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I have always used old and worn brushes for drybrushing (realised just now that is 20 years this year, makes me feel old!), but my current worn brush is getting a bit too worn out and It needs to be replaced. I have brushed that I just could relegate to drybrushing but I am also considering getting a citadel or army painter dry brush.

What are your experiences with these brushes?

Do they offer better control when drybrushing?

Do they last longer than ordinary brushes for drybrushing?

Are they worth getting?

Do you have spare income to buy them? If so then buy them, if not keep using old brushes. Thats what i do

What are your experiences with these brushes?
Good
Do they offer better control when drybrushing?
Yes
Do they last longer than ordinary brushes for drybrushing?
Yes
Are they worth getting?
Yes

^ Wot eee said.

After trying out budget alternatives from ebay.. citadel ones are by far the best ive tried so far and not too expensive.

Whoa whoa whoa!

Have you guys used the army painter dry brush? It like a horse brush! Bristles are much too hard for proper application. I bought one thinking that maybe I was wrong and a stiff bristle would be okay, but that particular brush has yet to be used again.

Don't buy a modelling companies dry brush. Go to the drug store and buy a big floofy make up brush. They come in different sizes and shapes, some are great for smaller applications, some better for big things like tanks, but all of them are super soft, which is exactly what you need. You probably know that already, but for those who don't there it is.

Make up brushes range from $1.00 for the cheap ones to around the same price as a citadel brush.

If you insist on buying a fancy brush, don't buy the GW ones. Just go to a craft store and get a Kolinsky. These guys make the brushes for GW too but for some reason the price is the same whether you get them from the art store or the website. This leads me to believe that GW buys a lesser quality brush from Kolinsky and marks it up.

Stiffness is a real preference thing, I use army painter brushes for chainmail and coarse furs and stippling etc and GW for areas with less relief.
I also use make up brushes for some jobs and DIY brushes for others, it really depends on the job but there's always an application for almost any brush.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong then, I just tried the Army Painter one for some basic " all-over" drybrushing and it left very obvious brush marks. Perhaps I am merely asking the wrong things of that brush.

At any rate it will get used eventually. Even if I just lop of the bristles and make basing material! Lol

The Games Workshop drybrushes are great -- all 3 of them. They are cheap, they last forever (if you clean them properly), and are stiff, coarse, and short bristled. Ox hair, for instance, is nice, Kolinsky hair is not.

I have about 6 of each, because when I drybrush, I don't like to clean my brush in between colors or applications (because then you have to wait for the brush fully dry). Also, I do a lot of terrain, and after the paint begins to gunk up, you need to give it a wash and leave it a while to dry. The large drybrush, especially, takes a very long time to dry.

After every use, I clean them either in the W&N liquid solution, or Master's (if they're very gunked up). My GW drybrushes last years, and I use abuse them on TONS of large terrain models, and with very rough paints (like Ryza Rust).

The Army Painter drybrushes are not my thing. They're more like crappy regular brushes than drybrushes, in my opinion.

I don't like cutting up old brushes to make drybrushes, because the bristles don't all face one direction, making it so that I get stray marks. It sounds funny, but I like my drybrush to be precise

Both of the terrain pieces in my gallery are quickie jobs basecoat + drybrush, with the drybrush work done with GW drybrushes, and didn't take long at all to finish.

The best brush for drybrushing I've ever had was a Rosemary & Co Series 275 3/8" angular Mongoose bristle (they call them 'masters choice'), wasnt cheap to be honest, approx £9 if I recall, but it was beutifuly soft to the touch with a nice spring on the bristles.

Unfortunately Mongoose has since become a protected animal and the pelts cannot be sourced by the brush maker. Theyve got some alternative but I'm yet to give it a test run.
Soon I might as my one is a bit worn out now too ; been good to me for 2 years though.

Citadel large drybrush I still use, didnt really rate the small and medium ones, the hairs fell out. But I find good precision is available with the angular mongoose brush.

I like the GW dry brushes, worth the money, I haven't got anything bad to say about them.

Talys wrote:
The Games Workshop drybrushes are great -- all 3 of them. They are cheap, they last forever (if you clean them properly), and are stiff, coarse, and short bristled. Ox hair, for instance, is nice, Kolinsky hair is not.

I use GW drybrushes as well but how do you get them to last so long? I clean mine as well but the problem is the bristles start to curl which eventually makes it unusable.

Different strokes for different folks

There is not just one "better" brush

At best go to the geedubs and ask them if you can test use one at there demo station to see if you like how it performs.

