Just lately I've found my brushes are stripping off the previous layer of paint, sometimes down to the base, as I'm drybrushing/highlighting with less paint on my brush.

What's causing it? Is it the age of the brush? Is it that my brush needs a good soak in paint remover?

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Namarie

Sometimes as simple as the paint your brushing onto isn't fully dry.

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In addition to what DMS said, it could also be that the hairs of the brush are just to sturdy. Washing it could help, but it could also be good to press less hard when drybrushing.
Also, when this happens the previously painted layers were probably very thin.

Also, maybe grease from handling the mini or dust from filing it before aplying the primar or paint coats.

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I would bet on the original paint not being completely dry or cured.

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My first thought is how did you undercoat the model? Brushing on undercoat and not letting it dry properly can have this effect.

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Thanks for the advice chaps.

In many ways I'm still a bit of a newbie.

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Namarie

I didn't even know that was possible :/ After painting literally 1000's of models that's never happened. My bet is insufficient priming of the model and too thin paint not dry before dry brushing.

Use a size 1 or 2 flat brush with soft bristles and ensure it is kept clean. When it starts to stiffen with old paint that you can't clean off, or deform through repeated use, throw it away.

If you find you're still scraping away the base coat, then perhaps spray it with a matt varnish before drybrushing it.

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Dagster