Let’s brush up – on brushes

A lot of beginning and intermediate miniature painters don’t make good choices when it comes to selecting brushes, so the focus of today’s article is helping you make an informed decision on the type of brush that you need.

Now, when I say “good choices”, I’m not talking about the brand name of a product. Ultimately, that is up to you and you alone.

Brand name brushes, like anything else, aren’t always better than the generic. In fact, in numerous cases I would say a cheaper or generic brand of brush can be every bit as good as the name brands available for the same product. The best way to find out what is worth buying though is by trial and error. You won’t waste much money along the way because you will find that there will only be a few of the generic brands that you would definitely never want to buy again. Even if some aren’t quite as good as other options, most are of reasonable quality.

While I will mention specific brands in this article, I’m not choosing them over others. I am only dropping names that most hobbyists will be familiar with.

Anyway, the points I am attempting to make with the term “good choices” boils down to a few individual thoughts on the matter. Ask 10 different painters about these thoughts and you’ll probably get 8 different opinions – all I can do is give you my informed opinion as one of the best 6 or 7 mini painters in the country (well… it is a small country) with a couple of decades of experience and more than a few rather prestigious painting awards under my belt. If it works for me, it may very well work for you.

Know your brush, know yourself

An miniature paint brush consists of five parts: the handle – made of wood or plastic, the ferrule – which holds the bristles onto the handle, the heel – which is the part that connects the ferrule to the bristles, the bristles themselves, the belly – which is the beginning and thickest part of the bristles below the heel, and finally, the toe – which is the tip of the bristles.

Natural or synthetic?

Modern synthetic brushes are excellent and have the advantage of being cheaper than natural hair. A lot of painting purists will tell you that no synthetic fiber can beat a Kolinsky sable, considered the ultimate of soft-hair brushes because of its flexibility and strength, which give the painter great control.

Natural brushes

• Sable: The ultimate soft brush is made from the hairs on the tail of a sable marten; these taper naturally, so when they’re put into a brush they form a point. Sable brushes are expensive, but are renowned for their softness, flexibility, and fine point.
• Squirrel: Cheaper than sable, squirrel is a soft hair with little spring. These are best used as the larger terrain or tank brushes because the mass of hairs together gives them support.
• Hog/bristle: The ultimate hard brush is made from the hairs on the back of a pig, which are strong yet springy.
• Camel: Despite the name, camel hair brushes are actually made from other types of soft hair. I suggest that these are avoided like the plague, as they are best suited for house-painting.
• Ox: Long, strong and springy hair.
• Pony: Coarse hair that doesn’t form a good point. Often used in cheaper brushes.
• Goat: Lacks spring, but forms a good point.

It is important to note that no animals are killed specifically for use as paint brushes – otherwise I would personally not use natural ones. But all the same, if you’re ideologically opposed to the sources of natural hair, then synthetic brushes are the way to go.

Synthetic brushes

Synthetic bristles are made of special multi-diameter extruded nylon filament, or Taklon (multi-diameter polyester). Acrylic brushes which are almost entirely synthetic.  They don’t tend to hold paint as well as natural – but this is often not really an issue at all.

Brush sizes

Artists’ brushes are usually given numbered sizes, although there is (frustratingly enough) no exact standard for their physical dimensions.

From smallest to largest, the sizes are:

• 10/0, 7/0 (also written 0000000), 6/0, 5/0, 4/0, 000, 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30. Brushes as fine as 30/0 are manufactured by major companies, but this is not a common size.

Sizes 000 to 20 are most common.

We must, we must, we must increase our brush

Now let’s talk about what you’re probably going to need as a wargaming miniature painter. When you’re first starting out, it can be a rather daunting task – as every painter will give you different opinions.

Try and shop for brushes at local art supply stores as you can find a larger assortment and much better prices than at hobby shops. Get cheaper brushes (but not the absolute cheapest!) – because when you’re starting out, your figures are going to look like ass.

Try and buy good nylon or red sable brushes to get the feeling for the brush. “Good” doesn’t mean the most expensive thing you can find, because just like your first few mini painting attempts will be terrible, your brushes probably won’t last that long.

A good start would be the range of bushes provided by Citadel in their brush set. This doesn’t mean that you need to buy their brand, of course – but the different kinds of brushes are a good base.

• Fine Detail Brush
• Detail Brush
• Standard Brush
• Basecoat Brush
• Large Brush
• Wash Brush
• Stippling Brush
• Small Drybrush
• Medium Drybrush
• Large Drybrush

Or, alternately, The Army Painter also has a set of brushes to tackle everything you may need:

• Wargamer: Insane detail
• Wargamer: Detail
• Wargamer: Character
• Wargamer: Regiment
• Wargamer: Monster
• Wargamer: Small Drybrush
• Wargamer: Large Drybrush
• Wargamer: Vehicle & Scenery
• Hobby: Precise Detail
• Hobby: Highlighting
• Hobby: Basecoating

The above companies do make very similar brushes, and at the end of the day there isn’t much difference other than price. A lot of experienced painters (and a lot of those that just think they are experienced) will try and tell you that the more expensive your brush is, the better your miniatures will look. That’s pretty much bullshite. A good artist never blames his tools for the outcome of his work. I’ve placed in GD competitions using Citadel synthetics and know winners that have done using the same.

For further edification

You can download some really informative brush charts in pdf format from Dick Blick’s website:

• Hair Types and Measuring Chart (1.8MB)
• Brush Sizing Chart (1.5MB)
• Brush Shapes and Bristle Types Chart (1MB)

You will, of course, need some pdf software to read these charts. I recommend either PDF-Xchange Viewer or Foxit Reader (’cause, like… who really uses Adobe Reader anymore? That’s like using Internet Explorer.)

So there is your very brief introduction to paint brushes. I hope it is helpful to the new painters out there!