Brushes, NOT Airbrushes

[Miatatom]

I'd like to hear opinions on the type of hand brushes recommended for acrylics, lacquers and enamels. What type of brush material (sable, nylon, etc.), size, etc.

[Brett Barrow]

You can't beat Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable brushes. Expensive, but take care of them and they'll last a very long time. I use them for enamels and acrylics, but the old rule of thumb is that you use natural bristles for oil-based paints and synthetics for acrylics. I only use them for brush painting small details, I use an airbrush for large areas. Never tried brush painting lacquers, I think they would dry too fast to brush paint.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

I've brushed lacquer, but not on models; painted a couple of my speakers with band names and symbols. As for brushes, I usually use some from Walmart. You can get a good pack of different sizes for four bucks or so, soft hair brushes. Nylon ones usually push the paint around and leave hard streaks.

[Miatatom]

You can't beat Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable brushes.

Which ones do you recommend? There are lots of types and shapes.

[Brett Barrow]

I have a 1, 0, and 00 in the regular (not miniature) line.

[jwrass]

Tom.

Their is some great information on brushes and brush care at Andrew Mack Companies web site. All the information there I agree with 100%, great stuff!

I literally have thousands of $$$$$ invested in brushes and I use them almost daily with the type of work I do (see profile)

Red Sable and Sable mixes are typically used for water based paints (water colors)

Kolinsky Sable can be used with any type of medium, and are a decent brush

80% of the brushes I use are made of the Blue Squirrel hair and are very expensive. They are the F-1 of the brush family.

In the Letterhead and Pinstriping Jams that I attend allot of people are using Golden Talkon for their pictorial work, including myself, they have brushes that you can really mop on allot of paint and all the way down to the tiniest brushes for detail. they work in any medium and are very hardy. Not only do they perform fantastic they are dirt cheep.

Their are two sets at Michaels I would highly recommend. They are made by Master Touch their is a 6pc detail set SKU # 350595 and 4pc general set SKU #360719. They say timing is everything!!! The only reason I know these #s is I bought some yesterday, they will set you back a whopping $3.99 per set. They can be used in any medium.

Lacquers can be easily brushed. You need to thin the paint with a high temp reducer or retarder, I use retarder. You need to carefully load and palette the brush when brushing Lacquers.

When you are done with your brushes clean them really well. I do a triple rinse.

Oil them with a light oil like 3&1 ( I use a oil specifically made for brushes but a light house hold oil works fine) shape the brush with your fingers and lay them flat. When you go to use them clean them really well with Mineral Sprits to remove all traces of oil.

I hope this helps!!

Peace Jimmy "RASS"

[Harry P.]

I like natural bristles brushes... sable and squirrel work well for me. I find synthetic brushes too "hard" and they just don't have the same "feel" that natural brushes do. But I admit that's probably just personal preference.

[jwrass]

I agree that brushes are a personal preference. I'm kind of a brush freak when something new comes along I typically buy it to see if I like it. I personally don't care for anything sable, squirrel is my number one choice however you do pay a premium but you can't beat the performance. When I first started using the Golden Taklons I didn't care for them that much as they do have a bit more snap to them, however the more I use them the more I like them, They are not as forgiving as Sable or Squirrel so if you are a bit shakey these are not for you when it comes to detail work.

For the price of the sets I have listed it's not much of a investment to give them a test drive.

"RASS"

[Miatatom]

I agree that brushes are a personal preference. I'm kind of a brush freak when something new comes along I typically buy it to see if I like it. I personally don't care for anything sable, squirrel is my number one choice however you do pay a premium but you can't beat the performance. When I first started using the Golden Taklons I didn't care for them that much as they do have a bit more snap to them, however the more I use them the more I like them, They are not as forgiving as Sable or Squirrel so if you are a bit shakey these are not for you when it comes to detail work.

For the price of the sets I have listed it's not much of a investment to give them a test drive.

"RASS"

Thanks to everyone for the helpful info. Rass, I'm shaky, especially after a Cafe Mocha from Panera, so that particular info will help.

[aurfalien]

What jwrass says +1.

I myself am preferring a stiffer brush for the control and granularity they offer.

I'm hooked on the Artist's Loft Firenze line at Micheals. There flat line in particular is very cool. Nice long green wooden handle, feels very nice on your finger tips. Oh and it soaks up paint like no ones biz.

I've seen other brushes with cool bristles but having rubbery ergonomic handles which feel awkward in hand. It's like they try to make it a computer mouse or something, totally weird.

Edited May 9, 2015 by aurfalien