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Made in se
Resentful Grot With a Plan






I'm sure similar questions have been adressed here previously, but I couldn't really find answers to my questions on Google. Having returned quite recently to the hobby, I've started to paint a lot, mostly human-sized models. Since I like details, I spend most of my time painting with rather small brushes. Currently I have one from Army Painter, called 'Insane Detail' (stupid name, it's not that small ). It's already beginning to crumble, even after a week or so. The brush's previous colleagues (also from Army Painter) have all lost hairs, split, and that kind of stuff. Buying a new one is fine, but I still wonder: Am I using the wrong technique, painting to hard/aggressively? Am I not cleaning it properly? Am I using a bad brush? I'd like to hear your experiences with brushes in this size, if you'd like to share.

   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





Use kolinsky sable brushes. Synthetic brushes are cheaper but do not last long when painting with acrylics. If using synthetic, consider them disposable.

Only get paint on the bottom portion of the hairs, if paint gets up inside in the ferrule (the metal band holding the hairs together) it’ll dry and cause the bristles to split and no longer want to form a nice tip. If you use small brushes, it’s sometimes a good idea to use a bigger brush to get the paint from the pot to your palette and thin it down, then just use the small brush to pick it up and put it on the model. That way you minimise the chance o getting paint up in the ferrule.

Rinse the brush off frequently so paint isn’t drying in it as you work.

When you’re done with a session and/or if you get paint too far up the bristles, use a brush soap to clean it off.

Follow all those and a good quality kolinsky brush should last you hundreds of models.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/11/23 23:55:56


 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
Use kolinsky sable brushes. Synthetic brushes are cheaper but do not last long when painting with acrylics. If using synthetic, consider them disposable.

Only get paint on the bottom portion of the hairs, if paint gets up inside in the ferrule (the metal band holding the hairs together) it’ll dry and cause the bristles to split and no longer want to form a nice tip. If you use small brushes, it’s sometimes a good idea to use a bigger brush to get the paint from the pot to your palette and thin it down, then just use the small brush to pick it up and put it on the model. That way you minimise the chance o getting paint up in the ferrule.

Rinse the brush off frequently so paint isn’t drying in it as you work.

When you’re done with a session and/or if you get paint too far up the bristles, use a brush soap to clean it off.

Follow all those and a good quality kolinsky brush should last you hundreds of models.


Quoted for truth. These are all the high points to deal with.

Some minor points that are probably not the cause, but listing for completeness:
Don’t wash your brushes in hot water, it can mess with the glue that holds the brush together.
Don’t store them resting on the bristles. I’ve heard people argue the merits of resting brushes on their sides, point up, or even point down in special holders so they are suspended. But point down in a cup is right out.
Synthetics WILL curl. It doesn’t matter how good you are to them; it’s the nature of the beast.

Buy a puck of Master Brush Soap (or the bottle, whichever) and use it. Small investment to help your brushes.

   
Made in gb
Thane of Dol Guldur





Bodt

Most brushes from modelling companies are not the highest quality. For top end you want a sable brush as mentioned above. W&N series 7 are generally seen as the holy grail of brushes.

This isnt to say that cheaper synthetics don't have their place. I generally use synthetics from cass or pro arte as my workhorse brushes. Some people say that they aren't good or you can't paint with a tip that hooks, but you absolutely can. Get yourself a pot of brush soap, and use this to clean your brushes after each session.

Once you get into painting more, you can advance to sable brushes. These are an investment. They will be more expensive than your synthetics. They will not hook, but still require tlc. I've been using a W&N sable (not a 7 series) for my last few models, and it's been great. Again, I just clean it with the soap and place the protective sleeve back on it after each use.

Heresy World Eaters/Emperors Children

Instagram: nagrakali_love_songs 
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut





Virginia

Don’t wash your brushes in hot water, it can mess with the glue that holds the brush together.

There's nothing better than using a cheap craft brush to apply washes and have the whole tip fall off into a pallete well full of Aggarax splashing it all over a few models...

From now on I hold cheap brushes by the ferrule.
   
Made in se
Resentful Grot With a Plan






Thank you folks! Reading your posts, I understand that I don't take care of my brushes so well. I hadn't heard of brush soap, and will definitely try it out. Now that I think about it, I often see little pieces of half-dried paint among the bristles, and I'm not particularly good at removing them. Using a different brush to get paint from the pot also sounds good.

   
Made in gb
Thane of Dol Guldur





Bodt

I don't bother with specific brushes for paint transfer, but after every session I clean the brush with the soap. I use masters soap also. Get it nicely among the bristles with a lather, then rinse off.

