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Well folks it's time for a change! I've decided it is finally time to upgrade from bog standard GW brushes to something a little bit more professional. Dont get me wrong the GW brushes have been brilliant and everything I have painted for the past 20ish (god I feel old now) has used standard GW brushes and the current ones are defaintely the best.

So why am I posting, in short I dont have a clue whats out there!! There seem to be some great companies but none that I have had experience with so this post is to start the debate on what brushes are the best and most cost effective (this is a big one) for the bumbling hobbiest?

I would love to know what brushes you use? what experinces have you had with different brushes? Is there a brand that by far out shines others?

please feel free to send yuor thoughts, comments and links and hopefully this could see me getting some nice new brushes soon.

I asked the same thing a little while ago, and the general consensus seems to be Raphael brushes, I'm actually likely going to buy some tonight. I've heard they are extremely good though.

Well the Raphael (8404 or 8408)or Windsor and Newton brushes (series 7)... are both excellent. Either brush will have a perfectly crisp point so you can do detail work with the larger brushes and more easily manage how much paint you hold/apply.

series 7 all the way ..amazeing even come with there own case for £8ish

Winsor & Newton are the best, #0 and #1 are great for general use and a #00 for even finer details. Not that you can't get fine detail with #0 and #1, the points on them are wonderful. I have heard that Raphael are just as great if not better in terms of holding paint, but I've yet to try one myself.

Also, Masters brush cleaner, needs mentioning whether you have it or not. No brush is complete without Masters.

cheers for the info, have posted here and a few other places including my blog and would be good to get a concensus so will leave it a day or so before i decide, however in the meantime following on from the advice given i have ordered myself a pot of the masters brush soap to use with these new toys

on a related note what are the most common sizes people use and what for?
cheers

I use a Raphael 8404 size 0 for almost everything... human eyes, helmet lenses, purity seal writing, rivits on armor, etc.
With a brush of that quality (and the W&N Series 7) it isn't so much the size as it is the sharpness of the point. Most of the time those "extreme detail" brushes are not as useful because the reservoir is so small it can't hold enough moisture and the paint ends up drying on the brush before you can start painting.

I use a Raphael 8404 size 00 , and by far the best brush I have ever owned. Tip is sharp and there is plenty of room for extra paint in the reservoir.

I use Rosemary & Co series 33 brushes they are excellent quality and half the price of Windsor brushes.

They are also made in the uk, I ordered some new ones on Monday and they arrived today.

edit: I use size 0 and size 2 for normal painting and a smaller one for fine detail

http://www.rosemaryandco.com/index.php?cPath=275_365

Amazon's stock is lacking, where do you guys pick these up?

go to ebay, and type in " kolinsky brush"

Buy from size or vendor of your choice. These are some of the best brushes you can buy (hair wise). Treat them well.

Or go to dickblick.com they have TONS of brushes.

This place is absolutely the best in the US... get on the mailing list and wait for the big 'brush sales'...

http://www.aswexpress.com/

isn't windsor and newton series 7 the same brushes GW sells? or was that just the pair of heavy metal brushes? I know GW sources their brushes from Windsor Newton

noooo the gw ones are awrfull and are no where near the same quality as w&n ,,even the ltd ed ones they relesed and charge stupidly high for arnt to the same spec :]

I got mine from here and some bases as well.

http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29&products_id=113

The very newest series of GW brushes are decent actually... I use them for dry-brushing, metallics, and washes... I use Windsor and Newtons for everything else.

Thanks for all the feedback guys its actually been really helpful. The consensus across my blog, the FB groups and a few forums seems to be that if you use Kolinsky sable brushes then you can’t go wrong, no matter the make. With that in mind though three brands seem to have jumped out as runaway leaders, they are:
Raphael Brushes
Windsor and Newton Series 7
Rosemary and Co
I have looked in to all of these and actually found a local store that stocks Windsor’s and Rosemary’s, getting to hold them helped and I did prefer the rosemary’s over the Windsor’s, but barely. Unfortunately though I didn’t buy at the store, let’s just say it knows it has an audience of a certain age and they milk them. So I can home last night and did some surfing for various brushes, as nice as the Windsor’s were the fact I could get the Rosemary’s direct from the company for less than £3 per brush as opposed at least double for the Windsor’s was a bit of a game changer. So last night I placed an order for a set ranging from 000 through to 3, I know I’m erring to the cheaper ones but I think some decent brushes (even in sizes ill never use) will make a big difference. So there we have it I’ve spent £25 on some awesome seeming brushes and now to see what they do. Once they are here ill get some use in and hopefully some reviews of them and the company.
Once again thanks for your help and advice, much appreciated.