Ugh, Citadel and Army Painter brushes are not special. They're not even made by Games Workshop. If they work for you, great. But they're overly expensive. If you have a craft store anywhere near you, they'll have brushes that are exactly the same size, shape, and bristle material for half the price. And they'll probably be made in China just like the Citadel ones.

durecellrabbit wrote:

Talys wrote:
The Games Workshop drybrushes are great -- all 3 of them. They are cheap, they last forever (if you clean them properly), and are stiff, coarse, and short bristled. Ox hair, for instance, is nice, Kolinsky hair is not.

I use GW drybrushes as well but how do you get them to last so long? I clean mine as well but the problem is the bristles start to curl which eventually makes it unusable.

Which drybrush? The small/medium are quite different from the large.

But I really don't know. I think maybe just drybrushing technique? Depending on what I drybrush and how, mileage and wear varies, I think (jabbing into nooks tends to wreck them for me). I don't like drybrushing very many miniatures -- it's mostly terrain, rarely vehicles, and almost never infantry-sized. Terrain pieces have lots of large, sections, that are just very drybrush friendly.

Some of my small/medium drybrushes have a little tiny bit of curl on the end, but I don't really find that it hinders my drybrushing (again, probably because I'm doing terrain); still, they aren't that much different from brand new ones. Oh, yes, and I always pick up drybrushes on boxing day, when they're discounted

Desubot wrote:Different strokes for different folks

There is not just one "better" brush

At best go to the geedubs and ask them if you can test use one at there demo station to see if you like how it performs.

Indeed! One problem for brush fetishists, though, is that there just aren't many coarse-hair brushes to choose from for miniature painting. The cheap-cheap (dollar store) brushes are not ideal because the bristles don't point in one direction, and the coarse haired brushes at fine arts stores are usually long handled and gigantic. I just used old synthetic brushes with the ends snipped off for years. Really, until I went to Winsor & Newton brushes, and my brushes ended up lasting much longer (and now I can hand-me-down those to some folks at my shop who can't afford fancy brushes).

I do remember seeing GW drybrushes the first time, and going, "Why would anyone pay money for THAT?!" hehehe.

Talys wrote:

durecellrabbit wrote:

Talys wrote:
The Games Workshop drybrushes are great -- all 3 of them. They are cheap, they last forever (if you clean them properly), and are stiff, coarse, and short bristled. Ox hair, for instance, is nice, Kolinsky hair is not.

I use GW drybrushes as well but how do you get them to last so long? I clean mine as well but the problem is the bristles start to curl which eventually makes it unusable.

Which drybrush? The small/medium are quite different from the large.

But I really don't know. I think maybe just drybrushing technique? Depending on what I drybrush and how, mileage and wear varies, I think (jabbing into nooks tends to wreck them for me). I don't like drybrushing very many miniatures -- it's mostly terrain, rarely vehicles, and almost never infantry-sized. Terrain pieces have lots of large, sections, that are just very drybrush friendly.

Some of my small/medium drybrushes have a little tiny bit of curl on the end, but I don't really find that it hinders my drybrushing (again, probably because I'm doing terrain); still, they aren't that much different from brand new ones. Oh, yes, and I always pick up drybrushes on boxing day, when they're discounted

I have small and medium. I use it on both my models and basing. It's the basing which seems to wreck it faster but that might just be because it's what gets drybrushed most. The curls start to be a problem when they're curled enough I can't stop getting paint onto bits I'm not drybrushing.

durecellrabbit wrote:

I have small and medium. I use it on both my models and basing. It's the basing which seems to wreck it faster but that might just be because it's what gets drybrushed most. The curls start to be a problem when they're curled enough I can't stop getting paint onto bits I'm not drybrushing.

Yeah, I hear you.

I can only suggest that I generally drybrush quite lightly, moving the brush from side to side, without trying to get a brush into nooks or pressing down very hard. My mileage has been really good with the GW ones -- I've actually been quite surprised.

Enough people seem to think they are worth trying, so I'll give them a try. I have my closest FLGS five minute walk from my apartment, and they have great discounts. So citadel it is.

By upgrading to Winsor & Newton and Rosemary & co I have saved so much money on brushes that I can justify trying them out even if it turns out that I dont like them.

 jorny wrote:
Enough people seem to think they are worth trying, so I'll give them a try. I have my closest FLGS five minute walk from my apartment, and they have great discounts. So citadel it is.

By upgrading to Winsor & Newton and Rosemary & co I have saved so much money on brushes that I can justify trying them out even if it turns out that I dont like them.

Let us know what you discover.

By the way, Winsor & Newton and Rosemary & Co are known for they Kolinsky sable brushes. These are (in my opinion) not good drybrushes. They are **excellent* paintbrushes though! I would never suggest a citadel over a W&N S7 for a regular, round brush.

