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Just wondering if getting better paintbrushes then the GW ones would make much of a difference? I heard sable is the best, if so, why? Thanks

If you're not thrashing the crap out of GW brushes, they are quite good (or were when they had red handles). For miniature work you want the sable as natural fiber brushes won't fray as quickly, thus losing their tip, like synthetic brushes will. GW brushes are sable, by the way.

But as to other brands, Windsor & Newton Series 7, seem to be the most recommended high end brushes. Secret weapon supposedly does some good brushes too. Army painter makes some... And you can usually find some decent options at craft and hobby stores, but for the really "good" brushes, you're going to pay a healthy price.

The big reason that people go with Sable over other fibers for miniature painting is that the fibers have a fair amount of spring to them - so you can get fine lines and fairly wide lines out of the same brush. Also, due to the nature of the sable fiber, it holds water (and thinned paint) quite well. If you are thinning your paints a fair amount - then sable is the way to go.

Keep in mind though, if you tend to use paints straight out of the bottle - those expensive sable brushes will not last nearly as long as if you thinned them. The ticker paint is harsh on the relatively delicate sable hairs and can end up causing the brush to fray and even start to break apart pretty quickly (relative to how much painting you do of course). If you paint straight out of the bottle - you will likely be better served by a squirrel, hog or even taklon brush.

After that - you have two different types of sable that you need to be concerned about. The first and more common (and cheaper as a result) is common red sable...or just sable depending on the manufacturer. It comes from the summer coat of the animal and doesn't have quite the same amount of spring or water holding abilities.

Kolinsky sable on the other hand comes from the winter coat - specifically the undercoat...and ideally the undercoat of the butt, where the fibers are the longest and thickest. These fibers have much more bounce to them as they are designed to keep the weasel's topcoat fluffed up during the winter for insulation. They also are good at holding moisture in (and out when oiled) to prevent dehydration effects during dry Siberian winters.

As far as whether or not getting better brushes will make a difference...well, you will definitely have some people who will say yes - but to be honest, the question isn't that easily answered. For some people, their style and methods will gain nothing by buying an expensive set of Kolinsky Sable brushes. They don't use any techniques which would benefit from them, their brush control is too heavy, they don't exercise proper brush care, they are more interested in getting their army painted to a lower standard than others... For those people, a quality synthetic or lower end natural fiber brush (like regular sable or squirrel) will do a better job for what they need.

If you find your self thinning most your paints so that you need to do 3 or more coats to get good coverage. If you do two brush blending, glazes or other techniques that require a good deal of brush control and thin paints. If you have found your current brushes to be lacking in some way - then it might be time for a switch. The switch might be to a Kolinsky Sable - it might not be though...it really depends on what you want to get out of your brush.

For some people, they want a specific behavior (shorter or longer bristles, fuller body, more or less snap...). In that case, you need to look for the bristles and the brush design that meets that need.

When people are just getting started with this sort of thing - I always recommend that they try to get to a real art store. Good ones will actually let you take brushes for a test drive in the store (sometimes with paint - though more often with plain water). That can let you get a feel for the different bristle types, lengths, brush styles and the rest. Once you have a better understanding of how they all behave - it becomes much easier to choose what will work best for your specific needs.

I was in the same position as you a month ago, I bought some army painter brushes and I have to say that I am very impressed with them. They aren't the best brushes (winsor series 7 usually holds that title) but they definitely feel more professional (probably not the right word) than the GW ones for a similar price.

As noted above, better brushes make a difference only if you have sufficient technique to utilize the difference in materials. Your painting won't magically become better. That being said, I'm not a great painter, but I can definitely notice the difference between my W&N Series 7 brushes and the less expensive ones (I use a variety of different brands for various purposes). The point holds up better, paint flow off the brush is more predictable, and it's easier to make the brush hit the model the way I want it to. They're really quite excellent brushes.

I think the biggest problem with less expensive brushes is the sheer variety of them - there are so many different brands and every hobby/art store seems to stock a different selection. It's hard to know just what you're getting or to find the exact thing someone else recommends. But the W&N S7 is a known, stable quantity and that's worth something in itself - experimenting with random $5 brushes that don't work out adds up to a new S7 pretty quickly.

You've already done at least a little bit of painting, so you're probably beyond the point of outright abusing your brushes. So if you feel like the GW brushes aren't quite optimal, I'd go ahead and get a single W&N S7 from your local art store (or Dick Blick online, though shipping on a single brush is a bit tough). Pick whatever size you commonly use - a 0 or 1 is probably a good choice, as 2's get more expensive. The main thing I'd recommend is to choose the *regular* rather than the *Miniature* series of S7 brushes. The Miniature ones have shorter bodies, which gives you slightly better brush control at the cost of holding less paint and drying out more quickly. For general painting, the extra brush control isn't that big a deal, and the longer body means that paint is less likely to travel up into the ferrule. The only time I'd buy a Miniature S7 is for a 000 brush for painting eyeballs and such. Give it a whirl and see if you feel it's worth the cost. I feel mine are. At the same time, I keep some less expensive brushes around for slightly destructive things like painting over basing grit, drybrushing, and priming models (where I'm going to be jamming the point into recesses). I also use cheaper brushes for washes and similar super-thin paints too, since those tend to travel up into the ferrule very quickly. Properly cared for, a top-quality brush will last for a very long time.