When I was very ill I went to Las Vegas Open. I was ruining brushes left and right, the monument hobbies people helped me tremendously. He took the time to explain to me to never use your good brushes with metal paint or inks, to use a synthetic. Since then my brushes last longer and I get less frustrated

never thought about metal flakes shredding my brushes O_o Thank you, Sir! What a great video! :)

Yes those 8s (or roughly that size) are GREAT! I have an heirloom from my mom, uknown brand, camel hair size 8 that I use for everything. It is OLD too. The only thing I'd add to your list, is if you do terrain at all (as is my main bent) a 1 inch house painting brush is your best friend!

Thank you so much for making these. You have improved my hobbying immensely since I started watching about half a year ago

The owner of my local art supply shop recommended a 1/4" dagger brush as a "workhorse." The dagger tip is like an angle shader with a curved edge, which turns out to be really versatile. You can use the point, edge, or side to make a variety of brush strokes, and it holds a moderate amount of liquid. The shop owner uses it as his workhorse for art painting, and it seems quite suitable for model painting as well.

Great video! I was given a "junkie old brush" from my Hobby shop owner friend a few years ago. He said I needed it to do the jobs my "good" brushes should never be used for. It had a wooden handle, looked like a paint stir stick, and the bristles were all caked up something fierce! I used it as directed by him for a good while, but started cleaning it with Masterson's brush soap after each use. It wasn't too long until the bristles became unbelievably soft, even holding their shape. It's actually my favorite brush now, used for surprisingly small details! He had no idea what brand it was...lol..

What a great break down of basic tools and uses! I feel like this gets skipped over in a lot of available content, and can be very overwhelming for new painters (or returning painters who didn't know what they are doing in the first place, and are pretending to know what they are doing now, who prefer to limit the number of dumb questions they ask haha). Seriously, great stuff as usual.

I use shampoo and conditioner for cleaning my sable brushes. It’s real hair so treating it like...well, hair...just makes sense.

i have a tendency to obsess over notions of MUST HAVE THE RIGHT BRUSH FOR (THING) and this honestly helps my brain get away from that notion of the perfect brush for each and every little job. so thanks for this!

Thanks Vince. Its inspiring knowing that a significant portion of your painting is done with generic hobby store brushes (or ones you might find camping...) and not the super expensive name brands.

A secret brush I find really useful around the hobby table (since long before I got in to mini painting specifically) is a cheap but clean, dry, and soft largish brush which never touches water or paint-its entire job is to dust. It's so nice having something handy that can I can quickly and gently sweep my work when coming back after it's sat a while, or if I notice a bit of dust or hair or whatever has settled on it that would wreak havoc if I were to paint over it. Also good for clearing off dust to see what you're doing while sanding/filing during the assembly step and for cleaning dust off stuff on display (first discovered it for the latter purpose with regard to kit modeling, nothing better for dusting fine and fragile details than a soft, dry paintbrush)...

The 8404's have always been so good to me. I must have bought all dud WN Series 7's as I've had 3 and they basically turned into dry brushes after a few sessions with very good brush care. I always give brushes another chance because of the nature of brushes in general, however I don't see myself risking a 4th $20 plus Series 7. I'm really happy with the Monument Hobbies brushes, both synthetic and Sable.

I feel like it is also important to mention one brush that you don't need -- the super-tiny 10/0 or 20/0 that beginners always pick up when they go to the art store and get the smallest brush they can because miniatures are small, right? (though... I will admit that I find a 10/0 liner to be occasionally useful)

Thank you, I needed these basics to improve my painting. I’m going to go through my brushes and organize them according to the painting steps you outlined.

Another outstanding video with a ton of great information...very informative...well done, Thank You.

Thanks for the video Vince. Really enjoy your style of explanation

So, I know that many (most?) metallic mini paints use mica, a stone/mineral, not metallic fragments. I don't know if that makes a difference in how they affect your brush, so make of that what you will. Many do use real metal bits, though. Vallejo model air metallics and Vallejo Metal Color use ground up aluminum, for example, which is probably why people like them so much. Regardless, from now on I'll be using a "dedicated" metallics brush, just to be safe.

