Welcome
to another review here on Massive Voodoo.

If you are interested in the many reviews we already wrote, check this link:
http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/2009/10/miniatures-unpacked-overview.html

This review is about Kolinsky brushes from the company MiniWarpaint from Russia.




To be honest, brushes are a delicate theme to talk about.

Why you might ask?
Well, because it is always personal preferences on how you paint with what tool.
Brushes are the main tool for the miniature painter and you can say there are as many different preferences, experiences and oppinions out there with painters on their brushes. It is a tool, that will be used for painting. Some prefer this company, others this one, some are sponsored by this one, others by this one.

One thing is clear when you are looking into new brushes:
Do not buy them, because somebody, somewhere said you will become a better painter when using this brush. You need to work with brushes to understand their "flow" and how they fit to your way of painting. So this is a very personal view on these brushes from MiniWarPaint.

It took me almost a year to write this review. Why?
Well, because I was painting with them and used them on certain projects.

During this year I was using:

MiniWarPaint Set of brushes series Regular
and several brushes from the 'Liners-series'

What I do like about them on the first look is the different colors that help you pick the brush you need without searching too much. Of course, only if you painted with them and get used to the colors. A really good idea.

When it comes to large surfaces like busts or bases or vehicles I was mainly using one of my favourite brushes by Brokentoad, number 2 or 1, but I can say I was always drawn to the brushes from MiniWarPaint for detail work.

The ones from the regular set offer a wide range of sizes that you can use for all sorts of detail.
After one year of painting and several painted miniatures they still look good and hold their tip. Most of you, who know me, know how I treat my brushes and it is a miracle how these survived the last year so good.

The thicker grip, going convex to the brush tip allows you to find your perfect grip for your personal way of painting.

I was using the regular brush set to paint a lot of details on my 28mm projects and Astronauts from last year. Some examples:

They are very precise and as you can see I was painting most detail with the tiny ones from the set, they got beaten up the most during one year of painting:

So after one year and many projects that these brushes painted through I can say they are a really good deal, looking on the price of the full set of 28,00 € for 7 brushes. Yes, seven brushes.


Looking at the liner brushes
from MiniWarPaint, I did not use them as often as the regular ones and they survived much better :D

Still I used them, but with their certain purpose they have - based on the technique of freeline drawing with brushes - I recognized I was not often in need of them in my way of painting or the subjects I was painting.

As you can see above and below, compared to the regular ones they are much longer. This is what MiniWarPaint says about these types of brushes:

"MiniWarPaint "Liner" series kolinsky brushes are specially designed for painting miniatures in watercolor techniques. The brushes feature a largeer liner capacity and an unprecedented sharp tip. The main focus of the brushes is the use of the lining technique (drawing long thin lines for contouring and stroking), working in recesses, drawing small details, as well as working with acrylic washes.

The ability of the liner to take up a lot of water, to expel it smoothly and evenly for a long time allows you to work longer, less often turning to the palette. The sharp tip in combination with the medium length of the liner allows you to work out the smallest details with perfect brush control."

I used them here and there, but to be honest with you, not very often. I can imagine that they make painting freehands on large surfaces much more easier, for example on Games Workshop's large models like tanks, heavy walkers or a giant's tattoo. Unfortanetely I did not paint one of these models in the last year while testing the brushes.

What I can say is that I used them for my watercolor illustrations I do once in a while for exactly the reason they are meant to be used: Precise lining with a great color flow for long lines.

Some exxamples:









I was really using them carefully and protected them well with their brush cap. Like I said, if you are painting larger surfaces on your big models or freehands somewhere in your diorama these make a lot of sense.



Well, all in all I can say after one year of using the MiniWarPaint brushes:
They do their job pretty well:

• good brush tips
• comfortable handling
• colors to seperate them and find them fast
• really good for detail work
• long lasting Kolinsky brushes
• affordable price
  

Again, a brush is always a very personal tool that you can only get to know while painting with it.
I can recommend these from my point of view. The company behind these brushes is helpful and trustworthy and do not only offer brushes for fair prices. You can find really nice basing material and miniatures in their store too. If you are looking for new tools and want to give these a try you have my recommandations:

MiniWarPaint

Thank you for enoying this review.

Keep on happy painting!
Yours,
Roman


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