A good brush won't make you a better painter overnight, but the wrong one will absolutely hold you back. If your paint dries before it reaches the model, your highlights come out wobbly, or your brush tip has curled over like a fish hook, the brush is probably the problem.
We've just added the Warhaus brush range to the shop, which comes in three types: kolinsky sable, synthetic, and goat-hair dry brushes. That makes it a handy way to explain the two questions we get asked most. Natural or synthetic? And what size?
The Quick Version
| Natural (sable) | Synthetic | |
|---|---|---|
| Point | Very fine, and keeps it | Good when new, wears faster |
| Paint capacity | Holds a lot, releases it smoothly | Holds less, needs reloading more often |
| Toughness | Needs looking after | Handles rough treatment |
| Price | Higher | Lower |
| Best for | Layering, highlights, blending, fine detail | Basecoats, metallics, washes, texture, anything messy |
Most painters end up owning both, and using each for what it's good at.
Natural Hair: Why Sable Is Worth It
The Warhaus Sable Brush is made from kolinsky sable, which has been the standard for fine painting for a very long time. There are three reasons for that.
- The point. Each hair tapers naturally to a fine tip, so the whole brush comes to a sharp point and returns to it stroke after stroke.
- The belly. Natural hair holds a surprising amount of paint in the body of the brush and feeds it to the tip steadily. You get longer, smoother strokes, and the paint stays wet for longer.
- The snap. The bristles spring back into shape when you lift off, which is what gives you control.
That combination is why sable is the pick for edge highlights, layering, glazing, blending, eyes and freehand.
The trade-off is that sable costs more and needs care. Treat it well and it will last for years. Use it to stir metallic paint or scrub texture paste onto a base and you'll ruin it in an afternoon.
Synthetic: The Workhorse
The Warhaus Synthetic Brush uses man-made fibres. They're tougher, cheaper and 100% vegan-friendly.
Synthetics stand up to the jobs that wreck natural hair: basecoating whole squads, metallic paints, washes, Contrast paints, texture paints and general rough work. If one gets destroyed, it hasn't cost you much to replace.
What they give up is longevity at the tip. Over time a synthetic point tends to curl or splay, and they carry less paint, so you'll be going back to the palette more often. A fresh synthetic can still do fine detail, it just won't stay that sharp for as long.
The Third Kind: Dry Brushes
Drybrushing is hard on brushes, so it gets its own tool. The Warhaus Dry Brush uses soft natural goat hair in a rounded shape, which lays paint onto raised edges gently instead of leaving streaks.
Never drybrush with your good sable. It's the fastest way to kill one.
Choosing a Size
Brush sizes are numbered, and bigger numbers mean bigger brushes. Here's how the Warhaus sizes line up with the job.
Sable (00, 0, 1, 2, 3)
| Size | Use it for |
|---|---|
| 00 | Eyes, script, insignia and the very finest highlights |
| 0 | Tight edge highlights, small armour panels, line work |
| 1 | The all-rounder for most infantry models |
| 2 | Layering and blending on larger areas with control |
| 3 | Glazing and blending on bigger models |
Synthetic (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
| Size | Use it for |
|---|---|
| 1 | Small models, controlled layering, tight edges |
| 2 | The workhorse for most infantry |
| 3 | Layering and glazing on larger panels |
| 4 | Basecoating monsters, vehicles and scenic bases |
| 5 | Fast coverage on vehicles, monsters and terrain |
Dry Brush (S, M, L)
| Size | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Small | Small miniatures, weapons, faces, tight spots |
| Medium | Infantry, armour panels, cloaks, bases |
| Large | Vehicles, monsters and terrain |
Smaller Isn't Always Better for Detail
This is the one that surprises people. The natural instinct is to grab the tiniest brush you can find for fine detail, but a very small brush holds very little paint, and that paint dries on the tip before you've finished the stroke.
What does the detail work is the point, not the size of the brush. A size 1 sable with a sharp tip will paint a finer, smoother line than a tired 00, because it has a belly full of paint behind it keeping the tip wet. Save the 00 for the truly tiny jobs, and do most of your detail with a 0 or a 1.
What to Buy First
Just starting out:
- Synthetic size 2 for basecoating
- Synthetic size 1 for smaller areas
- Medium dry brush
That covers a first army without a big spend, and you won't feel bad while you're learning what not to do to a brush.
Ready to step up:
- Add a sable size 1 for layering and highlights
- Add a sable 0 or 00 when you want to tackle eyes and fine detail
- Keep the synthetics for basecoats, metallics and washes
Painting vehicles, monsters or terrain: add a synthetic 4 or 5 and a large dry brush.
Making Your Brushes Last
- Only load paint onto the bottom half of the bristles. Paint that dries up inside the metal ferrule is what splits a tip.
- Rinse often while you paint, not just at the end.
- Never leave a brush standing tip-down in the water pot.
- Use cool water. Hot water can loosen the glue holding the bristles.
- Reshape the point with your fingers after cleaning and let it dry flat or tip-up.
- Give sable brushes a wash with brush soap every so often.
- Keep metallics, texture paints, glue and drybrushing well away from your sable.
If you drybrush a lot, the Warhaus Texture Palette is worth a look too. It takes the excess paint off the brush without drying the bristles out the way a paper towel does.
Come and Try Them
Brushes are one of those things that are easier to choose in person. Drop into the shop at 22 Castlemaine Street, Kirwan, and we'll help you match a brush to what you're painting. Or have a look through the Warhaus range and the rest of our painting brushes and tools.