Demystifying Miniature Painting Brushes

Many of us, either newbies or veterans, to the hobby of miniature wargaming are attracted to the fact that we can customize and paint our own models. There are many guides on different painting techniques, but the tools of the trade are never covered. We are expected to pick up ‘a brush’ and make masterpieces. Like my father always said; “there is a correct tool for every job.” Yes, the simple brush can will the difference between a table-quality model and an award winning one. I recently discovered this simple fact of life. This guide is an attempt to minimize this learning curve and allow hobbyists to grab the correct tool for the job.

The single most important tool of the miniature painter is the brush. You can have the best paint in the market, but the wrong brush will decrease your chances of applying it correctly. The humble brush is the artist’s natural extension to close the gap between the paint and the model. The concepts of the brush itself are simple to grasp, so in no-time you will be able to ‘talk shop’ with the big guys!

First I will give a general description of brushes in general. I will describe the brush parts, the different type of hair that can be used and the shapes of the brushes used by artists for different techniques. Then I will recommend which brushes are of special interest for the miniature painter and what to consider when you are going to buy new brushes. The last section is a guide on how to take care of your brushes, to maximize their life and your investment. 

 

Brushes – General Facts

Regardless of where the brush came from, all brushes basically consist of three major parts; the hair, the ferrule and the handle.

 

The Hair

The hair is the first and most important part of the brush. It is the material that retains paint and actually applies it to a model. The specific make of hair, how much of it is on the brush and the shape it is formed into are the main characteristics of a brush. This will make the difference between a ‘large area application brush’ and a ‘detailing brush’. Each brush, as determined by its hair characteristics help to determine its quality and area of application. Unfortunately, there is no uniform nomenclature to differentiate brushes. Each manufacturer has their own ‘naming’ for different kinds, amounts and shapes of hair. Later on I will list most of this information, so you can learn how to ‘translate’ the manufacturer’s jargon when you want to compare different brands and prices of brushes.

If you have bought any brushes already, you may have noticed that some brushes have their point ‘glued together’. This is done to protect the hair and shape during the shipping of the brush. The glue generally used for this purpose is gum Arabic, a binder for aquarelle colors. The brush maker binds the hair into its basic shape and will never use scissors to cut the shape. So, ALWAYS clean your brushes with water before the first use.

Some brushes consist of different layers of hair; a core of hair with good color transporting properties and around this core, a layer of different hair to define the shape of the brush. If you are dealing with natural hair, it can be useful to know how it is built. A hair consists of a fine core that is enclosed by tiny scales. Soaking the brush in water for a long time will cause these scales to open up like a pine cone. This way the brush loses some flexibility and its ability to hold enough paint. After thoroughly cleaning the brush in water and curd soap, giving it back its natural fats, and a drying, the brush can regain its initial properties.

 

The Ferrule

The 2nd part of every brush is the ferrule. The ferrule is often made of brass tubing, plated with nickel, and it keeps the hair and the handle together. Be careful if you are allergic to nickel! There are brushes in the market with ferrules of other materials, but they are hard to find. The best practice would be to use latex gloves. 

The glue used inside the ferule is resistant to most solvents, but it is heat sensitive. Hot water can sometimes weaken the glue, thus the reason why never to use hot water to clean your brushes! Also don't try to speed up the drying of a brush with heat (such a hair-dryer.) This can eventually lead to the dissolution of the glue and/or the shrinking of the handle's wood causing the ferrule to become loose.

 

The Handle

The last part of the brush is the handle. Quite obviously, this is the section of the brush you will hold in your hand. There are brushes with short or long handles; they may be round or triangular in shape; they maybe wood or plastic. Some brush makers have invented many different ergonomic shapes for the handle, so they fit comfortable in your hand. It is a largely personal matter on which type of handle to choose. The most critical part of the handle is that is comfortable to YOU.

Hair Types

A lot of different hairs are used to produce brushes. Sometimes brush makers have been quite creative with the naming of the different types of hair… just like paint colors! Did you know that Citadel's Tentacle Pink is the same as Vallejo's Squid Pink? This creative name giving can be very misleading and confusing when you don't know what the names really mean. Additionally there are differences in the quality of the hair which are differentiated by the name. This applies especially for sable brushes, which are quite important for the miniature painter.  

