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Hey dakites,

I have been searching ever since I started 40k to find a good paintbrush. I need a fine detail brush and I cannot find a good one that will last me more than a month. Can anyone tell me what brand is good and where I can find it? Also to all of you TAU PLAYERS out there, where can I find more Tau drones? The only ones that I can find are the gun and sniper drones. I know that there are loads more but I can't find them. Any advice?

Thanks,

PenguinParsons

Shield Drones only come with a couple of the characters, and Marker Light Drones only come one per pack of Stealth Suits.

A good way to get my Shield Drones if you have a bunch of the extra shield units that come with your Crisis Suits is to replace the guns on the bottom of a drone with one of those, then drill a hole for the flight stand, and presto, plastic Shield Drone.

As far as brushes, my recently favorite has been Atlas Brushes that I found at a local Hobby Haven store.

winsor and newton series 7 size 0, 00 or even 000 are about as perfect as you can get for acrylics and miniature painting. They used to provide the red handle brushes to GW using one of their lesser ranges, but the series 7 brushes are their best available for painting miniatures and are vastly superior. They cost about £7 each but are worth every penny. None of mine have lost their point yet after 2 years of painting at least once a week.

Brush won't last more than a month? What do you do to maintain them? Don't let the paint get down to the base of the brush, and keep them clean and shaped to a point when not in use. I use cheapo no-name brand brushes and they last longer than a month if you take care of them.

I am posting to second brush preventative maintenance. Keeping your brushes clean and in shape will increase their life-span longer then any "quality" brush. If you don't keep them properly, it doesn't matter how much you spent on them or what brand you bought.

I also use cheap brushes & have gotten lots of use w/care & I use enamels. I've gotten 10/0 brushes in the craft section of wal-mart & the local dollar store.

I purchase sable brushes from Michael's Arts, Crafts and Other Girliness store. They work very well and last. Brush maintenance is important, but there's a trick I use.

The Master's Brush Cleaner.

I also get that at Michael's (and I'm assuming you can get it at many art supply stores). It comes in a small dish, about shoe-polish sized, and has an old-timey font. To use it, simply wet your brush and brush it back and forth, dragging the entire length of the bristles across the cleaner. It foams up a bit, and just rinse and repeat until the brush is fully clean. I've resurrected brutally battered drybrushes to a "new" status with a perfect point using this stuff, and it does get dried paint out of the base of the brush as well. Give it a shot; if I remember correctly, it's about $8 USD.

Oh, and markerlight drones only seem to come with the new Stealth Suits (the plastic, not the metal). You can get 'em from Battlewagon Bitz (and other bitz providers may have them as well).

PenguinParsons wrote:Hey dakites,

I have been searching ever since I started 40k to find a good paintbrush. I need a fine detail brush and I cannot find a good one that will last me more than a month. Can anyone tell me what brand is good and where I can find it? Also to all of you TAU PLAYERS out there, where can I find more Tau drones? The only ones that I can find are the gun and sniper drones. I know that there are loads more but I can't find them. Any advice?

Thanks,

PenguinParsons

I think a few people have asked, but I need to ask as well.

How do you maintain your brushes?

do you let paint get into the barrel? if so, that's why your brushes won't last long.

do you jab your brush into crevises to get color on your models? if so, that's another reason why they won't last long.

do you have seperate brushes for dry brushing or for using additives? if so, that's another reason they won't last long.

The Don'ts of Brush Care

Don't dip a dry brush into paint. In a natural hair brush, especially, it is best to dip the brush first into medium or water. This distributes the natural oils, allowing each hair to respond fully.
Don't use strong paint solvent, lacquer thinner, shellac remover or acetone to clean brushes. These can dissolve the setting compounds which hold the hairs in place.
Don't soak your brushes overnight resting on their ends. This bends the hairs or bristles permanently out of shape and can cause wooden handles to swell and loosen the ferrule.
Don't let brushes dry on a heating element. The brush hairs can lose their natural oils and the wood handle is subject to shrinkage.
Don't use the same brush for different painting media.
Don't use a brush to mix paints on your palette. Use the back of your paintbrush or a popsicle stick.
One main point can be stressed for all brushes: if paint is left to dry in a brush, a solid mass will form in the brush heel (near the ferrule) and will be impossible to remove. Eventually, the brush hairs will be impaired beyond use. This process a particularly important with Oriental brushes, which often contain wool hairs. Swishing the brush for several minutes in a very weak solution of watery ink makes the brush hairs more recpetive.

