Best brushes to use? Synthetic or hair?

[GWR88]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking at getting some new brushes and am torn between synthetic ones or natural hair? Can anyone tell me the differences and pros/cons of each?

 

Currently I'm looking at some red sable ones, golden synthetic and synthetic/sable blend and am wondering if pure sable brushes would stand up to use with acrylic paints or if I should just stick with synthetics? I'm looking at a change purely because I'm tired of all my nylon brushes curling over time.

 

Many thanks for everyone's help in advance,

 

Lloyd

[Mick Bonwick]

For modelling purposes you would do well to use good quality brushes designed for use with acrylics. My favourites are from the Daler Rowney System 3 range, but that is purely a personal choice - there are many other ranges that might suit you better. The type of bristles will be determined by the size of your wallet. If you choose sable then your cleaning regime will need to be extremely rigorous. Never leave any residue on the brush at all. Ever. Synthetic bristles are more forgiving, and will stand up to quite harsh treatment. Mixtures are, as you might guess, somewhere in the middle. You don't mention whether these brushes are to be used for general painting, weathering or both, but you can cascade them to avoid unnecessary expenditure. Start their lives off with general painting and then as they get worn, cascade them to weathering fluids and finally weathering pigments.

 

If you have a local artists' supplier or art shop then a conversation with them would help you in your task.

[F-UnitMad]

In 'real world' decorating, synthetic bristle brushes are recomended for water-based paints, & sable/natural hair for oil-based.

I hadn't thought about it before, but I expect similar would be true in the modelling world. I second Mick's advice above - good quality brushes do come at a price, but will give much better results and last a lot longer than cheapo brushes (& nylon does sound to me like very cheap!!)

[Nearholmer]

I’ve found very good synthetics, like the daler-Rowney ones excellent for acrylics. The only brush that I now get fussy about being real hair is a very long-haired fine one for lettering (not that I’m any good at lettering these days - I get worse as I get older!), because I dont think even the best synthetics are flexible enough for that.

 

Buy good ones and look after them - cheap means disappointing!

Edited April 2, 2018 by Nearholmer

[GWR88]

Thanks chaps for your advice, they are specifically for painting miniature figures and detailing work with citadel/games workshop paints. I have bought a mixture of all three now to test out and i'll report back with my findings.

Lloyd

[70021 Morning Star]

Ah, now this is a huge topic. As a quick Google search will show you, there are a huge number of different brushes for different uses. Using the right brush will make the job easier, and no single brush type is good for everything.

 

I'd suggest Googling for Which Artists' Paintbrush, or similar. Probably watching the YouTube videos is best. Then, once you have a grasp of the basics, phone one of the bigger more specialist artists'suppliers (NOT the hobby or craft ones) and ask for advice.

 

By doing a little background research first, you'll know which artists' suppliers know what they're talking about (too many don't). Then you'll know whether it's worth making a personal visit.

 

A personal visit to a good artists' suppliers is time well spent. They should be able to show you what's what, and explain things like how to look after your expensive purchases.

 

As for synthetic versus natural: as a professional artist and model maker, I use a mix of brushes for different purposes. But, if I had to choose, I'd say that natural hair or bristles are always superior to synthetic.

 

Brush shape -- or, more accurately -- the length and shape of the hairs/bristles is also crucial. As the filaments act as a paint reservoir, controlling paint flow and ensuring you don't have to break off painting an area to continuously recharge the brush, it is crucial that you choose the correct shape and length of fibre. A good example is what to use to paint long fine line in "lining" a coach. A very fine 000 brush with short hairs might look easy to control. Problem is that it'll run out of paint after 1/2" or so. What you want is a signwriter's brush with very long filaments; maybe 1 1/2 inches! With practice (and use of a rest) you'll easily line a Mk.1 coach.

 

The really good artists' suppliers have excellent technical advisors. It's a case of Use Them or Lose Them. If we don't demand such service, just buying off the Internet, we'll all lose out.

 

Have fun,

Rick