Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

before i begin i know a little research can go a long way and sadly i don't have the funds to invest into every brush suggested

so without further a do which brushes are the best for their potential

which dont fray much or at all?

where can i find these type of brushes and or how much would they be?

what cleaners work best and where can i get them?

btw i use the gw brushes and im fed up with the quality of them.. they just flat out suck

I went into a local art store, and bought a sable brush.

Outperforms the crappy GW brushes by a LOT... been about a month of very heavy use, still holds its shape nicely.

From what I've read, the best you can get at a pretty decent price are the American Painter brushes you can get at Hobby Lobby.

But from personal experience... I have no clue.

From personal experience, I recommend Rosemary & Co series 33 https://www.rosemaryandco.com/index.php?cPath=275_365&osCsid=h4025v8d8e6tsokqi0pp16u4a4 if you want a narrow recommendation. Top quality brushes that on average cost under half that of Windsor and Newton series 7 brushes.

For more recommendations on them: http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=89516

5 pages of people singing their praises. Series 33 are kolinsky sable brushes. I also use series 22, 92 and 323 in a variety of sizes(mostly 0 and smaller).

The Winsor & Newton Series 7 get a lot of love on this site. I use them and they're a lot better than the GW one I have, but other than GW I have nothing else to compare them to.

For brush cleaning Masters' brush soap is good. Expensive, but works well, and isn't toxic as hell.

I also use Cellulose Thinner (not on acrylic brushes) which works extremely well, but is toxic as hell, and requires washing and conditioning the brush properly afterward. I use a conditioning shampoo then hair wax to reshape the point.

Any Sable brush is going to work well, I use Rapheal's that I buy over at Secretweapon Miniatures;

http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=29

They are considerably longer than other brush brands, this helps preserve the life of the brush...you see when you load t brush up with paint, you dont want the paint to get up into the ferral, by having a longer brush it gives you a longer working time and makes cleaning easier.

Ashton

I should note if your brushes are fraying, the error probably lies with how you are caring for the brush. Some of the very nice brushes I got when I started frayed within a month, whereas cheaper brushes I purchased in more recent years are still in great condition.

Any brush will fray if you don't use good brush cleaner. I use Masters brush soap, which was already mentioned. 6$ for a container that will last you 1-3 years. Get it. Use it.

I love my W&N series 7s and Chroma Incredible Brush Cleaner

im going to give these a whirl thanks for the recomandations

as for proper care i clean with water, sometimes with baby shampoo

im careful about the care of my brushes, then again when i first started i had brushes that would last months of ware with no cleaning what so ever

guess it depends on the brush

W&N Series 7s are expensive, but they're extremely good and well worth the investment.

My IMEX brushes have held up pretty decently for a while. Ive tried to use "Army Painter" brushes but they just fray on the first cleaning...

You can get away with four brushes for basic painting of troops and special units

1 - extra small detail brush
2 - medium brushes (since these will be use most commonly and take the blunt of the abuse)
1 - Dry brush