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Let's assume they are nice Winsor and Newton 7s.
I'm guessing I'd have a 1, 0, and 000.
You guys?

I'd have a 4, a 3, and a 0.

Large, Standard and Fine Detail in GW sizes.

What do the GW sizes come to be in regular brush sizes?

Havn't got a clue.

I've used '0000' before and that's way smaller than 'fine detail'.

I reckon the smallest GW brush is 00 or so.

hmm, probably a 2, a 1 and a 00. Then think bugger when i had to do some basing.

Rosemary and Co Series 22 size 0, Series 33 size 3/0, and Army Painter Wargamer: Insane Detail.

Don't need bigger brushes as I have an airbrush. Size 0 does all my hand painting base coats and washes, 3/0 does all my skin blending and finer details, Insane Detail brush does eyes which I will eventually have done on every model with suitable eye detail on the model(some models have terrible eyes molded on them).

Different companies vary greatly. There is the diameter of the ferule, but also length of bristles and their angle. So Rosemary and Co. and Da Vinci have different "2"s. Just something to think about.

Thanks Smog for posting in both my threads.
I'm off to look at the Ott lights tonight.

A 4 Flat, 00000 Spotter and a 00000 Liner, that is the bare minimum I need for a figure. Having said that I have a large collection of brushes in all manner of size and shape.

I typically use a 8 Flat for tanks and mass washing, a 2 for base coats and washes (which gets relegated to drybrushing once I've sufficiently ruined it) and a 00 for detail work. I don't go crazy small details (don't look at the eyes) so that's as small as I need.

However...

I will forever use cheapo brushes that I can abuse and throw away when I've ruined them. Hobby lobby has an adequete 5 pack of hobby brushes for $6 that have done well for me.

I had nice brushes and I let them die. I'm the reason I can't have nice things...

Army Paint: Wargamer Regiment, Army Painter Wargamer Insane Detail, and the GW large brush.

Normal size comparison? Idk...

It kills me at how many people use GW brushes.

And why would you post what is really a 5/0 as a 00000? Just to make me read five zeroes? Are there really brushes with five zeroes on them?

And it's surprising that people are using such big brushes. 2's? really? I mean for vehicles I guess, but an airbrush will do it better.

Woah. What would a 5/0 be used for anyway? Eyes? Fingernails?

Aerethan wrote:It kills me at how many people use GW brushes.

And why would you post what is really a 5/0 as a 00000? Just to make me read five zeroes? Are there really brushes with five zeroes on them?

And it's surprising that people are using such big brushes. 2's? really? I mean for vehicles I guess, but an airbrush will do it better.

I use a rosemary and co. 2 and 3 for work you probably do with a 00. It's all about the tip, how it holds it and the angle. Small brushes have a limited brush length, so the angle can be quite severe, a couple sizes up you have a very small angle and you have a perfect liner, able to paint much finer detail than <0 brushes. Also, airbrushing is not a replacement for brushes, and I know some people will disagree, but if you're using your airbrush for what should be work with a paint brush, I think your model suffers tremendously. Airbrushes like to paint one surface, flat and I haven't seen many shirts, trousers or bags that required a flat surface technique...

I use an airbrush for priming, base coating and on some occasions washes on larger models. I'm not saying to replace brushes with one, but for things like tanks, hand brushing a base coat is worlds away from what can be done with an airbrush.

And I use R&C brushes. I agree that the tip is what matters. I also only really paint WFB models so there aren't often large surface areas to be painted like power armor.

I find myself using a 3/0 for most detail work these days that isn't eyeballs. I could use a larger brush, but I often already have the 3/0 out and wet unless I'm doing washes or something.

Brush 1: The one with the bigest belly, and thinnest point while still retaining good snap. I find W&N ser 7 sizes 2 the best all-rounder (it would probably be a 3 but I prefer the snap of the 2's for detailing, and the belly is plenty big enough for minis).

Brush 2: A massive soft mop for drybrushing, washes etc.