Gut myself some nice and pricey brushes. Now I am afraid of ruining them and hesitate to use them. 😂 Thanks for the great video Vince!

Junk Brushes FTW!!!!!!! i buy a a few of those, i use them for mixing paint, because i dont want to use my nice ones for it!! I have a few Winsor and newton, but its hard to find ones that work because sometimes i get them, im still learning to paint and not kill :( My favorite brush is the Army Painter Regiment brushes. they are my big ones.

I've watched about three or four of your vids so far and absolutely love them! I just got through trying out using the flow aid for straight lines doing my checker pattern on my orks and there's a super improvement! WOW! Now, later today I'm going to sink precious money into a winsor newton bursh, maybe two, what do you suggest for fine details? Eyes, teeth, straight lines. I'm looking at "o" and "oo". I intend on watching all your stuff now! Your the best instructor I've found yet! And I've been a commerical artist since 1986! If I ever get rich I'm gonna send you a bag of money! Lol

My experience with the Raphaels is that they lose their point very easily. You can even see how "fluffy" this looked in the video. They start out with a beautiful point when freshly wetted with paint, but after just a few strokes I start to lose the point. Drives me nuts. I have 2 8404s, an 8408 and a special edition with some artist's name on it and they all do it. I always come back to my WN, which keeps its point pretty much indefinitely. Or a golden taklon brush, those things have great snap and a nice point, and leave nice smooth beautiful strokes, but they fray and need to be replaced quickly. They also "run out" of paint fast and always need to be dipped back into the palette. I'd highly recommend a cheap pack of size 2 or bigger taklon brushes for basecoating. Oh, about those sizes. I feel like it is just Raphael brushes that throw sizing out the window. I have DaVinci (standard brushes and the ones with the long red handle), Raphael, Opus, WN and golden taklon brushes branded vallejo and reaper. They all share similar sizing except for Raphael. A Raphael 000 is like a size 1 in every other brand. I have a Raphael 6/0 and it is slightly larger than a WN 000.

Thanks again. 🙂Thomas over at The Model Hobbyist

Very helpful thank you! I'll have to check the rest of your stuff. I'm new and i thought you would use the really tiny brushes for the detail stuff. Their being sharp as the really critical feature makes more sense now.

Didn't know metallics shredded natural hairs like that, shall be using old brushes for that from now on

I love your videos! It's super helpful to watch you paint things too! Do you have any videos on painting wood texture?

I'd be petrified to try dry brushing with that monster make up brush. Some food for thought here as my brush toolbox is no where near what you have. I'll have to try the bigger brushes and see. Might bring my painting up a level (though that's not saying much). Thanks for the video! Very interesting.

I would add a good size flat brush. Painting vehicles, terrain and other flat surfaces would be a nightmare without one for me.

Thanks for this Vince mate.

Watched!❤

I watched a video of a Steve Kafka using a Liner Brush and I was mesmerized by how awesome the Liner Brush worked on the curves of the letters. These are obviously used for larger jobs but have you ever experimented with small Liner Brushes for free hand work on banners and such?

Love! Love what you have done with Tsukigoro. That is the perfect shade of blue. Can I ask what you used?

I didn't think to avoid using metallic paints with the natural brushes. I would love to take a class, do you ever teach around Denver?

Vince, do you have a link to the pack of cheap size 8 brushes you said you buy from amazon? Also, how big are they (say in relation to a Space Marine). I bought a size 8 brush once and it is almost the size of the entire space marine (maybe from base to neck) while the one you showed seems a bit smaller (say the size of the torso).

Didn’t realize metal paint ruined brushes. Thank you.

That orc figure looks amazing. Any footage of your class with Sergio?

Great video!

Thanks, Vince. Great video. This will really help me focus the brush types I use. Do you have a link where we could pick up some of those 08 Artist Brushes? Or a description of them so we could find something similar? Like hair type... I tried searching Amazon for 'Artist Brush', but couldn't find them...

I need a new brush for basecoat. Vince help me! Suggest me a good brand, master!

thanks for yet another excellent video! slightly offtopic: what's that awesome miniature and who makes it? thanks! :-)

where do you buy your raphael 8404 brushes? they dont seem to be sold at any of my local hobby or art stores?