Watercolor Brushes

Watercolorists can ensure the longevitiy of fine kolinsky sable brushes by using them only for watercolors.
Do not use the same brushes for gouache, India ink, acrylic, casein or other media.
Delegate one brush for use with whites, as this color is difficult to remove from brush hairs- especially Chinese White.
Do not use a kolinsky sable for rejuvenating dry watercolors on your palette. A stiff natural or synthetic bristle brush is better suited for this task and can withstand the scrubbing.
To clean, wash brushes after use in cool water. Do not use soap, as it dries out the natural oils in the brush hairs.
Shake any excess water from the brush.
"Dress" the brush by wiping it against a paper towel or between your fingers to bring it to its natural shape.
A brush soap like Masters Brush Cleaner can be used once or twice a year to recondition brush hairs, replenish their natural oils and for brush "dressing".
http://www.allartsupplies.com/item.php?articleId=2006&PHPSESSID=a68fc009a0edf4300920ec8f0ac49216
http://www.allartsupplies.com/item.php?articleId=1180
http://www.allartsupplies.com/item.php?articleId=2012


Acrylic Brushes
It is important to clean acrylic brushes immediately after a painting session is over. Acrylics are rapid driers and form a rock-hard mass very quickly. For intermittent work, use a brush washer which suspends the brush in water, preventing them from resting on their hairs. For cleaning, follow steps 3-5 under oil brushes.

Brush Drying and Storage
Brushes should be dried in a horizontal position or in a suspended vertical position with tips down. If left to dry in an upright position with the hair ends up, excess moisture runs down into the ferrule causing swelling of the wood handle and chipping it of its enamel finish.

Hope that helps some.

I use cheap brushes from wallmart for most of the "grunt" work, then switch to some more expensive brushes for the details. All of which I've only replaced one brush in the last years. The cheap brushes work well, and I think I only paid maybe $1 each for them. I agree with everybody talking about proper cleaning and maintenance.

I have used an Imex brand detail brush for almost a year now as a detail/general use brush, and only recently did it start to lose it's point. I painted a huge pile of mini's in this time.
I replaced it with some Reaper Kolisky brushes, and those are also working very well for me.

Otherwise, I have a pile of cheap Wal-Mart type brushes I keep around for grunt work like digging into crevasses and other unpleasant tasks. The main trouble I have with them is that the ends tend to curl, though that can be useful in it's own right.

I want to second the recommendation of the Masters Brush Cleaner. It does a great job, and a single tub will last you forever. It's a great way to keep your investment up.

As for actual brushes, I've used plenty. Cheap walmart brushes like Plaid are great for grunt work, stippling, and they hold their point long enough for the 10/0's to be decent at dotting eyes and the like. Even with proper care, acrylic brushes have a life span, however.

I have a couple of what I can only assume are old Citadel brushes that I got second hand, and they're actually really nice. I've had the brush for about 5 years, and the previous owner had it for years before that, and that little guy still holds a point.

My current favorites are Floquil Golden or Silver Fox hair brushes for really fine points. I recieved them as gifts for christmas, and I'm enjoying them.

In general, animal hair brushes last longer, as they have natural oils (which proper brush care will maintain and replenish).

However, to repeat what's been said: if you're only getting a month out of your brushes, it's probably you and not them.

I am a huge fan of the W&N series 7, and (don't hate me) my Citadel Masterclass brush set

but, as many have pointed out, brush care is essential.
I am still using citadel Red brushes I bought over 10 years ago.
Cold water, and a moisturising hand soap to clean them, and they still hold a fine tip

Don't know much about the drones you're looking for, but can add a little in the way of brushes.

I've bought numerous brushes over the years, and once I began to take care of them, they began to last longer.

For mixing, drybrushing, etc. I use uber-cheap Wal-Mart brushes.

A couple of years ago I picked up some red sable brushes fairly cheaply from Fernando Enterprises http://www.miniaturelovers.com/online_products/products_brush.html?type=13

I basically follow the guidelines given by everyone else and haven't had to retire one in almost two years.

I still, however, buy the occasional nylon Leow-Cornell package of 4 or 5 brushes when Hobby Lobby has them on sale.

Normally priced $3.99 but usually can get them 30-40% off.