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Hi DakkaDakka!

I'm in search of paint brushes - plain and simple. I've used and abused GW's now for a couple of years and recently started using winsor newton. Just so I don't go broke buying brushes trying to find the 'right' ones could I get input on what sizes and manufacturers you all use? The smallest winsor newton I own is a size 1. I'm finding it difficult to do the kind of detail work that I see on the GW box art which I can only attribute to the size of the brush. I really don't think the folks at GW are actually using their own brushes.

Size 1 is pretty large for many models. I use a size 0 and occasionally 00 for very fine detail. You can go smaller, but that's a bit too much for me.

GW brushes are not too bad actually, the fine detail brush is good as long as you are careful which one you pick out the tub when buying.

Here is a great comparison with pictures so you can get a good feel for sizes between the W&N vs Raphael 8404s

As an aside he sells the Raphael's so there is a bit of bias but the size comparisons are spot on.

http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=7

I use a few different styles and sizes.

Round - general area coverage
Liner - most detail
Small Round or Spotter - tiny stuff (rarely used)

Here is my current "active" selection:
Master's Touch Liner 1
Royal & Langnickel Round 4
Princeton Select Round 2
Royal & Langnickel Round 3
Royal & Langnickel Round 000 (more of a spotter than a round imho)

 darefsky wrote:
Here is a great comparison with pictures so you can get a good feel for sizes between the W&N vs Raphael 8404s

As an aside he sells the Raphael's so there is a bit of bias but the size comparisons are spot on.

http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=7

It could be considered bias, but he does set the facts there in comparing the two brands. I started off with Winsor and Newtons and when I switched over to Raphaels, there is definitely a big difference in feel between the two. I greatly prefer Raphaels over W&N's now.

For the majority of your painting, size 0 round fits the bill. W&N, Raphael, Divinci and others all make nice Kolinskis that will make painting a joy. There are size differences between different companies size 0, but they all work. Which brand you use is personal preference. For the record, my main brush is a Raph 8404 "0", and I recently picked up a W&N Series 7 Miniature size 0. I've been digging it for scripting, jewels and all the little details.

 itsacoyote wrote:

 darefsky wrote:
Here is a great comparison with pictures so you can get a good feel for sizes between the W&N vs Raphael 8404s

As an aside he sells the Raphael's so there is a bit of bias but the size comparisons are spot on.

http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=7

It could be considered bias, but he does set the facts there in comparing the two brands. I started off with Winsor and Newtons and when I switched over to Raphaels, there is definitely a big difference in feel between the two. I greatly prefer Raphaels over W&N's now.

Agreed I just put the bias part in there for full disclosure. I use a Raphael 0 and 1 as well and love them, but I haven't tried a W&S yet.

I've used a large variety of brushes as they seem to come in and out of availability with retailers over the years. Just recently gave the Army Painter brushes a try and they really are amazing and don't seem to crust up with paint like other brushed do.

Sizes 4 and downwards are all I really use on models. If a 4 is too small for the job, airbrush would probably be used

With The W&N series 7 the size of the brush has little bearing on the detail achievable as they all have magnificent points, its the amount of colour they hold that changes mostly I find.

I've used all sorts of brushes over the years and have been generally happy to use GW brushes until fairly recently, but since the most recent change in paintbrush specification from GW I have started to feel they're overpriced for what you get.

There are several that you'll see a lot of recommendations for: W&N 7's (excellent but pricey) and also the Raphael ones that crop up in comments from some very well respected painters so they are probably also worth a look (not used them myself as they are tricky to get hold of where I live) I've also used some of the army painter brushes (ok, but nothing special imo)

Recently I've discovered a really good source of very high quality brushes at very reasonable prices- Rosemary&Co http://www.rosemaryandco.com/

For most mini painting jobs I've been using Series 33's in various sizes from 10/0 (wouldn't bother going this small again tbh- too difficult to keep paint wet on the brush long enough to use!) up to size 2 with my go-to brush being a size 1. They also do a series 332 which is basically a fairly normal size brush with an extended very fine point which I find handy for things like eyes etc where you need the paint to flow smoothly but from a very fine tip. They also do a range of non-sable, synthetic brushes for less than £2 (series 301) that I use for things like mixing paint and transferring paint from pots to a palette so I don't use my good kolinsky points for those tasks as it wears them faster than actual painting.

As well as being great brushes, the service I've had has been second to none and it's a small enough company for the actual Rosemary from the company name to answer my e-mail when I had a query about the best type of brush for drybrushing! (series 77 in case you're interested)

hth

I've used the Series 7's along with a variety of synthetics for the less demanding (or more brush-damaging) work. I haven't tried the Raphael 8404's yet, but will probably add one to my next Dick Blick order. The Rosemary brushes have a great rep, but I haven't found a reasonable way to buy them in the States.

As for the S7's, I think the most important thing is that you don't want the Miniature Series for general painting - they simply hold far too little paint and dry out too quickly. I didn't know any better when I first bought good brushes and got a 3/0M, 0M, and 2M. The 3/0M was the only useful purchase there, as I usually use it for painting eyeballs and such where control is paramount and I need very little paint. I've struggled along with the 0M, annoyed at how often I need to reload it, and finally bought a regular 0 to replace it this week. I'll likely still use the 0M for certain kinds of fine details, but probably not too often. I bought a regular 1 a while back and since receiving that I don't think I've even picked up the 2M. I probably "should" replace the 2M with a 2, but I hate spending another $20 that way.

So yeah... don't buy the Miniature S7's except for special-purpose detailing brushes. If I were to recommend a good S7 set to a new painter, I'd say to get a 3/0M, 0, and 2 - that's a solid brush set for your sensitive work without being outrageously expensive. Maybe expect to add a 1 eventually. I don't think you need bigger top-quality brushes than that unless you brush-paint a lot of Dreadnoughts, vehicles, and such to very high standards (in which case you probably want an airbrush anyway). A decent synthetic 3 or 4 (I like the Princeton 6150's) is good enough for me, and far cheaper than a Kolinsky 3.

tppytel wrote:
I haven't tried the Raphael 8404's yet, but will probably add one to my next Dick Blick order.

I think you'll be happy with it. I've been painting for closer to 40 years than 30, and I've spent a fair few $$$ on W&N brushes in that time. They always have been, and always will be, a company I feel good spending money with. However, the extra paint (which is considerable) the Raph holds vs. the W&N S7 is a big plus. It feels like you're painting forever before you have to reload the brush.