The following is a list and description of the most common selection of hair types in the market.

Kolinsky Sable

The Siberian Mountain Weasel (Mustela sibirica), also known as the Siberian Weasel, Kolinsky or Himalayan Weasel, is a type of mink, which is a member of the weasel family. It is native to Siberia and northeastern China, where the cold weather allows the animal to grow a thick, long coat. Only hairs from the tail are used in making the finest water color paint brushes artists' brushes, while the rest are used by other industries. 

The male Kolinksy tail hair is used in making the finest Kolinksy brushes because of its superior quality. Female Kolinsky hair has less life compared to male hair. The very finest watercolor brushes are made from 100% male Kolinsky hair, but most Kolinsky brushes are made with a 60% female to 40% male mixture. The best brushes will spring or snap back straight after bending, while the brushes made of mixtures will hold a slight bend. 

The hair is pale red in color with darker tips (almost golden.) Those who use the Kolinsky sable brush claim it has superior strength, slenderness, and resiliency when compared with other sable brushes. The different Kolinsky brushes (i.e. Harbin-Kolinsky, Tobolsky-Kolinsky and Ussuri-Kolinsky) describe specific regions of northern China and Russia where the brush’s hair was collected. 

The finest Kolinsky brushes are not recommended for use in oil paints, because the harsh qualities of oils will damage these brushes. This is considered a professional grade of hair, and if properly cared for, Kolinsky will last for many years.

 

Red Sable

Often called Red Sable, because of its reddish-brown color, brushes made of weasel hair make for practical oil painting brushes. The finest brushes get damaged quickly in the solvent and chemicals used in oils, so the cost-to-quality savings is a nice benefit for using Red Sable brushes. They can cost up to 40% less than a Kolinsky brush of the same size, while it still retains some or most of the desirable traits of a more expensive brush. 

It is very important to be able to distinguish between Red Sable and Kolinksy. Sometimes brushes made of Red Sable are passed off as Kolinsky brushes, which carry a much higher price tag.

 

Fitch Hair (Black Sable and Russian Sable)

The Fitch hair comes from the Polecat, yet another type of hair is also related to the weasel family. It has similar qualities to red sable, beign of a light tan to a deep brown black color. The hair is much coarser than Red Sable, thus often making very good oil painting brushes as they are able to withstand the abuse of chemicals related to this type of painting. Most model paints tend to be acrylics (water based), so if you are not sure what kind of paint you have, chances are they are acrylics and this brush is not for you. 

Fitch hair is used for medium-priced brushes. It's a conic shaped brush with a good snap, and is thought to be just as good as Red Sable brushes.

 

Brown Sable

These brushes are made from the hair of sable tails that are dyed with the rest of the fur by the manufacturer. This hair is used for simple quality brushes.

 

Sable

Brushes that are simply labeled sable without anything else will be made of any hair listed above that doesn't meet the quality requirements for the other labels. Sometimes some lower grade squirrel will be mixed in too. The quality of these brushes can range from mediocre to plain trash.

 

Sabeline

This is a sable imitation made from ox hair. For this kind of brush, the white hair from the oxen ears is used. It is dyed to look like red sable. It has similar properties to sable, but the hair has blunt tips.

 

Bristle

This is a stiff hair from a hog, boar or pig. It is well known for its hair flags (split tips of the hair), so these brushes are also known as ‘flags’. They increase the paint capacity and volume of the brush; this brush it is used to spread heavy paint evenly over a surface. These brushes are good to use when applying with dry-brushing techniques. 

 

Camel Hair

The term camel hair is very misleading. Camel hair brushes do not come from camels at all. It is found in watercolor and lettering brushes and usually made of various inexpensive hair types like Asian pony, bear, sheep, goat, ox, lesser grade squirrel hair or a blend of several hairs depending on the desired softness and intended cost of the brush. Camel hair lacks “snap” (or memory) and will not return to a point after a brush stroke.

 

Sheep Hair and Goat Hair

Brushes using this type of hair are long and can hold a good point, but are to flexible and has no spring. This hair is mainly used in calligraphy.

 

Squirrel Hair

Canadian and Russian squirrels. Squirrel hair brushes can form a very sharp point but they have no spring. They are used for watercolor wash and lettering.

