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So im trying to ease myself into the painting part of this hobby and would like to get a set of brushes to get started on my models. I'd love to grab the "essential" set from GW's website, but DAMN is that stuff pricey.

I'm sure I could find a similar set of brushes for less than half the amount GW asks for, but I'm new to this sort of thing and don't know where to look or what exactly to look for, and i was hoping someone could point me the right direction.

A lot of people will advise spending a ton on brushes, but I say just go to your local art/craft store, and buy a pack of various sizes and types. Not cheap and nasty ones, but at the same time, you probably needn't pay more than $2-3 per brush, especially just starting out.

If you're just starting out, Paradigm's advice is good. As you get better, and if you find you're going to be in it for the long haul, you'll need quality brushes at some point. The biggest thing to be aware of is that synthetic bristles and acrylic paint don't mix. Synthetic is fine for oil, watercolor and enamel. With acrylics, though, the tip of the brush will end up curling, or sometimes forking. You can't prevent it, and you can't fix it. Natural hair bristles won't be affected by acrylics, so at some point, that's what you'll need.

Looking at it from a cost perspective, you'll end up spending far more money constantly replacing synthetics, versus spending the money on a couple of quality sable or kolinsky brushes. Your sable or kolinsky brushes, with proper care and cleaning with a good brush soap, like The Masters, will literally last for years. I'm still using a Raphael 8404 size 0 that's at least six years old. And trust me, it has many, many hours of painting on it.

So my advice is this: Buy some decent, inexpensive brushes to start, but after you've replaced them a couple of times, spend the $10-$15 each on some good quality sable or kolinsky brushes, and forget about needing to replace brushes for a long, long time. It's cheaper in the end, anyway. A good source here in the states is Dick Blick.

http://www.dickblick.com/

Forgot to add: To get started, a size 1 and size 0, with possibly a size 00, should cover it all.

Ultra Grey wrote:
If you're just starting out, Paradigm's advice is good. As you get better, and if you find you're going to be in it for the long haul, you'll need quality brushes at some point. The biggest thing to be aware of is that synthetic bristles and acrylic paint don't mix. Synthetic is fine for oil, watercolor and enamel. With acrylics, though, the tip of the brush will end up curling, or sometimes forking. You can't prevent it, and you can't fix it. Natural hair bristles won't be affected by acrylics, so at some point, that's what you'll need.

Looking at it from a cost perspective, you'll end up spending far more money constantly replacing synthetics, versus spending the money on a couple of quality sable or kolinsky brushes. Your sable or kolinsky brushes, with proper care and cleaning with a good brush soap, like The Masters, will literally last for years. I'm still using a Raphael 8404 size 0 that's at least six years old. And trust me, it has many, many hours of painting on it.

So my advice is this: Buy some decent, inexpensive brushes to start, but after you've replaced them a couple of times, spend the $10-$15 each on some good quality sable or kolinsky brushes, and forget about needing to replace brushes for a long, long time. It's cheaper in the end, anyway. A good source here in the states is Dick Blick.

http://www.dickblick.com/

Forgot to add: To get started, a size 1 and size 0, with possibly a size 00, should cover it all.

Thanks a lot, that really covers all that I was looking for.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
forgot to ask, if I were to get say 3-4 brushes, what sizes should they be? sizes 1, 0, and 00 have been suggested to me, but what about for coating the base and shading?

 Dtox wrote:
but what about for coating the base and shading?

I'm assuming you're talking about applying the base coat to the model and washing? If so, a size 1 round for both. For vehicles, you will likely need something bigger, and I actually use a rather large blending (or "chisel") brush. With properly thinned paint, and working quickly, I get a smooth as glass finish on large, flat surfaces.

Hobby shops have cheap synthetic brush sets, like those made by PMX or Royal, that are worth looking at. Typically, you get a mixture of round brushes and flat brushes. The larger round brushes are helpful for washes/shades, and the flat brushes are good for basecoating. I still buy these sets to get cheap brushes at a good price, because I always find uses for cheap brushes

The most important thing about really expensive brushes is that they last much longer (and therefore give you savings); but to realize that, you must take diligent care of them. Practically speaking, in my opinion, when you start out, they're not going to produce better painted models. If anything, stiffer, springier synthetic brushes are easier to use when you start out.

