Wamp Select Series Paintbrushes: Made by Rosemary and Co.,

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**ced1106**

R&C makes custom brushes as well as their standard sizes, and WAMP painting has started a KS of their own line of brushes.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wamp/wamp-select-series-paintbrushes/description

From Update 2: The photo shows from smallest to largest: fine freehand, Freehand and a Basecoat. The largest brush is a size 5 not on this project but included as comparison. The large basecoat is sized between this and the Basecoat brush and a vehicle brush is a little bigger than the size 5

**jah-joshua**

i have a couple of R&C brushes, and i can attest to their great quality...
i really like them...

my main workhorse brush from R&C has been going strong since 2008...
it is just now in need of replacement, and i don't even use brush cleaner or anything, so they are pretty robust...
of all the brush Kickstarters i've seen, this is one that is involved with a manufacturer with a proven good track record...

WAMP is basically a one-man business, and well worth supporting...
Brett (Darklord) is a good painter, and a good guy...
i hope this venture goes well...

cheers
jah

**Yodhrin**

While I love my R&Co brushes and I wish this guy all the best, I have to wonder where the incentive is to back this for people who don't know this Wamp bloke, from a strictly selfish-consumer perspective you'd be better just ordering the same brushes straight from R&Co without the markup, no?

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

They are not going to be identical to the current Rosemary & Co line up which were basically developed with more normal artists in mind

these designs have been tweeked with the needs/inputs of specific miniature painters in mind (different length/belly/stiffness/point etc, small changes but hopefully positive ones)

so should be worth a go if you need new brushes, or the ones you've got don't quite suit you

(I know I used W&N which are a good brush for a long time before trying R&Co which I found I liked better)

**Yodhrin**

OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
They are not going to be identical to the current Rosemary & Co line up which were basically developed with more normal artists in mind

these designs have been tweeked with the needs/inputs of specific miniature painters in mind (different length/belly/stiffness/point etc, small changes but hopefully positive ones)

so should be worth a go if you need new brushes, or the ones you've got don't quite suit you

(I know I used W&N which are a good brush for a long time before trying R&Co which I found I liked better)

I honestly can't see how they can improve on the basic R&Co brushes; they're already pure Kolinsky, they already come in the right sizes, and they already have various shapes and styles of tip - you can ring them up and they have a bloke there who will tell you exactly which brushes they make are best suited for use with miniatures. The Fine Detail brush doesn't look different from the R&Co Size 0 Pure Kolinsky Sable Half-Rigger to my eye. The descriptions of the others just sound like they could be Half-Riggers, Riggers, Pointed, Designer, and Rounded tip brushes, the only one that sounds potentially unique to the KS is Detail which would be a Size 1 Half-Rigger if it's the same shape as the Fine Detail, and R&Co only offer Half-Riggers in even numbers.

I'm just not seeing where the added value is meant to be coming from.

**Seriqolm**

I'm with Yodhrin here, I buy my brushes from Rosemary and Co and with the extensive range they do I'm not seeing any value to rebranding brushes to a slightly different "miniature painter spec". At the end of the day these are just rebranded brushes with the extra mark up just why not just talk to Rosemary and Co and get them direct? I also found it funny that the case is Daler Rowney which can be picked up cheap at an art store. Yep! just not seeing the value here at all but its funded so other people do, funny old world.

**Dark Severance**

I just want to point out that international shipping is not free as this post is titled.

For those that use Rosemary and Co, what version of the brushes are you using as they have an extensive range?

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

this was posted by Brett who runs WAMP over on the Reaper KS forums which I think answers and explains many of the questions that have come up here

Posted Yesterday, 11:06 AM

Hi folks,

I was kindly invited over via the Kickstarter to help answer some questions by one of you fine folks (named C). So here I am and hopefulyly I can put a few fears to bed.

I am hearing a lot of nervousness from people ( everywhere not just on here) about backing another Kickstarter campaign for brushes after precious ones from other companies.

Ok so maybe a little background of who I am and what Wamp is.

My name is Brett Johnson and I have been painting for a living/ running Wamp for 10 years now. I know some of you already (suffered alongside Wren on a few Iron Painters, damn fine painter that she is!) and I know a few of you are Wamp members and maybe participated in the contest we ran with Reaper in the past.

Wamp started out as a mini painting forum, over the years we launched Portal Magazine and in the last 3 years we launched the Wampstore. All are aimed at mini painters and all (we like to think) have a great reputation. We have always prided ourselves on our friendly reputation and our great mix of abilities. We have novices as members alongside some of the worlds best painters.

Why does this matter? Well for some people it might not but I wanted to try and show we are not just a new start up thats going to take all your money then run off into the night.

We have been arranging this range for well over a year now. Why did we use Rosemary? Well several reasons. Firstly pricing. Rosemary offer we feel a great product at a price thats cheaper than many of the other manufacturers offering more value for money and its always nice to get good value if you can! Secondly Rosemary are UK based (in fact not too far from my house) so its quick and easy for us to sort any problems. Thirdly rosemary have a great reputation, their brushes are well liked amongst miniature painters and they are my personal choice for brushes. I like to think the fact I am using the product myself shows I believe in their ability. I have some Windsor & Newtons too and while they are great brushes I personally prefer the Rosemary ones so it seemed a natural choice to go for them (Windsor and Newton will also do a custom range for you if you want and I think others will too).

i will admit the margins on these brushes is very small for us, not much above break even at Kickstarter prices. We could have easily gone to a cheap manufacturer in the far east and made a huge profit but that wasnt for us. yes sure we would have made more money but at what cost? Chances are the materials would be inferior (all sables are not made the same, handles are not all equal,) and they would be put together by people with little experience in how to build a brush. Rosemary know how to build a brush.

