I feel bad continuously high jacking Sorastro's thread for my own questions so I am starting a new topic to ask about your brush collection.

The first set of brushes I bought were the Winsor and Newton Princeton Kolinsky Sable sizes 0 and 2. I used these for approximately 15 miniatures and the 0 has lost its point and the 2 is still in OK shape but not great. Combined cost for these was around $38 Canadian, so not horrible but not cheap either. I want to buy a new brush as this one is just frustrating to try to paint with now, but I don't want to waste money again. Part of it could be my brush care, so I am curious how you clean your brushes (I use the masters paste in the beige container, but I find it hard not to bend or mash the bristles of a smaller brush when trying to get the product on there, do you add water directly to the jar to lather it up?).

I have looked high and low in this city and can't locate any Series 7 brushes. The ones I have found they want $14-20 bucks shipping just to get it here, almost the price of the brush! My wife is also heading down the States for work in a week so I could order some Series 7 brushes at a cheaper price than shipping here and get them that way. I was looking at amazon.com or just through the actual winsor and newton website. If I was to go this route, which ones you would recommend I grab?

Sorry for starting a whole thread for my own questions but as I said I wanted to stop clogging up the painting thread.

You should go to rosemary and company's website and try their kolinsky Sable brushes. I just ordered some of the series 33 and 56. Have not received them yet. Looking forward to trying them out. Some of sorastro's videos he used some in them.

Posted twice. Sorry

I've had great performance from the Series 7 brushes. If you're looking for something a bit cheaper, I also use the Army Painter brushes. I've used my "Standard" Army Painter brush so much that the print on the 3 sides has worn off! As far as brush care, I typically wet the bristles quite thoroughly and then gently "brush" it over the cleaning product until there is a lather built up on it. I don't know that you'd necessarily hurt the cleaning soap if you put some water directly onto it, but I've not done this myself.

Main brush I use is a Tamiya 87017 and it's around 20 years old now and still very good after painting many armies, ships, vehicles etc. I also use a Grumbacher for detail that is just as old, it's lost a couple hairs but is still okay, but probably time for a replacement.

$38 for two brushes is a ripoff when the Tamiya is $2/brush, delivers paint perfectly and lasts forever. I clean them by getting them wet and wiping them fairly vigorously on paper towels repeatedly, making sure to leave them with a point.

I use Army Painter brushes and I've wrecked a character brush so far by letting some paint stay in it. I've also tried some cheap Kolinsky brushes I happened to find in a store that sells all sorts of knicknacks, tools, etc. Those have longer bristles than the brushes designed for figurines but I've found them to be good. Army Painter Kolinsky Master class is also a nice brush for detail work. I paint eyebrows, collars and other small details with this.

I maintain my brushes mostly the same way as Union described. Sometimes I use normal hand soap to clean the bristles. Usually it's enough to make sure that the brush has a point after washing and drying it and storing it upward. When I started all my brushes were laying on their sides in the same box where I keep the paints. Now I store brushes in an open can so the brushes are up. It's even helped restore some of the brushes I thought ruined like the Citadel Starter brush that came with some paints I bought. And I use this brush now only to mix the paint.

Curious, I've gotten by so far with just a 0 and a 2 for brush sizes, but do you find you ever use a 3 or a 00? Painting things like the Royal Guards I felt a 3 would have really sped up the base coats, but then that was it. Seems like over kill. The 00 again maybe for eyes? Finer details on some of the unique figures? Or is 0-1-2 the standard and should be able to do it all with those 3?

Heck, 99% of my painting is done with, effectively, a 2. Nothing more. Nothing less. As long as you look after it, and keep the points, you can get by.

Granted, I havn't painted Imperial Assault yet, but I have a business painting Armada Squadrons, and recently painted an entire set of Rebellion Figures.....

And those Rebellion Stormtroopers... Sheesh... I'll paint IA Stormies any day in comparison.

The rosemary and company's series 33 kolinsky Sable brushes work just as good as the Windsor Newton professional brushes. So they will be cheaper than the place where you purchased the others. Hope that helps.