That priority changes as you become more experienced, and you're looking for other qualities in a brush, like a fine point, or holding more paint.

What a friend of mine does is he buys a load of cheap synthetic brushes off ebay and just throws them once they start going bad. I've been given some and for how cheap they are they are amazing to paint with, obviously they don't last too long but they are great while they last.

I'd suggest having a couple of nice proper brushes, and a bunch of cheap synthetics as expendables for when you're feeling lazy, or for doing metallics.

Ultra Grey wrote:

 Dtox wrote:
but what about for coating the base and shading?

I'm assuming you're talking about applying the base coat to the model and washing? If so, a size 1 round for both. For vehicles, you will likely need something bigger, and I actually use a rather large blending (or "chisel") brush. With properly thinned paint, and working quickly, I get a smooth as glass finish on large, flat surfaces.

Alright cool, didnt know that.

And what exactly is washing?

vundere wrote:
I'd suggest having a couple of nice proper brushes, and a bunch of cheap synthetics as expendables for when you're feeling lazy, or for doing metallics.

This is the best advice to be honest.

I have a ton of gw brushes that are ordinary at best, and they are the bulk of my hairy work. I have a few select series 7s and they are for when it matters.

Hobby store bulk pack of hair and synthetic brushes, a couple of $5 brushes from the hobby store for detail, and a single size 1 brush from a good line. You'll be able to do everything, and should get change from $50 for almost as many brushes.

I am in the same position as you and here's what i just discovered and then did.

I bought $5 Synthetic brushes sized 1, 0, 2/0 and 3/0 and quickly realized that cheap synthetic brushes are not great for very fine detail because they don't hold a nice tip. For Base coating and washing they are perfect, but when you start looking at fine detail work, I couldn't do what I wanted to do because the tip kept curling. Can you use them? Sure you can, but it seems to me that if you are really new to this, the more "help" you can get to be neat with it, the better. I'm sure a very skilled artist (which I am not) can paint a miniature perfectly with a toothbrush, but that's not me.

I then went out and bought some good sable kolinsky brushes, but they were a B-Day gift from my wife so the expense was incorporated into that. I only got three sizes though. 0, 2/0 and 3/0. I kept my synthetic brushes for stuff like non-detail work, washes, dry brushing and gluing.

If you decide to get more expensive stuff, you will have to take good care of them. From what I understand, really good quality brushes can last years if properly cared for.

 Dtox wrote:
And what exactly is washing?

everyone's been such a great help, I really appreciate it.

I started off with a variety of cheap synthetic brushes.
I would suggest getting a multitude of sizes (cheap!!!!) my reason being that certain shapes and sizes you may start to prefer for certain tasks.
I would also suggest looking at thin vs thick handles and see what gives better comfort / control.

I look at the brush type for it's uses:
- Large flat and wide for large models and flat surfaces like vehicles.
- Thick and flat for dry brushing.
- Thin and flat for edge highlighting.
- Thick and round for "block painting" on uneven surfaces.
- Long thin hair brushes are good for straight free-hand lines.
- The good old "00" or "000" brush for the tiny stuff.

Then for my "go-to" sizes of brushes I started getting the natural hair brushes.
Look into the artist soaps for cleaning.

I tried an experiment a couple years back: I bought the Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Brushes that I kept hearing about, I figured it was just some snooty artist thing.
I did notice a big difference, both in how much they held paint, application and keeping shape... it was unfortunate to find this out because I became spoiled.

There are MANY brushes out there and I think the best advice is just to get really used to a certain common size / shapes and painting goes very well.
I still have an old brush I have babied that the enamel has worn off on the handle down to bare wood, it did get a slight curl to it that I prefer.

I find then you REALLY go down the rabbit hole on how much flow you like to have to your paint or wash which gets into all kinds of discussions on paint.

My best advice ever is really keep the metallic paints and normal separate: different brushes and water cups, some models should not look like they put on glitter to go out to the club.

(Prime black, grey or white???)

Good luck.

My only suggestion to add to what others are saying here is get a #2 as well (round).

