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.

Is there any advantage to using these miniature brushes over their standard ones with slightly longer bristles when it comes to painting minis?

Personally (and just to confirm I'm in no way a pro painter!), I've found that the series 7 mini brushes can be a pain to deal with. Yes, you can get minuscule detail with them, but as they do not hold much paint at all, I find that most of the time the paint dries too quickly on the brush. Even using plenty of slo dry, the bristles are so small they just don't seem to hold enough paint to prevent it drying fast.

Might be worth a shot to try, as all I can give here is a personal opinion, but I much prefer the standard series 7 brushes. They keep a nice fine point and 95% of the time, I do not find myself needing anything but the standard size 2 brush.

^^^ This.

I cant think of a single reason why it would be important to have shorter bristles.

Maybe on a poorer quality brush, that might be handy, but not here.

Well... I agree with these gents, but I've found they do have one use, and that is edge highlighting. They have that fat edge and the shorter length keeps me from accidentally painting other areas.

But in general for all of the reasons listed above I prefer the longer bristle brushes.

I just had new brushes delivered today. The W&N Miniature series I guess compares to a 'Spotter' which has shorter bristles and a sharper point than a regular round, the shorter bristles allow more control, not everyone feels that they need it. Its there if you want it.

Spoiler below hiding large image of a selection of the brushes I just had delivered (I know I buy too many brushes, its a problem that we dont need to talk about lol! ). The 5 on the left hand side are all 'spotters' which strike me as the same deal as the miniature series ~ tending to have wider ferrules and shorter bristles than a pointed round.
The 10 on the right hand side are all pointed rounds. (the middle are filberts and a goat hair mop and not really part of this lol) ~ theres some kolinsky, some red sable, some mongoose, squirrel and goat in that selection.


(btw, thats what the point on a rosemary and co brush looks like after going through Royal Mail shipping. I literally popped off all the tubes just to take that picture. Thats 15 pointed brushes that ALL showed up with a good tip on them... suck it Citadel, these were cheaper in many cases than GW's efforts - and every bit as good as W&N for less £)

Those brushes look fantastic, HairySticks!

I have yet to step up to the high end brushes but I will soon!

I use the winsor and newton 7 miniature for almost everything I do, I like the control I have with them. In fact, for most of my models I only use the size 1, and that covers almost everything I need to do, from basecoats to eyes. That being said, I tend to do everything the hard way when I'm painting, so this may not be the most efficient method. I would get a size 1 and try it out, brush preference varies tremendously person-to-person.

Century1 wrote:
I use the winsor and newton 7 miniature for almost everything I do, I like the control I have with them. In fact, for most of my models I only use the size 1, and that covers almost everything I need to do, from basecoats to eyes. That being said, I tend to do everything the hard way when I'm painting, so this may not be the most efficient method. I would get a size 1 and try it out, brush preference varies tremendously person-to-person.

The control is actually quite nice on the miniature brushes. I'm not sure why some people have problem with paint drying on them -- at least with Citadel paints, diluted in water (or flo-aid on near-whites), this isn't really an issue for me. Typically, I have only a tiny, tiny bit of paint on my brush anyhow. I really don't know how people "load up" a size 1 or 2 W&N brush on a small (25mm - 40mm base) miniature -- one loadup is enough paint for a quarter of the model, with the first few brushstrokes leaving way, way too much paint on the model. Plus, if you thin your paints to the point where you don't get brushstrokes, loading up a big brush means that there's a watery mess on the model.

Also, if you really load up a bigger brush, it takes too much effort to get all of that paint out of the brush before using it for another color.

However, I don't use my set of W&N Minis for a different reason. I find that too often, I get paint near or into the ferrule, when I roll my brush to get a sharp point. I then spend way too much time cleaning the brush to get the paint out right away.

HairySticks wrote:
I just had new brushes delivered today. The W&N Miniature series I guess compares to a 'Spotter' which has shorter bristles and a sharper point than a regular round, the shorter bristles allow more control, not everyone feels that they need it. Its there if you want it.

Spoiler below hiding large image of a selection of the brushes I just had delivered (I know I buy too many brushes, its a problem that we dont need to talk about lol! ). The 5 on the left hand side are all 'spotters' which strike me as the same deal as the miniature series ~ tending to have wider ferrules and shorter bristles than a pointed round.
The 10 on the right hand side are all pointed rounds. (the middle are filberts and a goat hair mop and not really part of this lol) ~ theres some kolinsky, some red sable, some mongoose, squirrel and goat in that selection.