W&N makes lots of cheap brushes (like the Cottman line of synthetics). These are also not good drybrushes. And in my opinion, not really good value paintbrushes either, but that's another story

Talys wrote:

 jorny wrote:
Enough people seem to think they are worth trying, so I'll give them a try. I have my closest FLGS five minute walk from my apartment, and they have great discounts. So citadel it is.

By upgrading to Winsor & Newton and Rosemary & co I have saved so much money on brushes that I can justify trying them out even if it turns out that I dont like them.

Let us know what you discover.

By the way, Winsor & Newton and Rosemary & Co are known for they Kolinsky sable brushes. These are (in my opinion) not good drybrushes. They are **excellent* paintbrushes though! I would never suggest a citadel over a W&N S7 for a regular, round brush.

W&N makes lots of cheap brushes (like the Cottman line of synthetics). These are also not good drybrushes. And in my opinion, not really good value paintbrushes either, but that's another story

Check out the rosemary and co site... they have a lot more on offer than just the kollinksy sable, producing fine quality brushes from a wide range of bristles, natural and synthetic; theres atleast 15 different bristle types I can see there.. probably more.

HairySticks wrote:

Check out the rosemary and co site... they have a lot more on offer than just the kollinksy sable, producing fine quality brushes from a wide range of bristles, natural and synthetic; theres atleast 15 different bristle types I can see there.. probably more.

As does W&N -- I've just never seen one at a store that is suitable (by either company) for drybrush. Not saying they don't exist. These are probably the best bet --

http://www.rosemaryandco.com/acrylic-brushes/hog-bristle-acrylic

I've never seen or used them, though. My arts stores here just don't have them, and I like to touch my brushes before I buy them. The other problem is that the website doesn't tell you the size of the brush -- "Small, medium and large" isn't very helpful, if you're not looking physically at it or know someone that owns one.

The Chungking bristle brushes might be a better hair, but they are in the wrong shape for drybrushing 28mm, in my opinion.

My earlier comment was that the brushes that we often talk about here at Dakka are the kolinksy sable ones, and these have the wrong characteristics to be good drybrushes.

I use cheap brushes from B&M bargains. £3.99 for 25 brushes in various sizes (5mm-25mm) they work just as well as the GW ones, last over a year and are cheap enough to have a set for each seperate colour.

Talys wrote:

As does W&N -- I've just never seen one at a store that is suitable (by either company) for drybrush. Not saying they don't exist. These are probably the best bet --

http://www.rosemaryandco.com/acrylic-brushes/hog-bristle-acrylic

I've never seen or used them, though. My arts stores here just don't have them, and I like to touch my brushes before I buy them. The other problem is that the website doesn't tell you the size of the brush -- "Small, medium and large" isn't very helpful, if you're not looking physically at it or know someone that owns one.

The Chungking bristle brushes might be a better hair, but they are in the wrong shape for drybrushing 28mm, in my opinion.

My earlier comment was that the brushes that we often talk about here at Dakka are the kolinksy sable ones, and these have the wrong characteristics to be good drybrushes.

I might try these next time I order; http://www.rosemaryandco.com/acrylic-brushes/chungking-bristle-acrylic/chungking-shorter-filberts
Theyve got the size chart for the Chungking bristles but not the regular hog it seems. I've been chatting with them via email and theyre quite friendly. I'm sure they'd enlighten you if you asked. (I'm trying to arrange some custom kollinksy's on the handles of the s101 red sable )

Edit;

I've been using these http://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/masters-choice/masters-choice-angular But theyre a bit on the steep side for drybrush despite being a really nice soft yet stiff and springy bristle that leaves a nice mark.

 Alex Kolodotschko wrote:
What are your experiences with these brushes?
Good
Do they offer better control when drybrushing?
Yes
Do they last longer than ordinary brushes for drybrushing?
Yes
Are they worth getting?
Yes

This.

I've been using the same set of Citadel brushes for about 3 years now. No way I could do that cycling my "bad" brushes to use for drybrushing. Just remember to clean all your stuff via a good soak in Simple Green every few months.

Quick update. Bought a small drybrush from Citadel. It is good, in fact it is a lot better than using old worn out brushes. And even if there might be a cheaper on the internet somewhere that is just as good, 39 SEK (roughly $4,8) is not a lot of money. Also I rather take a five minute walk and buy a brush than ordering it online, have to pay shipping and then have to wait.

My point about W&N and Rosemary & Co is that since I bought the relatively expensive S7 and a few Rosemary & Co Kolinsky, I have saved a lot of money on brushes. One S7 no 2 replaces two or three cheaper brushes, just because the quality makes it so versatile. Also they last so much longer.