Most squirrel hair for brushes comes from Canada and Russia. They provide thin, soft absorbent hair. There are three main types of Russian Squirrel hair:

• Talahoutky is brown in color and used mainly for sign brushes;
• Kazan is brown-black and mainly used in brushes for watercolor, wash brushes, and watercolor mops;
• Sacamena is blue-black, the softest of all the Russian Squirrel hair, and is used for making some of the best watercolor brushes.

Squirrel hair brushes are very similar to Kolinsky brushes; they point very well and have thick ‘bodys’ to hold paint, but they lack the ‘snap’ or springy-ness of a Kolinsky. This lack of ‘snap’ makes them almost totally useless when painting with thick paints. It works best with liquid paints and inks.

 

Synthetic Hair

These are the modern artificial materials developed to replace the expensive and rare natural hairs. It has a good spring and can form a sharp point, but usually they can't hold color as good as natural hair and the color will come to the surface faster. A very popular fiber is Nylon. The golden Taklon nylon brushes are a cheap alternative to sable brushes.

 

Brush Shapes & Sizes

While there are many brush shapes in the market, there are just a few brush shapes that are interesting for miniature painting. Most of the time you will need round brushes with a sharp point. The three shapes that are most useful are pointed, riggers and spotters brushes. The basic shape of these brushes is the same; round brush forming a fine point. The main difference between these brushes is the visible length of the hair.

• Pointed Brush: This is the ‘normal’ standard tool for the miniature painter. The brush length is medium size, and it can hold a fair amount of color and provides good control. Sometimes you will need a brush that can hold even more paint and can be used to draw long fine lines.
• Rigger Brush: This is considered by many the ‘perfect brush’ to use. It has long hairs, which are required to be used by some special techniques. There are also riggers with extra long hair or special liners which are broad at the ferrule and form a fine point at one side.
• Spotter Brush: These brushes have the shortest hairs. They are used as ‘retouch brushes’ for example. They have a very limited capacity to hold color, but their short hair provides a good control over the brush. This makes them ideal for tiny details like eyes or gems.

Brushes have a number branded on the handle, which depicts the brush size; the smaller the number, the smaller the size. ‘Big brushes’ (as large as size 5) can be used to paint & cover large areas such as vehicles. General miniature painting can be done with brushes size 1 or 0. Smaller brushes continue to decrease in size, but not in a conventional way.

A brush twice as small as a brush size 0 is a brush size double zero, or size 00. Even smaller brushes, for example a brush 5 times smaller than a brush 0 is notes as a brush 00000 or more commonly 5/0. You can find brushes 10/0, 20/0 or even 50/0. In these small sizes, the quality of the brush hair is even more critical than the size. A Camel Hair 20/0 is not as effective as a Kolinsky Hair 5/0. The first brush is smaller, but the point will be damaged quickly with dry paint and use. The high quality brush will retain a good point, thus be very effective… especially in the long run. Most of the time, simply the color capacity will get smaller as does the size and your paint will be dry before it reaches the miniature. This is no universal law of course. Use the sizes that work best for you.

 

Which brushes are best for Miniature Painting?

If you are just starting and don't have any experience with painting, I would recommend that your first set of brushes should be of good but not of the finest quality. Go for good nylon or red sable brushes to get the feeling for the brush. Don’t buy brushes that are too cheap; they will loose their quality extremely quickly and soon be useless. You will get frustrated thinking of problems on your technique, when it is the brush that is causing the problems. If you have already done some painting, you surely should invest some money in fine Kolinsky brushes or very good Nylons. 

A good staring set of brushes consists of a size 2, 1, 0 and 5/0 brush. You can add bigger brushes for larger areas and color mixing and smaller brushes for fine detail work later.

How to Buy a Brush

The best way to buy brushes is to visit your local gaming shop. They are supposed to have a good variety of medium to high quality brushes. Go into the shop and study the brushes there. Consider a few points when you choose the brush you want to take home. 