That's mostly the selection of brushes I paint with. I'm still using my W&N with true metallics. Maybe that's why they don't survive for long. What brushes do you use for high detailed TMM?

I'll use this advice for when I buy better quality brushes. Is there any brand you may recommend? Looking for a good balance between quality and affordability

‘Something I found in the woods’ 😂

Hey... So you attended a class with Sergio... I am a Patreon of his and still cant crack his use of airbrush to kind of glaze and bring all together in the end... It would great if you could talk about that in one of your videos, your impressions, etc... Thanks

Question: You say don’t use the “nice” brush for true metallic paints. What would you use for detailed / controlled application of such paints?

what about using brush soap and/or white spirit/turpentine/brush cleaner to clean the drybrush? should all of them being sable or is it better to use synthetics? btw: I wish, I could paint an ork like that...what brand and scale is that?

Are you still loving Raphael after 3 years or back to W&N?

Are any of your classes where you teach done online, Vince? I’m in Australia is all.

So I assume you have dedicated brushes for metal paints, like a separate brush for metal basecoating and metal details?

In terms of Raphael 8404 Vs Winsor and Newton Series 7, would you say that the Series 7 has finer hairs hence a smoother finish with your brush strokes compared to the Raphael or do you think that's balloney?? P.S. I love the Raphael 8404

Hi Vince, question on detail brushes. For personal lifestyle reasons, I avoid purchasing animal products. Obviously this means I avoid sable brushes. So I wondered if there were any synthetic brushes you'd recommend that would offer similar performance to a sable brush. Based on some searching it looked like Winsor & Newton Cotman brushes could be the closest I could get.

"Razor. Sharp. Point... mmkay!" 💕💗💘

Great video vince! Just what I needed! I want to try some new brushes and I think I`ll grab some Raphael`s. Also the staff from my local gaming store recommended 8404 series! Just won our local painting contest with my black knight -> white walker conversion and got Arkhan the Black! So excited to paint him! Have you tried citadel artificer brushes? I heard those are the same as W&N series 7

Hi again Vince! Hope you are well in these times! Can you point me online to some crappy synthetic brush megapacks that you use? I've tried many at this point and can't use 95% of the brushes...they either come with lots that aren't rounds or the rounds have no point whatsoever. Thanks!

Sir I have a question I paint Primarily 15 mm flames the war and team Yankee stuff what brush what are used to get the very fine details such as their bayonets on the end of their rifles The bolt action on the rifles and any other smaller details such as canteens and miss tense

For those that aren’t in a place/skill level to drop $20 on a Kolisky Sable brush, what is a good alternative?

what size of miniature do you paint with those and what quality of paint job do go for at different miniature sizes?

Awesome video bud. Where do we submit pmp now please ?

the mat background is fucking up my eyes lol

to bad you dont come to Tennessee are there any online classes I realize over the internet it's hard but with hangout and video chats now days may not be so bad ?

I have searched everywhere for those size artist brushes and can't seem to find them to save my life. A link would be very much appreciated! (I've looked for any brush size in bulk like that and the biggest I found and bought was size 1 but I find them a bit small for getting stuff done.) Thanks again for another great vid, sorry I don't comment as often anymore. :)

Does anyone use Escoda brushes for miniature painting? I'm just a regular artist but my Escoda versatil comes to such a tiny point, I'd imagine it could be used for all these tiny details.

Hi Vince, do you have any experience with Warcolours paintbrushes or hear anything about their quality?

Is your blue paint brush just a nylon brush?

How do you do small drybrush areas with such a big brush?

Is the very large brush what you're glazing with?

What is a comparable size to that artist brush size 8

Had to pause to see what my dog was barking at. (Earbuds work too well sometimes.)

Do you have links to amazon or art store that sells these brands

what figure is this awesome orc?

what is that orc model!?

Oh cripes didn't know washes are bad

Anyone have luck finding cheap 8s?

If you use an old t-shirt to wipe down your car, you are scratching the paint. Car paint is fragile and thin.

I think the technical term for the pink brush is the "slut brush". It gets all kinda goop all over it. All the time. And whenever you're done with it, just throw it out and get a new one. It isn't a good girl brush. You're not supposed to take care of it forever.