If you’re painting larger curved surfaces start with a #2, #3 or #4. If you’re painting vehicles with very large flat surfaces, you will want a flat head brush (Which is a style I haven’t gone into below, other than them existing in the likes of Games Workshop& The Army Painter ranges.). 10. Da Vinci Maestro – Series 10 I’ve had some fine detail brushes fray on me after only one use. For those invested in the Citadel brand, these brushes are entwined into all of their painting guide media, from the White Dwarf and painting books to their online videos. If you are just starting out there’s nothing wrong with these especially considering the value-add Games Workshop gives you with all the painting guides they provide for free. You can easily follow along using their recommended tools and get up to a very-good painting standard using this kit. FauxHammer.com is dedicated to finding the best tools for your hobby. Start with our list of Essential Hobby Tools which will lead you to find the Top-10 tools for each category. Like many of the options on this list, Da Vinci’s Maestro Series 10 are watercolour brushes made from Kolinsky red sable hair. Preferred as the best brush by many miniature painters. They are some of the more affordable high-end brushes they come in just under the average price of brushes on this list. A huge range of sizes is available, from a crazy small 10/0 (aka 0000000000) to an insanely large size 50! The latter of which you have no need for, and don’t want to see the price of. The starting point for many miniature painters, if for nothing more than the only ones people are aware of due to Games Workshop’s popularity. The range strips away the typical naming convention used in every other art brush set. The skeptic in me believes this is to reduce people’s ability to directly compare them to other brand’s brushes, keeping users invested in Games Workshop.

After the Successful Campaign and release of Series S – Artis Opus followed up with the Series M (like the Winsor and Newton Miniature brushes above) made for fine detail work and more delicate/deliberate painters. Then the Series D – which are the absolute Best Drybrushes you can get ( see our Series D review here). These may be the best quality brushes you can get at a more affordable price than the comparable options. To have a more definitive answer we are going to need a lot more people using these brushes and getting the word out. Army Painter’s Wargamer Series are the most directly comparable range to GeeDubya’s ( Games Workshop’s) offering and in many peoples opinion, of superior quality. However, this is purely subjective. Unlike most of the alternate brands on this list where brush sizes follow the naming conventions used for all fine art brushes 000, 00, 0 1, 2, etc. Army Painter (like Games Workshop) have their own unique names for the brushes they offer. In some products, they do advise the equivalent Fine Art brush size. Their ‘Masterclass brush’ being something equivalent to an average 00 for example. I’ve had no issues with mine, but I’m an infrequent user and I keep them washed and clean with masters brush soap. They are an excellent choice of brush, but you are paying nearly half again on top of the Raphael 8404 Series and they are almost/over triple the cost of Rosemary & Co’s Series 22/33 respectively. Are the Winsor and Newton Brushes the best miniature paint brushes for you? Well, If you want to know, have a look at the summaries below.Fully endorsed by several signature (god-tier) miniature artists, I personally use these brushes exclusively now and have done since 2019. If you are after standard brushes for the likes of basecoating, edge-highlighting and layering/glazing/shading. Don’t start here. Find out what you do and don’t like about the performance of your current brushes and if you’re not happy, jump to a different brand when one starts to get stray hairs and needs to be replaced. With good care, all of your old brushes will remain loyal work-horses, as stipplers and smooshers at the very least. When they’ve totally had it, you can always use them as paint mixers. I still have my Games Workshop Citadel Starter brush that I got with my first paint kit over 23 years ago and yes, I still use it. Synthetic brushes are generally more resistant to washing & conditioning. Imagine washing a doll’s hair with a normal hair conditioner? It’s not going to make much of an impact. Synthetic brushes do have their uses, however, especially when using Oil & Enamel paints as the cleaning and thinning products (most of which are alcohol-based) will destroy the hairs on a typical sable brush. And whilst the sips of these brushes often curl. they can usually be straightened out and retrained to a point using some hot water.

Da Vinci Maestro Series 10 Watercolour Brushes are made from Siberian Kolinsky sable and meet the highest standards of brushmaking. The brushes are designed to hold less paint so that acrylic and watercolor painters do not deploy too much onto to the canvas. The shorter bristles provide sharp precision as they are less floppy. For painting miniatures, you would actually want the brushes to hold more paint in the belly but still have a fine tip. Which is why the normal set of Series 7 took the number 1 spot on this list. Don’t fret if you have bought these they are still high-quality brushes and they do the job. But when I swapped a couple of my miniature ones out for the normal ones; I noticed a considerable improvement in my painting, especially glazing. If you have these, great. If you haven’t invested yet, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

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Whilst there is no simple answer, the thing to take away here is that the best brush is the one that works for you. One that fits your style and budget appropriately, just don’t break the bank on a brush expecting it to make you a wizard. Start out with some cheap options like Games Workshop and/or Army Painter and work your way up when you have learned proper care and protection. And finally 2 series D brushes. The XL for basecoats and vehicles. and the Medium for shading and edge-highlighting infantry models. The 'Maestro' designation is reserved for brushes manufactured using male winter Siberian Kolinsky Red Sable fur. These are Da Vinci's top-of-the-line, highest quality brushes. The extra sharp needle-like point and longer tapered hair length results in faster action at the tip and a snap at the point. Expect superior spring and control, plus excellent water-holding performance.