Hey guys so I am looking for some new brushes and I was wondering what brushes I should be looking at. Are the GW ones any good? Also how many different sizes of brushes do i need? I used to paint, like 6-7 years ago, and I wanna get back into the painting part but wanna make sure I put my money in the right places. Any advice you have would be awesome.

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I use the Windsor and Newton Series 7 Kolinsky sable brushes. They are pricey but well worth the cost - I've had mine for years now and still work great! I have sizes 000 to 1 and find I don't need any brushes save for those that I use for basing etc.

Here is a link to the webpage about them

I hope this helps!

It all depends on your personal painting style, but fo course you don't necessarily know your style yet/anymore.

If you need to mass-produce minis for armies or scenarios instead of painting for the joy of painting, size 1 is a bit small for the largest areas. I use size 2 or even GW basecoat brush (= size 3?) for painting large areas like cloaks. My most used brushes are 0, 1 and 2 and 00 for eyes, and a drybrush for bases.

I use Pro Arte myself, but I would love to try out Series 7. My local art shops don't stock them, so it looks like I'll have to order them from some web shop. I've heard so much praise for them that they must be worth trying. Going for quality will save a lot of grief and actually also money in the long run.

-- Pasi

i have winsor and newton series 7 miniature brushes in 000 0 and 2 and i also use a gw basecoat brush for larger areas. i have another basecoat brush slightly ruined for putting on undercoats. drybrushes which i dont really use and the gw wash brush which i think is fantastic. w&n are by far the best but i do like the basecoat brush but they dont always last that long

Thanks for all your replies guys. I have found a shop that sells them near me, so I think i will go get those. I was also thinking of getting a GW brush for drybrushing purposes since they are much cheaper. gondorian_kinight thanks for the link, it was helpful, but wanted to know what the about the difference between the round and miniature series was? are the miniature series ones just smaller? I couldn't find it on the website. Also I am thinking vallejo paint instead of GW, let me know what you think?

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The miniature series is smaller, with shorter handles as far as I know. I would have a look at them in the shop if you can. Longer bristles mean they hold more paint, but smaller ones allow for more detail work. If they are too long thought, they can be hard to control well.

I have a variety of paint but find vallejo the best. I personally like their model colour series as the more muted shades suit LotR models well, but the game colour series replicate GW paints, but with different names. I think it is down to personal preference in the end, I have foun which paints I like in each series and so have built up the mixture I now use. I find some colours that have poor coverage in GW paints, like the lighter reds, the khaki-ish colours etc. are better from vallejo especially.

If you do go for vallejo, make sure you shake the bottles a lot before using them to make sure they mix well!

I would also highly recommend the Vallejo glaze medium. Mix it with a paint and plenty of water and it makes a great glaze to subtly change the colours of models. I use it to smooth blends between paints. Paint a highlight, then apply a thin glaze of the original colour to help the blend.

Sorry it's a long message but hope it helps!

@ gondorian-knight Thanks, I appreciate the long message. The details are really what matters for me and I like to know what other people think. I think I will go will vallejo for now, as you also get more paint for the price which i think is a plus. I will also look into the glaze. Im new to that method, but I have seen some of its effects and wanna try. Once again thanks, your messages have been very helpful.

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