Heresy World Eaters/Emperors Children

Instagram: nagrakali_love_songs 
   
Made in dk
Stormin' Stompa





Invest in good brushes (W&N series 7). It is worth it.
Wash the paint off of you brush more often than you think.
Once in a while, use a brush soap.

If old, clean thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol once in a while. Remember to use a conditioner after (like normal human hair conditioner). Ask anybody with long hair if you can have some, if you don't yourself.

-------------------------------------------------------
"He died because he had no honor. He had no honor and the Emperor was watching."

18.000 3.500 8.200 3.300 2.400 3.100 5.500 2.500 3.200 3.000


 
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User





Handy tips for beginners like myself

I was wondering about brush soap though - Does anyone use normal hair conditioner to wash their brushes?

I heard someone mention this in a video, basically saying its natural hair with oils etc so the conditioner works well in keeping brushes clean.


   
Made in dk
Stormin' Stompa





 Hythlodaeus wrote:
Handy tips for beginners like myself

I was wondering about brush soap though - Does anyone use normal hair conditioner to wash their brushes?

I heard someone mention this in a video, basically saying its natural hair with oils etc so the conditioner works well in keeping brushes clean.




I use normal hair conditioner, but only after have given a brush an isopropyl alcohol cleaning.
For normal "after-being-done-painting-for-the-day" cleaning, I just use brush soap.

-------------------------------------------------------
"He died because he had no honor. He had no honor and the Emperor was watching."

18.000 3.500 8.200 3.300 2.400 3.100 5.500 2.500 3.200 3.000


 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Virginia

 Hythlodaeus wrote:
Handy tips for beginners like myself

I was wondering about brush soap though - Does anyone use normal hair conditioner to wash their brushes?

I heard someone mention this in a video, basically saying its natural hair with oils etc so the conditioner works well in keeping brushes clean.



Haven't needed it myself. I had a decent #6 brush used for basecoating many months ago that I must not have cleaned well enough, it looked like one of those broad makeup brushes and with a quick wash with Masters brush soap it's back to a normal point. I don't recommend going months before cleaning but it's really good stuff and doesn't reek.

I actually use aluminum foil pushed into the wells of a cheap pallete when painting and one of the six wells is dedicated to rinsing with brush soap. I get a good amount of water in there mixed with brush soap and you'll see lots of color come out of the brush even after multiple swishes in water and drying clear on a paper towel.
   
Made in nl
Inquisitorial Keeper of the Xenobanks






your mind

If I know that I am not going to come back to the painting table for a little while, days, weeks, after final rinsing, I like to take a drip of liquid soap and shape the bush tip. I work the soap through the bristles into the base, and pull the bristles into the shape that I like. I come back later and put it in clean water to begin painting again.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2019/11/28 15:48:37


   
Made in us
Elusive Dryad





I have a few tips to throw in there:

-When rinsing out your brushes after applying paint, take care to not run the bristles along the bottom of the water pot, or to press the paintbrush down so that the bristles bend and spread against the bottom of the water pot.

-In my experience, smaller brushes will wear out much faster than larger ones. Don't use a brush that is unnecessarily small for a bigger application. You risk getting paint into the ferrule and will wear out the bristles faster.

-If you think you're not doing a great job of taking care of your current brushes, I would wait to buy top tier. A careless mistake with an expensive brush can still ruin it.

-No matter how good of care you take care of your brushes, they will wear out eventually. Don't beat yourself up over losing brushes, especially the small ones, faster than you would like.
   
Made in se
Resentful Grot With a Plan






Sorry if this counts as inappropriate thread bumping, I just wanted to feed back a little. Thanks again for the good advice, everyone! My brushes are feeling a lot better now. In my case, I think the most important fault was that I didn't clean the brushes often enough. Also, I had been over-using the same palette (as in never changed it), and it had a sort of rough and grainy surface from all the layers of paint, that I think damaged my brushes.

   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User




Steelmage99 wrote:
 Hythlodaeus wrote:
Handy tips for beginners like myself

I was wondering about brush soap though - Does anyone use normal hair conditioner to wash their brushes?

I heard someone mention this in a video, basically saying its natural hair with oils etc so the conditioner works well in keeping brushes clean.




I use normal hair conditioner, but only after have given a brush an isopropyl alcohol cleaning.
For normal "after-being-done-painting-for-the-day" cleaning, I just use brush soap.


Make-up brush cleaner kills those two birds with one stone.
   
 
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