The Commander Series Forum

Hi
Can anyone give me some advice on what paint brushes to use for 10mm WW2. I'm just about to begin painting up my British and German NW Europe forces, so advice on brush size and type for vehicles and troops would be most welcome.

Kind regards

Try Jacksons Art Supplies:

www.jacksonsart.co.uk

Try their Escoda 1212 range, reasonably priced and excellent quality sables. The very best brushes are the Da Vinci Maestro 35 and the Isabey range; expensive, but worth every penny.

Windsor and Newton Series 7 are the best I have used but expensive, Red Sable Kolinsky from Vallejo are quite good and cheaper.

I used a short size 2 for figs and a size 3 for vechiles and the cleaning them with artists brush cleaner has made a world of differnce in keeping them in top nick.

I find a size 2 brush a good size. Kolinsky sable at around £2.50 are good -- and worth the extra money.

A size 1 or 0 is handy for details. But a big(ish) brush is much easier to work with as the paint won't dry too quickly on it.

Cheap nylon brushes will end up with a bent point in no time at all -- but they are good for dry brushing if you cut them down a bit.

Dean: I don't know what your recent experience with W&N series 7 is like, but my friend, who is a professional figure painter, has had some dodgy brushes from them recently. The tips splitting into multiple tips and also depositing big blobs of water on the figure he is painting! I have experienced the splitting of the tip as well, he now uses Isabay and can't praise them enough.

The artists brush cleaner is a good tip as it really does prolong the life of your brushes, especially if you use acrylics which tend to destroy brushes in quick order.

Sorry to hear about that. All I can say is that I got my series 7 about 4 months ago from Anteociti's. The cost had always put me off. Since I got them I’ve painted a complete Russian battlegroup for BKC, appox 40 15mm vehicles and I’m about 2/3 of the way through a 500 fig 20mm Russian Crimean War commission and the brushes have been great. Using proper brush soap keeps them in really good order and I would seriously say to any one who has never used it to get some. The amount of paint that came out of what were “clean” brushes was amazing.

The brushes I’ve been using are the W&N Series 7 Miniature the actual brush is about the 1/3 of the length of the normal brush and so I find they are very good with smaller scales.

The Miniature series are still as good as ever, it is the normal series that are 'playing up' at the moment. I agree that the Miniature range are really good for fine detail work, you seem to have more control over the paint. I would recommend the DaVinci series though, they are about the same price as W&N but go to a finer point. Next time you buy brushes give one a try, you won't be dissapointed.

I've always found it worth it to not cut costs on paint brushes. An excellent quality brush should always readily go to a nice point or flat edge and will not lose hairs easily.

A few things I do to help preserve my brushes:
*When painting, let the brush do the work. That is, don't overload the brush with paint and don't use too much pressure when painting.
*After use, wash it in warm soapy water (not hot because that will loosen the glue that holds the bristles in place.
*After I've washed the brush, I lick the bristles to help them hold their natural shape until their next use (perhaps not the most hygenic of practices but I'm the only one who uses them)

Doesnt everyone lick their brushes? Im sure they put some addictive chemicals in the paint.

If I haven't got paint on my bottom lip and haven't taken at least one big swig of my painting water thinking it was a mug of tea, then I dont feel I have had a good painting session!

I do make sure I have a supply of cheap craft brushes for basing and the like.

I also cheat with vehicles: The base colour comes from a spray can.

The cheap brushes I use for dry brushing and gluing where I don't feel guilty about abusing them.

Lentulus, I'm with you on that. It's why most of my figures are American and I've spray bombed them with olive drab. A bit of dark grey/black for the tracks, a dip in some dark wash for shadows, and some drybrushing with a yellow brown (especially in the lower parts), and they are pretty much good to go.

Siggian and Serotonin; In my local Games Workshop some years ago I looked on with horror at the painting table as several young folk were using the same pot of water and each one was licking their brushes, I pointed out to the manager that the pot was now a great culture vat for various bacteria and viruses, yuk! I haven't drunk my painting water yet (I suppose their is still time), but I have used tea to dilute paint before now.

I learned that trick in university when I was taking painting classes (yeah, so it turns out my degree in Art and Art History has not been completely useless after all) but as I was dealing with oil paint and turpentine at the time, my licking of brushes was strictly limited to the clean up and to my brushes only.

I don't understand why you'd want to lick your brush while painting. If it is a good quality brush, it should automatically go to a good shape after you dip it into water (or whatever you are using as thinner).

I'm with you Siggian, I never lick my brushes and have never understood why people do. With my early years taken up with figure painting rather than wargaming and most figure painters used artists oils (which include the highly toxic cadmium based colours), I never saw anyone lick a brush. I can only conclude it is a wargamer based habit as I only came across it when my son started wargaming at Games Workshop. Perhaps this is one of the worlds great mysteries, who, where and why did they start licking brushes. Anyone out there know?

Eventually got around to ordering some quality brushes and taking Tostig's advice ordered a couple of Escoda 1212 brushes from Jackson Art Supplies. Didn't really know what I was missing until I used them this morning - awesome; thanks Tostig .

The speed of service was excellent too - ordered Sunday afternoon and they were with me Tuesday AM via their normal mail service - will certainly be shopping there again.

Glad you got sorted. Jackson Art Supplies are a fine company, always reliable, I never use anyone else.

Da Vinci Maestro rocks , well said Tostig.

Besides, fellow gamers, keep in mind that a cheap brush thet will bend its point / spread its hairs in no time , in the end turns out to be an expensive buy, whatever the cost.

Cheerio

* that

As a miniaturepainter I always use Windsor and Newton Series 7 for me the best choice. I have some W&N that are 20 years old and are still in very good shape.

Wash your brush with a mild soap before you start using it and again when you have a painting block for a few weeks. It helps to prolong the life of your expensive, but o so exelent brush.

Well, I use daVinci Nova Synthetics brushes. They offer a large range of sizes and are reasonably priced.

daVinci nova synthetics , I have quite a few. Good for routine chores , so to say. Bad for precision work , as its tip tends to bend rather quickly.

I have been using some Raphael brushes recently, about the same price as W&N series 7, but more body to the brush. They carry more paint and go down to a nice point. Recommended.

Thanks Tostig. I see they sell these at Jackson Art Supplies. Is it the Kolinsky Red Sable you use and if so what sizes?

Hi Grundig, the Raphael brushes are series 8404. I am using a size 0, which is about the same size as a 1, or even a 2, in some other series. As an aside the painters at the Rackham studios use Raphael to produce their exquisite paint jobs. I am not saying they will make you paint like them, but they obviously use them for their quality.

Thanks Tostig, I'll give them a go and see how I get on. You never know it may improve my standard