• Select the right hair for you! First of all, think about what brush you need, think about what hair, shape and size you want. Even if you are using water based acrylic paint, the special water color brushes will most likely be made of squirrel hair or something like that. This is too soft for miniature painting in most cases. Don't buy brushes that have bent over hair, and take care not to bend over the hair yourself when you are putting on the brush protector. You can make some tests in the store to make sure that you get quality brushes.
• When selecting a brush, bend the hair gently over to one side. The hair should snap back into position after releasing the pressure.
• Test the point! Ask for a glass of water and a paper towel. Take the brush you are interested in, swirl it through the water for a moment and try to form a sharp point. You do this by dripping off the excess water and pulling the brush from the ferule to the tip over a paper towel or your fingers. Turn the brush slightly while you are pulling. If you can't form a good point this way, put the brush back and try another one. The results of this test can differ even for brushes that look identically. A good shop will provide you with a glass of water for this test. If they don't understand you, they haven't really learned their business. Of course you could use your own spit to do this test when nobody is watching, but take care. Some brushes have their point "glued" together with a binder that will dissolve in water. You don't really want to swallow that.
• Test the point again! Most good quality brushes will pass the first test described above. If you want the best of the best go one step further. Again, you swirl the brush through the water until the tip breaks up. Now you take the brush out and whip out the water in a fast motion. Alternatively you hit the side of you other hand with the brush. A good brush will now have a perfectly formed tip with no hair pointing in a different direction.
• Test the point another time. Now load the brush with water like you would load it with paint. Now take a piece of paper and draw a thin line with the brush. While pulling the brush, you increase the pressure until the tip spreads. A good brush will show uniformly spread brush hairs instead if a tip split into two tips. Don't stop pulling the brush and slowly decrease the pressure. When you finally lift the brush off the paper, you should end up with a perfect tip again.
• Test the ferrule! If the ferrule is loose or bent, you will have a hard time painting with this brush.
• Don't buy the "2$ for six brushes" set, unless you plan to use them for base coating, paint mixing or applying glue as they quality is poor at best.

 

Maintaining Your Brushes in Good Condition

To clean your brushes, you will need a solvent liquid. The solvent to use depends on your color’s medium. For water based colors, like acrylics, some water in a glass will be fine. If you are using oils or enamels you will need a special thinner. Usually this is a turpentine replacement. 

Independent of the solvent, the cleaning process is basically the same. Take care that the paint never dries on your brush. Dip the tip of your brush into the solvent and swirl it around. Then you gently push the head of the brush side-wards against the glass. There you start to turn your brush slowly back and forth while pulling it up, following the natural direction of the hair, to get the paint away from the ferule.  

Don't slam the point down on the bottom of the glass! This will ruin your best brush. If the brush stops to produce a cloud of color, take it out and pull it over a clean paper towel. If this leaves some paint on the paper, go back and repeat the last step. Finally you should squeeze out remaining liquid and give the brush back its original shape. This can be done while pulling and turning the brush over the towel, with your fingers or by using your wet lips.

The above cleaning process is what you do all the time while painting. When you have finished your painting session you should thoroughly clean all your brushes - always! You additionally can clean your brushes with lukewarm water and curd soap (or special brush soap). If you have some dried paint left on your brushes use a special brush cleaner and conditioner like orange terpene. This will dissolve the paint but also give the brush back some of its natural fats and spring. 

I don't recommend acetone or dish washing soap for brush cleaning. These will clean the brush but also remove the natural fats, make the brush brittle and eventually ruin it. Also you should avoid getting solvent on the handle. This will destroy the lacquer of the handle and can cause the handle to come lose the ferule.

More Tips

• Always work with the natural direction of the hair.
• Only put on the protective cap, when the brush is completely dried or mold can develop.
• Only load the tip of the brush. Color at the ferule will ruin the point of your brush and is hard to remove.
• Don't let the handle soak up liquid for hours. The wood can swell and cause the ferule to come loose.
• Store your brushes upright, with the hair up, or flat. But make sure the hairs are not touched. By no means let your brush stand on its head in your cleaning water. If you want to store your bushes upright, make sure that they are dry, else the water can run into the handle and cause it to swell.
• Use different brushes for different painting mediums. Use one set of brushes for acrylics, one for oils and one for enamels. A brush can't stand a constant switching of the medium.
• Use a separate brush for metallic paints and rinse it in a separate glass of water. If you don't, the metal flakes will come into all of your paints.
• Use a lesser quality brush to get the paint on your palette and to mix the color. This is heavy duty work. Fine Kolinsky brushes are over qualified for this.