Paintbrushes for Miniatures
Expensive sable round brushes of size 1 and 2 are an essential piece of equipment. These brushes can cost as much as US $ 10.00 (£ 7.00) each, but they are worth every penny considering the excellent painting results one can achieve with high quality brushes. Sable brushes will last a long time, particularly if they are cleaned with dishwashing detergent or – better yet – gall soap on a routine basis. Cheap brushes lose their tip almost immediately and they are ruined very quickly.
Smaller round brushes of size 0 or even 00 are not recommended for painting miniatures in this scale. These small brushes hold so little paint that they need to be reloaded practically after every single brush stroke. The constant interruption will result in a lower quality output and it will significantly slow down your painting speed. With the proper brushes, a regiment of 24 figures may easily be painted in an evening or two.
Flat Paintbrushes
Flat paintbrushes of size 3 and 4 are perfect for speedpainting waistcoats, breeches and gaiters, which can take forever to paint with a round brush.
Dry Brushes
Drybrushing is a valuable painting technique, but it can quickly destroy paintbrushes, especially if abrasive surfaces like sand-covered wargame figure stands are drybrushed. To minimize the damage, consider recycling old brushes for drybrushing work, or using cheap bristle brushes for the rougher drybrushing jobs, and reserving sable brushes only for the most delicate drybrushing of figures, vehicles and equipment.