Primary Tool of the Hobby: Brushes

My fascination with brushes and the set I finally have settled on

I have several things that I can't help buying and/or collecting; backpacks, storage bins and paint brushes.  If I take a walk through Office Depot, I gravitate to the storage bin area and wonder if this or that bin will be the best to store/transport my models.  While I do have several GW carrying cases, I am always seeking cheaper ways that provide the same function.  When I got into this hobby some 14 years ago, I knew next to nothing about brushes.  My first stop for brushes was my local Michael's craft store.  I bought brushes of all shapes and sizes and pretty much beat the snot out of them.  I also thought that I needed to use brushes with as few bristles as possible to paint the details onto the model.  Ugh.

I figured out that I was probably spending way more on cheap brushes than I needed to and, as I got more experience with painting, decided to plunk some money down on a set of Games and Gears (pictured above) brushes.  These I got for Christmas probably 5 or 6 years ago.  They worked out pretty well so I stuck with them.  I also stumbled on the idea of, "hey...you should clean your brushes with brush soap every now and then."  This extended the life of the brushes for sure but I don't use it consistently enough to really extend their life.  So the Games and Gears brushes are a mess now.  I also dumped the idea that fewer bristles are better, I started thinning my paints and using a wet palette, etc.

Scharff 3000 Kolinsky Sable Brushes

About a year or so ago, my friend, Ron, and I were gaming and talking shop and the subject of brushes came up.  He said he swears by these brushes that he gets from Secret Weapon Minis and that is pretty much what he uses for everything.  And he doesn't switch between different sizes of brushes for most of his work.  So I thought I'd give them a go.

 A year later, this us what they look like.  I have used these pretty much exclusively since I got them last summer.  I mean, I paint almost everything with just these two brushes and I really love them.  I went ahead and ordered 2 more a few weeks back because I thought the ones I have might be going but with a little brush soap they bounced back nicely.  I will continue to use these until even soap won't keep them alive!  A worthwhile investment into what is probably the most important tool in the hobby.

The moral of the story?  You don't really have to spend a boat load of money on a good brush but sometimes you get what you pay for.  These were not that expensive ($18 each) but running back to Michael's was costing me way more over time!

Same thing with paint...but that's another story (or post)!