Spoiler:

(btw, thats what the point on a rosemary and co brush looks like after going through Royal Mail shipping. I literally popped off all the tubes just to take that picture. Thats 15 pointed brushes that ALL showed up with a good tip on them... suck it Citadel, these were cheaper in many cases than GW's efforts - and every bit as good as W&N for less £)

Out of interest which series are the different brushes shown and what do you find them useful for? I've used the series 33, triangle handled ones and the spotters. But struggled to choose which would be best for dry brushing and such.

SW1 wrote:

Out of interest which series are the different brushes shown and what do you find them useful for? I've used the series 33, triangle handled ones and the spotters. But struggled to choose which would be best for dry brushing and such.

If I'm honest, this bunch of brushes is a bit of a sampler to see if I'm missing out on something

I'l run through them left to right ;

Series 93 is pure Red Sable Spotter , size 2 then 0 spotters tend to be wider ferrules and shorter bristles than a pointed round of the same size. Said to give more control for fine detail.

Series 323 is pure kolinksy sable spotter, sizes 1, then 2/0, then 3.

Series 81 (the long handle) is a pure red sable domed filbert size 4 ~ I wanted this on a short handle and have now sawn it in half.

Series 91 is a Pure red Sable Filbert Size 4 (not domed) - area coverage and fine lines when sideways. - filberts are more cost effective than larger rounds are as you pay rather a lot for that awesome point to not use it on an area coverage brush, they also do flat, angular, long flat,... and a bunch of other shapes less useful for us.

Series 2075 is 'chunking' hog bristle, this is a size 4 filbert (potential drybrush)

Series 109 Mop is 'small' (biggest brush here xD) Goat hair Mop (potential drybrush)

Series 42 is Pure Squirrel Hair size 2 round (wash brush)

Series 33 is pure kolinksy sable pointed round, 10/0, 2/0, 1 (no explanation required)

Series 272 is 'Masters choice' rounds, 1 and 0. (this used to be mongoose hair, mongoose is now protected and cannot be sourced and its dubbed as 'substitute' i have no idea what precisely that is) (these have more spring than kolinsky sable does, not as fine a point)

Series 98 is pure red sable, triangle handle size 0 pointed round

Series 101 is pure red sable pointed rounds on those sexy burgundy handles.


The spotters... I just got because I dont have any spotters and fancied trying them out (excessive spending I know!)
The domed fibert and the regular filbert are for area coverage, the regular one makes a neat fine line used sideways.
The chunking Is a tester ~ seeking the best drybrush, this feels good but havent actually put it through the paces yet, I likes the master choice for drybrushing but its too expensive for wrecking. Chunking hog is quite cheap compared.
The goat mop ~ another experiment, seeking a nice drybrush, this is possible a bit too soft ~ I figured goat wouldnt be as soft as this
The Squirrel is said to be a lovely wash brush - Bought it to find out. Washes wreck brushes because it gets into the ferrule far too easily. I have 2 or 3 once beautiful kollinskies that dont have a sharp point anymore because of this.
Kollinksy pointed rounds because yeah!
Red sable pointed rounds for general workhorse use (to save the kollinksys points on work that doesnt really need it) ~ and to sample some handle styles. I love those red ones. I want kolinsky on them!!

Iv had many of these brushes before and am just getting some freshies too.
The red sables are really nice, but have been shown up by the kolinksy outlasting it ~ cared for the same. price wise you can have 2 red sables for the 1 kolinsky really.

*...the hundredth edit
My number 1 main brush to use is a size 1 or 0 pointed round - I did a size 2 for a while, recently been on a 0. I've got a pot full already lol! I didnt *need* new ones yet.
I have 0 through 3 of W&N s7's and the rest are Rosemary and Co. Cant fault the s7. theyre really really nice! But frankly R&C are giving me almost two s33's for the same £ And I couldnt even try to say theyre half as good ~ there about the same! Rosemary seem to have a more slender belly on them, perhaps but thats not a comment on the quality of the craftsmanship or material.

Heres a W&N size 1 pointed round next to a R&C of the same ~ so directly competing products;

http://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/pure-kolinsky-sable/pure-kolinsky-pointed
The s33 rosemary and co size 1 costs £4.40 r.r.p

http://www.winsornewton.com/uk/shop/brushes/water-colour/series-7-kolinsky-sable-brushes/series-7-kolinsky-sable-brush-round-short-handle-size-000-brush-5007030
Series 7 Winsor & Newton r.r.p £12.25 (i know you can get this cheaper, but this is the manufacturers own websites against each other)

So really youve got some change left over if you buy two s33's over the single s7. And while theyre both really lovely brushes, and you may argue the w&n is nicer (i wouldnt) ... is is 300% nicer? (most definately not!)

Cheers for the info!!!

About to stick another order in now I know what extra ones to try.