Paint brush selection

[Richi72]

Hi,

ok so here is my opinion on cheap and expensive brushes and good and bad quality.

over the years i used many different kinds of brushes and have to say,'' go for sable brushes '', most of them are soft and take the paint well enough so you can work with it.

I had some bad experience with revell kind. later I tried the Da vinci Humbrol and Vallejo brushes those are good but then I tried the Windsor and Newton brushes and ''i was blown away of the quality and the way they give of the paint''. I know these are expensive ones but they are worth every penny.

here is what i use my brushes for:

Faces : Windsor & Newton

Clothes : Humbrol Vallejo and Da Vinci

washes : old and cheap

dry brushing : old and cheap

Chipping : Old hard brushes.

As in your case you will need to put on several thin layers of paint build, up to avoid brush strokes i would go with good quality size 3 brush.

Its just my opinion. But i hope it helps.

Cheers Richi

[Guest]

Hi Lynx. Which ever brush you use the most important part is the spring in the hair. To test press it on the table and it will form a nice curve with out spreading and will keep it's tip.

If you use a "sprung" brush you can place it on the starting point and you have to gently press to keep the hairs sprung under pressure which will make it follow the paint line you want it to.

When I first started in an architect's office moons ago all the brushes were the best as painting one eighth scale walls on plan was a delicate job

Laurie

[PaulTRose]

i have a bit of a ritual when it comes to cleaning brushes, especially since i only really use acrylics, i saw it on another forum a loooong time ago when a similar topic was discussed and it seems to work

i rinse in a pot of clean water to remove most, wipe in kitchen paper, (never twist the brush and you gently pull it thro the paper or you will ruin the bristles) then whilst its still in the paper give it a little squirt of air brush cleaner and and gently pull thro again.....repeat til theres no colour being left on the paper.............then dip in water again to rinse and gently pull the brush through your fingers so it reforms the bristles into a 'brush' shape.....dont squeeze it so all the water comes out, idea is to leave it damp so that it will air dry leaving the bristles in the right shape

seems to work as i have brushes that are years old and still perfectly usuable

i always try and buy the decent quality brushes, i like HobbyCrafts range cos theres so much choice.....if i ever go in there or a model shop just to have a look round (normally whilst swmbo is shopping elsewhere i will always buy a paint brush and a pot of paint......not often i buy a kit in a shop but always buying a brush or paint soon builds up a stock of them, and i dont think you can ever have enough brushes

a while back i took a punt by buying a set of 25 random artists brushes on ebay for about a fiver......you didnt know what you were getting, totally random......out of the 25 a few were useless cos of the shape or type but on the whole they have been a good buy.....the synthetic ones have been used for weathering, some of the natural ones are great for detail work

[Guest]

Evening all.

Thank you for all the replys and all the information. I am totally new to this hobby and have so many questions about various topics, that I could probably take up most of your time! Anyway, back to brushes! I have decided to go for the best that I can afford, I found what Laurie was saying about the spring in the brush very interesting and seemed to make sense. I am going out at the weekend and having a look and will test some brushes out.

[eddiesolo]

Evening all.Thank you for all the replys and all the information. I am totally new to this hobby and have so many questions about various topics, that I could probably take up most of your time! Anyway, back to brushes! I have decided to go for the best that I can afford, I found what Laurie was saying about the spring in the brush very interesting and seemed to make sense. I am going out at the weekend and having a look and will test some brushes out.

Nice one, glad we helped. Look forward to viewing your builds...don't be shy...we love piccies.

Si

[tanktrack]

in my humble opinion sable all the way the are a brilliant brush for general and detail painting DO NOT USE for weathering as they are too good and softer than say nylon etc and as the guys say they run from £2 ----- hundreds

[Guest]

Lynx, I don't agree that natural flat brushes are best, using acrylics more appropriate to use synthetic brushes, smt like that

the price is really inexpensive.

[Guest]

......

I rinse in a pot of clean water to remove most, wipe in kitchen paper, (never twist the brush and you gently pull it thro the paper or you will ruin the bristles) then whilst its still in the paper give it a little squirt of air brush cleaner and and gently pull thro again.....repeat til theres no colour being left on the paper.............then dip in water again to rinse and gently pull the brush through your fingers so it reforms the bristles into a 'brush' shape.....dont squeeze it so all the water comes out, idea is to leave it damp so that it will air dry leaving the bristles in the right shape.

....

I use acrylics. My method is to run the brush under the kitchen tap and gently bend the bristles several times, not too much, until no more paint comes out. Then a light dip in some washing-up liquid (on a finger) and again work the brush gently until no more colour comes out. Rinse. Repeat twice more. Then I round my lips and draw the bristles out, to keep them together. It is surprising how much paint comes out when the washing-up liquid is used.

Drawing the bristles between the lips was done by factory workers painting radio-luminescent paint on to clock dials. Many died of cancer! It is interesting how in all crafts people use so many different ways to achieve their objective.

[stona]

I use a range of Winsor and Newton brushes designed for acrylic artists, though I'm using them with enamel paints.

This brush must be several years old:



These are neither the cheapest (nor the most expensive) brushes, but they are of a very good quality. This one is a little ragged but still has a decent point after all this time and use.



At the end of the day I think you get what you pay for.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

I use acrylics. My method is to run the brush under the kitchen tap and gently bend the bristles several times, not too much, until no more paint comes out. Then a light dip in some washing-up liquid (on a finger) and again work the brush gently until no more colour comes out. Rinse. Repeat twice more. Then I round my lips and draw the bristles out, to keep them together. It is surprising how much paint comes out when the washing-up liquid is used.Drawing the bristles between the lips was done by factory workers painting radio-luminescent paint on to clock dials. Many died of cancer! It is interesting how in all crafts people use so many different ways to achieve their objective.

I use acrylics and I am prone to leaving brushes to long before washing. Now got a nice little unit. This suspends the brush above the bottom of the jar ie it does not spoil the end. Use Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner and this removes all the junk in the stock over night.

after rinsing with fresh water I place the brush between moist lips and gently roll until I get a nice point.

Laurie

[aaron]

Grab a set of Tamiya brushes.Ive used the 3 set for years.