Brush 3: Can choose my airbrush? If so i'll take my Inifinity with a .15 needle (seeing as this may be cheating i'll leave the other needles out )

Probably get flamed for this one, but...

GW Small Drybrush
GW Standard Brush
GW Fine Detail Brush

I own only 5 brushes (all of them GW, the other 2 being the medium drybrush and the stippling brush) But 95% of my painting is done with those 3 brushes. So I guess that's my choices nice and safe really...

Leigen_Zero wrote:Probably get flamed for this one, but...

GW Small Drybrush
GW Standard Brush
GW Fine Detail Brush

I own only 5 brushes (all of them GW, the other 2 being the medium drybrush and the stippling brush) But 95% of my painting is done with those 3 brushes. So I guess that's my choices nice and safe really...

Bwaha, I gotcha beat. I've got only 3 brushes-

GW Standard
GW Fine Detail
Old piece of for mixing paints and "painting" PVA glue.

As a fantasy player w/o any big war machines, I don't find myself needing anything else.

Raphael brushes cant remember the exact type. But 0 1 2 are what I use for everything.

Aerethan wrote:It kills me at how many people use GW brushes.

And why would you post what is really a 5/0 as a 00000? Just to make me read five zeroes? Are there really brushes with five zeroes on them?

And it's surprising that people are using such big brushes. 2's? really? I mean for vehicles I guess, but an airbrush will do it better.

I can paint very fine details with a w&n series 7 size 2 as they have such a fine tip. Just because you dont like it doesnt make it "wrong"

Pretty much my main brushes anyway:

- W&N S7 5 (bit of a monster brush, but really works nice on larger models.)
- W&N S7 1/0
- W&N S7 2/0

W&N S7 2
W&N S7 1
Some crappy flat drybrush.

That will cover 90% of my painting needs.
The better the brush, the bigger it can be. Good brushes have finer points and hold more paint in the belly of the brush. With a good brush, painting eyes is easy with a size 1.

The GW large drybrush, small drybrush and detail brush is pretty much all I use.

I use a GW standard and fine detail as well as various 1 and 0 from other companies. For priming, basecoating, and washing I like to use the flat shader brushes (4, 6, or 8).

Aerethan wrote:I use an airbrush for priming, base coating and on some occasions washes on larger models. I'm not saying to replace brushes with one, but for things like tanks, hand brushing a base coat is worlds away from what can be done with an airbrush.

Depends on how many tanks you have I suppose. Even if I had 10+ tanks, I couldn't justify the expense of an airbrush.

I'd be happy with a 1, 0, and 3/0.

Drybrush, 1, 000

matphat wrote:Woah. What would a 5/0 be used for anyway? Eyes? Fingernails?

I use the 5/0 and 6/0 brushes to pick out real small details and darken the creases on my mini's. I also use them to get the underwear on some of Hasselfree's girls just right. It's amazing the things you can see with a set of 3 power reading glasses.

As for all the zeros, I do have some of my older brushes with that many zeros marked on the handle.

biccat wrote:

Aerethan wrote:I use an airbrush for priming, base coating and on some occasions washes on larger models. I'm not saying to replace brushes with one, but for things like tanks, hand brushing a base coat is worlds away from what can be done with an airbrush.

Depends on how many tanks you have I suppose. Even if I had 10+ tanks, I couldn't justify the expense of an airbrush.

I'd be happy with a 1, 0, and 3/0.

Well how much is your time worth to you(you're a lawyer aren't you? so I'd imagine an hour costs a lot )? Basecoating my 40 Dark Elves Crossbowmen, 25 Spearmen and 50 High Elves spearmen would have taken me days upon days to finish if I had hand brushed them. Being able to airbrush all that silver armor took me only 2 hours to basecoat over 100 models. So it's not JUST for tanks, it's a time saver for one of the most tedious steps of painting, plus it can prime without fear of gritty finishes or humidity problems.

So if your time is worth more to you than the $200-300 initial investment, an airbrush is well worth it.