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Looking to get a few W&N Series 7 brushes probably 000 - 1. I've heard they are good. Are they worth the $13 or so each? Or are lower end brushes just as good?

Thanks

SG

I love them personally - they hold their tip better than any other brush I've owned and the precision you can get with even bigger than you'd normally use brushes is amazing.

I'm sure you can look after most brushes and get them to keep their tips, but personally the newtons have made me a better painter for sure.

Great brushes.

My only suggestion would be to avoid going so low in size. Their size 1 is easily small enough to do any work you need to.

i love 'em
i do get a lot of use out of my 0 and 000 Miniatures, personally, even though everyone else seems to advise against them...
once i have done my base coats, i rarely touch my 1, except for washes and glazes...

$13 may seem like a big investment, but i get at least five years, or more, of solid use out of my brushes...
i'm about to replace my 000, which i bought in '08, and i use it nearly every day...

give the 1 a whirl, and see what you think...
it is the only way to know if you really like them or not...

cheers
jah

I think it's worth having one brush around the #1 range and another as small as they make it. I don't use my small brush frequently, but I still use it often enough to be glad I have it. I always recommend using the largest brush you can practically use, but when it comes to really fine detail like text or eyes, the smaller brush is going to be better.

You can also usually pick up some cheaper Kolinsky's for rougher work.

13 dollars is a steal. They're worth more.

I know several people warned against anything smaller than a 1, but I went ahead with the 0. Granted, I paint with $5 Hobby Lobby brushes (that are still better quality than Games Workshop). But, I've found that most of the time, I'm using my 000 brush for detail work.

SG

The reason people try and suggest larger brushes is because newbies more often than not make the mistake of using brushes smaller than they need, thinking the model is small therefore the brushes must be small. But in reality if you use a brush that is too small, it is more effort, takes longer and is harder to avoid a streaky finish.

My mate used to complain about how long it took him to paint models and frankly they didn't look all that good, about half way through his army we discovered he was exclusively using fine detail brushes to paint them

The brush should be sized according to the details of the model and at 28mm most of the model's details are sized that a #1 or #2 brush is most appropriate, occasionally a larger brush can be used (like for basecoats) and occasionally smaller brushes are appropriate (like eyes, text, etc), but the workhorse of most good painters is either a 1 or a 2.

I was lucky and got a box set of the W&N #7s that were on a "back to school sale" (??!!) and I do admit a noticeable difference.
- The hair of the brush is built up a little thicker near the base, it seems to help to act as a reservoir for the paint: I can go a little further before I need to add paint.
- They hold the tip very nicely and has a nice "spring" to it: I have better tactile "feel" with them and it lays down paint evenly.
Anything else I could state may just be name-brand bias on my part.
I would strongly suggest them NOT to be anyone's first brush, if not cared for they would not be worth the money.

I just started using 7 Series myself, and I am really happy with them. My whole fleet of brushes was pretty haggard, and I wanted to get back into minis painting so I treated myself. I also got some brush soap with them to try and really keep them nice more than I usually do, and so far I am really pleased with them. They feel really high quality in hand. I got an assortment from 000 - 2, both in the full length and miniature bristle lengths.

I agrre that the size 1 is a good brush for various situations. I sometimes use the smaller ones, but they tend to dry out faster, so you need to get more paint and accordingly work slower.

Where can you get those brushes for only $13?
I have a number 2 WN series 7. That brush is awesome.

 Prometheum5 wrote:
I also got some brush soap with them to try and really keep them nice more than I usually do, and so far I am really pleased with them.

This, I think, is the key. Keep them clean and conditioned and they will last much longer and give better results.

I've also used Raphael 8404's. I paint to advanced tabletop, so I'm mostly using high-quality brushes only for details such as eyeballs. I inherited a bunch of lower quality brushes, and use them for washes, drybrushing, and sometimes basecoats and metallics. While I prefer a size 0, I often highlight with the *edge* of my brush, which, of course, doesn't involve the tip. So I'll do some highlights with whatever brush would work. For terrain, crappy miniatures, and zombies, the lower quality brushes work fine.

Amazon also sells sable nail brushes, at 3 for under $2. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007BLN17K/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1

Here's a W&N for about $13 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Winsor-Newton-Kolinsky-Sable-Watercolor/dp/B0013E68SU/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1475579149&sr=1-1&keywords=winsor%2Band%2Bnewton%2Bseries%2B7&th=1

Raphael 8404 for about $12 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Raphael-Kolinsky-Sable-size-0/dp/B004Z7743U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1475579206&sr=8-3&keywords=raphael+8404

I prefer Rosemary and Co. personally, cheaper and just as useful.