It's good for brush on primer, if you do that, but more importantly, basecoating most things (not tanks!)

Grumbacher galleria (hog hair) is a fairly inexpensive brush series, Newton Cotman (synthetic tho), those are two I've used to start out (well, actually already had for other stuff).

stuff like the W&N series 7 (the nicer sable) are very good - when you're ready. Until then, just shop around and find what works for you.

I just scored a good deal at my local surplus store. I picked all of these up for $1.75-2 a piece:




9 brushes for what it would normally cost me for 2 sable brushes (and three of those are sable brushes, too). I'm going to have to make this my new source for brushes! (I'd have preferred them all to be sable than taklon, but these should be fine for menial tasks)

I recently discovered Trekell brushes and I was pleasantly surprised that they offer decent quality brushes for about $5.00 (or less if you want golden taklon). I bought sizes 0, 1, & 2 before Thanksgiving and they're still going strong. Link for those who are interested: http://www.trekell.com/Brushes_c_110.html

 General_K wrote:
I just scored a good deal at my local surplus store. I picked all of these up for $1.75-2 a piece:

Yeah, this is just the kind of assortment to get for pretty much any task.
I find I have a bit of a brush habit and they have built up a bit, I really should sort them.
I usually buy the gazillion craft/kids art brushes for applying glue and these types have a little spatula on the end: good for mixing and things but best of all super cheap:

Evilbay is a neverending source of cheap brushes..

For cheap brushes that have served me well I can recommend :

Royal and Langknickel - mini majestic range

Windsor and Newton - cotman round range

Army painter - wargammer range

I like a combo of 3 types of brush:

Kolinsky Miniature Sable Brushes -- for when you need stuff to be precise and perfect -- 1, 0, 00 as mentioned. Take good care of them.

Army Painter -- these are budget brushes but are handy if you just need to get some paint on the model. They do a drybrushing brush which is pretty nifty. Use them where you might damage the Kolinskys.

Cheap brushes from discount stores, for terrain, glue, etc.

Brushes are generally safe to buy as long as you're buying the right size. Just feel it first and make sure it's not plastic bristles or something.

What you'll want to be careful about is buying regular paint. Do not buy any paint that is not for miniature painting.

The highest quality brand I've heard of is Vallejo, but if all you have access to is Citadel and P3, don't feel like they're not worth it, because they are.

 Quarterdime wrote:
Brushes are generally safe to buy as long as you're buying the right size. Just feel it first and make sure it's not plastic bristles or something.

What you'll want to be careful about is buying regular paint. Do not buy any paint that is not for miniature painting.

The highest quality brand I've heard of is Vallejo, but if all you have access to is Citadel and P3, don't feel like they're not worth it, because they are.

Tamiya paints have very fine pigments, but their paints, at least the clear ones, are not regular acrylics like Citadel etc., they contain iso and whatnot, so they're a bit different in use. Also means that VOCs are probably going to be a problem if running them through an airbrush, but they are very good for that due to their fine pigments.
I've also heard that other asian brands are similar in quality, although I can't recall much else about that right now.

Windsor and Newton 7 Series Size 0...

Trust me buy once and skip the crappy bush step.. Wish I did.

Use a cheap brush for washes though.

Ive used lots, but my Scharff size 1 fine point is truly fantastic.

One thing you'll quickly realize is that you don't need that many different types of brushes. Personally there are only two brushes I use daily: an old crappy brush for mixing and thinning paint, and a size 2 sable hair brush for painting. A good brush will hold a fine enough tip that you'll even be able to edge highlight with a size 2. I have some size 1 W&N brushes, but I find that I rarely need to use them, except when I'm really getting serious about some detail on a model. The size 2 brush cost about a third what the W&N did, but works just as well for most basic jobs (basecoating, washing, highlighting). I then have about 20 other brushes, including flat ones, tiny ones, huge ones etc, but they don't see much use outside of terrain or vehicle painting. The tiny ones especially are pretty much useless since the size 1 W&N have such an amazing tip. When I started out I bought size 0, 3/0, 4/0 and even 10/0, but trust me, you'll practically never need to use anything smaller than a size 1 if it's a good enough brush. I paint pupils with the size 1.