere!

Again, this is just my opinion about my experiences with said brushes.


Cheers!

Damon.

The thing with brushes is consistancy. Rating a brand of brush based on a single example and a single painting session isnt going to be very useful. Your examples give the impression of a brief usage of both examples. If you paraphrased a few months into a brief paragraph- you may want to elude to that.

Also- you make no mention of what you dilute your paint with- if its water....thats why the tip is drying out. You also make no mention of what colors or brands of paint were used. A little bit of flow enhancer or drying retardant would be the logical steps to prevent paint from drying on the tip of the brush- as thats more a problem of the paint and technique than the fault of the tool being used.

Alot of brushes work great when they are new. The reason the W&N 7's have the reputation that they do- is that 6 months or a year from now it will be doing the same thing it does now-if well cared for. Its possible the Richeson you mention can too, but thats something that only time will tell.

Mistress of minis wrote:The thing with brushes is consistancy. Rating a brand of brush based on a single example and a single painting session isnt going to be very useful. Your examples give the impression of a brief usage of both examples. If you paraphrased a few months into a brief paragraph- you may want to elude to that.

Also- you make no mention of what you dilute your paint with- if its water....thats why the tip is drying out. You also make no mention of what colors or brands of paint were used. A little bit of flow enhancer or drying retardant would be the logical steps to prevent paint from drying on the tip of the brush- as thats more a problem of the paint and technique than the fault of the tool being used.

Alot of brushes work great when they are new. The reason the W&N 7's have the reputation that they do- is that 6 months or a year from now it will be doing the same thing it does now-if well cared for. Its possible the Richeson you mention can too, but thats something that only time will tell.

You're right. I made no mention of the length of time these were used. These were used over a few sessions. The paints were Citadel and Vallejo Game Color. Liquitex Flo-Aid would be the dillution of choice for the paints. I'll write another review of said brushed after several months of use. That's another subject though.

Were the brushes drying out even with thinned paint? It's my understanding that the holding lots of thin paint is the main benefit of kolinsky.

I have a few Blick master sables that are plenty cheaper, and have worked well for me.

Polonius wrote:Were the brushes drying out even with thinned paint? It's my understanding that the holding lots of thin paint is the main benefit of kolinsky.

I have a few Blick master sables that are plenty cheaper, and have worked well for me.

I have nothing bad to say about the abilty to hold paint for either brush. They were both holding the paint like champs. I simply had the issue of the Winsor tip drying out a number of times, with a full reservoir of paint.