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Hi,

Before I make a fool of myself, I have just bought an Artis Opus No.3 size brush from Element Games, I have a question about this brush.

Used Element a lot and find their orders arrive in a timely fashion and usually packed very well.

Just received my order and opened it to find the brush was packed loose in the box, no tape around the plastic guard and of course, the guard has come off during transit. the tip was somewhat bent and a few hairs were splayed. If it was a GW brush I'd be like, ok /shrug, wet it tease it back into shape and use it.

My question is, having teased it to a point with some water and simply brushed it against some paper should it form a 'perfect' tip with no bend ?

If you brush it one way the tip remains straight. rotate it in your grip by a few degrees and it comes away with a bit of a bend to it. Also it forms a snakes tongue shape after a few strokes... a tiny one but is that because there is no paint on it to bind it? I'm no expert so let me know if this is fine?

Cheers.

Images added - Apologies as they are pretty big!

I'm no expert on artist opus but I do use kolinskiy brushes all the time and this is pretty common though perhaps disappointing. There are ways to help with this and namely by twirling your brush a tiny bit while picking up paint. Forms the tip better when you do.

If it's a common thing, then I'm not about to kick up a fuss... though it is a tiny bit disappointing. Thank you for the tip - started brush painting again only a few days ago, so little tips like that are so helpful!

I've never had a good/expensive brush do this. I wouldn't tolerate it either. The curve you might be able to work around but forking is unacceptable - it'll just make your painting far harder than it has to be. No quality brush should be so disrespected as to be shipped without adequate packaging by a reputable seller.

If that was my order I would send it back, with a complaint about the packaging & damage. Buy from a fine arts store if you can. Often less expensive and better quality, plus you can inspect the hairs before purchasing.

I agree, contact element and tell them it wasn’t packaged properly and the bristles have been splayed and bent. Considering the price of these brushes I’d be surprised if they argued.

If your buying artist opus brushes you supposed to be getting A++++ quality

Well...

Thanks for the other replies. I took your advice, as I'd like to be 100% happy with an expensive brush and contacted Element Games. I explained how it had arrived and without even having to ask what they would advise, they immediately apologised and said they would dispatch a brand new one FoC. Amazing customer service from them. Apparently they are meant to be bubble wrapped when shipped, but this one obviously slipped the net; mistakes happen, but it's great when it is sorted without any real hassle.

Thanks again for your advice!

Great news

*thumbs up*
No less than what I'd expect for a premium priced brush. It's different if you're buying a 20-pack of taklons or something, if one is messed up oh well. But these are far from cheap.

On the upside, you now have a decent extra base coating / wash brush for low fidelity tasks.

SquealMcSqueal wrote:
Well...

Thanks for the other replies. I took your advice, as I'd like to be 100% happy with an expensive brush and contacted Element Games. I explained how it had arrived and without even having to ask what they would advise, they immediately apologised and said they would dispatch a brand new one FoC. Amazing customer service from them. Apparently they are meant to be bubble wrapped when shipped, but this one obviously slipped the net; mistakes happen, but it's great when it is sorted without any real hassle.

Thanks again for your advice!

Pretty good customer service, cheers to Element. In your case I'd try using this first brush and see what happens with actual paint on it. If it doesn't work out that well, you have an extra basecoating brush.

Replacement just arrived

Wrapped securely and possesses a rather good tip, can't wait to use it on my Raptors! As you say, I also now have an extra wash brush... it does fork (ever so slightly) with very small amounts of paint on the bristles. So back to getting on with my painting