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Fine Brushes 5-0, 2-0 etc.

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  • Member since
    March 2012
Fine Brushes 5-0, 2-0 etc.
Posted by Yuri on Monday, April 23, 2012 11:09 AM

I think I have read all the posts. I apologise if this topic has been covered. Question: I have several fine tip red sable brushes from different manufacturers. Using them with acrylics, the tips always split into several hairs ruining the detail I"m trying to paint (cables, straps, panels...). These are too small to mask. I try to keep a light touch.  Is it the brush quality or my incompetence or both?

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Monday, April 23, 2012 11:22 AM

Do you mean they do that as your painting even though they are new.

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Monday, April 23, 2012 11:48 AM

Hi, Yuri, I've had the same thing happen with some of my fine-point brushes, eg, 10-0, 0-0.  I'm finding that it's related to the manufacturer, and it appears to happen most frequently with cheaper brushes from the PRC.  I need to get new brushes, and I'm going to try some made under Windsor & Newton's brand, and see if the additional cost translates into higher quality.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

Dre
  • Member since
    June 2007
  • From: here, not over there
Posted by Dre on Monday, April 23, 2012 12:11 PM

For super fine-point brushes, I've found that I'm better off with a high quality brush over a cheaper one.  HobbyLobby, if you have one, is decent place to start looking as are artist's supply stores.  HobbyLobby should stock a selection of both sable and synthetics to suit your needs- the brushes that are marked for use with acrylics don't seem to gunk up as badly and clean out more thoroughly than some others.  I try to reserve the sable brushes for enamels as they seem to clean out better than the ones intended for acrylics.

I've got one red sable spotting brush that started out as an 10-0 30+ years ago with my dad that is still my best tool for exceedingly small detail painting.

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Monday, April 23, 2012 12:12 PM

I buy more expensive brushes, the ones i get are from daler Rowney, and they last a while. But i always though red sable brushes were even more expensive.

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 9:02 AM

I often do these small lines with a toothpick.  I shake the bottle well, then put cap upside down on bench, dip toothpick in cap.  Just the right depth generally sticks to cap to put just the right amount on end of toothpick.

It is slow going as you cannot make a very long line before needing to dip pick back in cap, but I find I can control width better than with a brush. This technique works particularly well on cables and liquid lines cast into parts.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 11:32 AM

I checked the brands on my brushes.  The ones whose tips curled and distorted are by Atlas.  I wound up cutting off the curled bits, leaving a useable brush, though not for fine lines, as I had intended on buying the brush.

On the other hand, I have some brushes of the brand "Golden Fox/Reynaud d'Or", also made in the PRC, and their tips have held their shape nicely.

I also have some that I got at HobbyLobby, but the trademark is a facsimile of a signature in script, and I can't tell anymore, who makes them.  But they've also held their shape well.

Those are all natural sable brushes, by the way.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 11:39 AM

After cleaning the brush I always lick my finger and thumb and then rub the fibers into a sharp point with the moist fingers.

And yes I cover the salvia coated model afterward with several coats of varnish so it's sanitory Dead 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 11:46 AM

Gamera

After cleaning the brush I always lick my finger and thumb and then rub the fibers into a sharp point with the moist fingers.

I shape the points, too, but the thing about those brushed I mentioned was that as soon as I got paint on them, the bristles started curling.  I won't buy those brands again.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

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