GW BRUSHES... natural hair... bad?

Not true. Synthetic brushes in a sense are "tougher" however due to their toughness they tend to curl at the tips rather than break off as natural hair will do. So in that sense they are not as good.

There are different degrees of quality in natural hair brushes with kolinsky brushes being on the upper end of quality.

That said both brushes can be used equally as well. You can get a synthetic brush or natural hair brush to last a good long time. A lot of this has to do with how well you treat your brushes. The less care you have the more likely you will damage your brushes.

Cheers,

-Mike

I blew some money on a few high quality (supposedly) synthetic brushes that curled within a few hours use. I've not had that problem at since I bought some Kolinsky's. Many people give high props to the Winsor & Newton "Series 7", but I went to buy one the other day and it was $17 at Southern Paint while the Winsor & Newton "Cirrus" brushes right next to them which is also Kolinsky was only $6. Go figure, i buy the Cirrus.

I dont find that the series 7 brushes are really expensive.THey around twice the price of a GW brush of the same size, but are so much better. They last longer if you care for them properly, and the bristles dont seem to split or splay as easily.

Tygra

I recently switched to Valejo brushes, They tend to use a "Sable" haired brush that
retains more mositure and grabs up more paint, also I like the feel compared to
GW. GW seems to me to be more *Brittle stroke* as persay Valejo, and valejo
I've found has alot more quality to them. If you think you might want to switch
to valejo price it out first, they sell kits around 21$ for three brushes. I decided
to buy two wide range kits from 00 - 2.0 I've had tons of fun with them and have
been able to go into more detail sine the gw brushes dont have a broader range.

NonstickRon said:

I blew some money on a few high quality (supposedly) synthetic brushes that curled within a few hours use. I've not had that problem at since I bought some Kolinsky's. Many people give high props to the Winsor & Newton "Series 7", but I went to buy one the other day and it was $17 at Southern Paint while the Winsor & Newton "Cirrus" brushes right next to them which is also Kolinsky was only $6. Go figure, i buy the Cirrus.

Click to expand...

I am still using the two series 7 brushes that I started using roughly 4 years ago and they are still in very good working order. You have a much higher upfront cost but I think the quality is worth it and it does pay off in the back end.

I agree with others - you need to take care of your brushes as well. I continually clean my brushes while painting so as to not have paint dry in the bristles and every now and then I will re-define the point with a bar of brush soap. Basically I get the bristles a little wet and run them across the bar soap until I get a nice point.

Cheers,

-Mike

For undercoating and the base color i use The old Revell Standard brushes...not the best but for this purpose they are very good.
When it come to the details and fine details i use either the GW detail/Fine deteil ones or the Revell professional brushes....veeeeery fine tips.

bLACK

I use an old revell P20 (whatever that means)brush to do undercoating and base coats on models as well.I think I got in a star wars painting set.It has taken some real abuse and it is still in really good condition.It seems to have longer and softer bristles than the GW brushes

the Windsor and Newton Cirrus brushes are IMO much better than their GW comparisons- they certainly seem to keep their points better.

the GW brushes are pretty much bottom of the barrel, by any means. and they're expensive for the quality also. i'd rate them around mid to high range synthetics. avoid them.

the vallejo ones are good kolinksy sable, and i've had really good results with the escodas also -- those are pretty much the same quality as the W&N series 7, at a lower cost. the W&N Series 7 are truly great brushes, and will last a long, long time as long as they are not abused.

synthetics are alright for larger brush sizes, ones not used for miniatures. in that case, when brush shape and quality is less critical, go for them. but when you're counting on the shape of the tip and the retention of the point, only buy top shelf natural kolinsky sable. they will save you money over the long (and the medium) run.

Sir Theobold the Lame said:

the Windsor and Newton Cirrus brushes are IMO much better than their GW comparisons- they certainly seem to keep their points better.

Click to expand...

Never used them but Darren Lanthem (Razza aka Aevy Metal Team member) has said before those ultra expensive 'Painting Masters' brush set GW do are a Windsor and Newton set but repackaged. I do not know whether the same stuff from the brush makers would be but the GW thing seems a tad expensive.

I have been using a bunch of brushes I got off a wesite, Wargames Foundry, if I recall correctly. I have had little problems with them, the occassional loose hair here and there and so far have had one brush spray the bristles out and become useless.

KU

i cant afford the ultra expensive W & N brushes (im guessing these are the 7 series?) but the Cirrus ones are around 3 quid, and you can get them from any art shop- so not bad as a cheap(ish) kolinsky sable brush