As I mentioned earlier reputation is important to us and if this project went wrong we have a lot to lose. The forum would suffer as would the store and my own personal repuation too which could well affect my commission work (Would companies want Studio work done by me anymore?) We want you to love the product and to keep using it. We want in 10 years for you to still be using these. Wamp and my painting feeds the kids, if its gone they starve (or learn to eat the furniture!)

We also have long term plans for the range, we hope once the dust settles to start to add signature brushes. these would be one of brushes that have been personally designed by top painters to their specifications. If this project bombs then that opportunity has gone and so does any chance of your future kickstarters getting backed.

What do others think? Well we have of course name dropped in the kickstarter itself but as someone pointed out so did other peoples campaigns. It would be easy for us to go out and get a couple of recommendations to try and fool you. But this wasnt what we did. All the people that have testified the brush for us have backed the campaign, put their own cash up. So have other people that have great reputations. Mike McVey has personally pledged after him an Ali tried one out (and you might here more about them in a stretch goal down the line, ( Reaper Forums exclusive there for you!!)) Sebastian Archer and Remy Trembley have both pledged and a whole host of other people that are trusting in Wamp and this product.

i wont go over too much of what Miss Melons has already kindly quoted previously but I will say this about whether you should buy these? if you are happy with what your brushes give you already then dont back the project. many folks use Windsor and Newtons, Raphaels or DeVincis and love them. they are great brushes and I am not going to come on here and claim they are all rubbish when they arent. Brush choice is a personal experience, just the same as paint choice is. What works for one might not work for another.

I personally prefer these to the W&N's but that doesnt mean you will. I would love you all to try these and see what you think and I do believe these are of the same quality as the other top brands. I think they offer better value cost wise, BUT I am not going to fill you with false promises in the hope of taking your money. theres no double head design, no fancy gimmicks, no magical spell that turns you into some uber painter (like Wren :: ). these are simply a set of paintbrushes made to the best standards and designed for miniature painters at as good a value as is possible.

I hope if your sitting on the fence my waffling has maybe alleviated some of your fears. I truely believe in these brushes and i believe any of you that back the project will too. I would love you to come on board with us. I am quite blown away by the response so far (we passed £10,000 this morning!) I think the fact that so many people had a bad experience with other brush kickstarters but are backing us on this one shows they have trust in Wamp and its ability to deliver a good product.

Finally feel free to ask me more questions. I will even give you a direct email address so if you want to get in touch with me and ask more then you can: brett@wampforum.com i will of course try to reply here, or on toher channels as soon as I can

Thanks

Brett

**Seriqolm**

So they are not making any real profit on them, they've told everyone who makes them and you can get very similar brushes in the exact same quality and you'll also see the extensive range available from Rosemary and Co as well as being cheaper from source. I still do not see the point of this as a business venture other than supporting WAMP for altruistic purposes. They are offering very little extra value over going direct to Rosemary and Co who they are indirectly giving free advertisement to, brilliant for Rosemary and Co but isn't this akin to shooting themselves in the foot bad business for WAMP in the long term?

**NoggintheNog**

Dark Severance wrote:
I just want to point out that international shipping is not free as this post is titled.

For those that use Rosemary and Co, what version of the brushes are you using as they have an extensive range?

I normally use series 33 brushes, but I have to admit these have caught my eye.

R&C brushes do not have the name of a series seven windsor and newton, and I think they have less hairs in the brush itself as they never seem as springy as the windsor and newton (Raphael brushes are even better than windsor newton in this regard), but they are very well made and work really well. In terms of cost/performance, they are I think the best available.

However, these ones have a refined tip shape that seems more substantial than the series 33 so may compare even better to the competition.

**Yodhrin**

Yeah Orlando, he sounds like a top feller and all, but there's nothing in there to persuade "average chump who doesn't have a clue who Wamp/the guy are" to buy these rather than just getting R&Co brushes.

NoggintheNog;

I'm not seeing this "more substantial" thing, is there a difference here I'm missing?

vs

For example?

Dark Severance wrote:
I just want to point out that international shipping is not free as this post is titled.

For those that use Rosemary and Co, what version of the brushes are you using as they have an extensive range?

If you go to their site and look under Watercolour Brushes, the Pure Red Sable, that's the good stuff. Personally I use a mix of Series 22, Series 8, and Series 441 in various sizes for general painting work, a small Series 44 for freehanding and a medium one for spot-washes, and a medium sized Series 1 for general washes. I use a few of the Shiraz range synthetics(under Acrylics) for rougher techniques or alcohol-based paints that would ruin a sable brush, and they're also very nicely made and last ages.

**Seriqolm**

Dark Severance wrote:

For those that use Rosemary and Co, what version of the brushes are you using as they have an extensive range?

I use the Series 33 for general work mainly the sizes from 3/0 to 4, I also use similar numbers in the Series 44 rigger range. I'm now looking at getting some small flat brushes for drybrushing but haven't decided what type yet.

**Micky**

Also, shipping aint free.

**ced1106**

Thanks for letting me know about the shipping. I didn't see shipping until the add-ons, so thought it was included in the pledge levels. Title has been edited accordingly!

Anyway, I prefer the "snap" of Raphael 8404's (thanks, Nog!), so figure I can just buy some Raphael 8404's from Jackson Arts. Free shipping to the USA if you buy only brushes and spend at least 20 pounds. If anyone knows any less expensive prices, please post!