"Trouble with new Kolinsky Newton Brush" Topic

So basically, I decided to get a better quality brush for my new Napoleonic Croatians (15mm), and decided to get my first Kolinsky brush, which I got in 000.

However, It is impossible for me to effectively paint with it, because at the very tip of the point of the bristles, it has a tiny stray hair, and most of the paint bypasses it.

This makes it incredibly difficult for me, as an amateur, to actually get a figure looking good. The tip just gets in the way.

This is the first day of using the paint brush.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Trim the stray hair.

I've never used anything smaller than a 10/0
can you clip the offending bristle?

I have tried to clip it, but I'm not sure what's happening with it.

I'm either to scared to ruin the brush (I tried trimming it), or it's not just one bristle that keeps popping up, it might be multiple.

Also, what should I trim it with?
I have a nice sharp hobby knife and a small pair of scissors.

Give it to someone you don't really like and ask them to fix it for you. You cannot lose!

Interesting…I have not seen stray hairs on W&N Series 7s, but you should just have to clip it even.

I have one 000 brush that I use for Perry plastic faces, but otherwise I use W&N 0 or 1 on everything else from 28mm to 6mm. The fine point, combined with the ability to hold paint is what makes them so expensive.

Do invest in some brush soap, and clean after every session, letting them lie flat until they dry.

Thanks for the advice.

Can somebody like talk me through this? I really don't want to mess this brush up.

Why not return it?

Tom

I can't really return it because I ordered it from the website and to be honest I'm not willing to give it back :)

Interwebs to the rescue! YouTube link

Thanks for the video, however, the stray hair isn't anywhere at the side etc.

It's a really small one at the very tip of the point of the bristles, and that gets paint everywhere and it's very annoying.

I trim mine with a X-Acto knife.

Echo Mako's sentiments, carefuly trim it off with a very sharp x-acto. It could be helpful to hold the brush against a dark (or bright, depending on the color of the bristles) surface to make it easier to see.

Definitely use a brand new blade on the X-Acto

The few times I've had strays I also use a fresh new xacto blade and remove the offending bristle.

I try to isolate the offending hair with an X-Acto knife then trim with small sharp scissors or nail tech clippers.

Try scalpel with fresh blade.

The point of the scalpel for me is that the blades are relatively inexpensive (if bought in bulk) so that you don't feel bad about changing the blade frequently.

I have 2 x-acto knives – 1 has fresh blade, the other the previous fresh blade and gets used for the majority of tasks

Although not your original issue – I wouldn't recommend a 000 brush. One of the reasons to use a Kolinsky is that even the larger brushes have a great point, so a 0 would actually work better for painting. I generally use size 1 for base colours. I have a W&N 7 000 but it is so thin that I only use it for very fine lines, like black-lining. Any painting with the 000 takes ages because you have to constantly clean paint off so that it doesn't dry and adding more paint because it goes on so quickly

Good luck

John

This does not answer the question, but it may or may not prevent the problem in the future.

I get my Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Miniature brushes from Dick Blick and have never had a problem with the tip, or anything else for that matter.

Link: link

Tom

Never go smaller then a size 0 on Kolinsky Sable brushes. Most of time a 1 brush has a fine enough point to paint 15mm miniatures and holds enough paint to actually finish what you are doing on the model.

With the WN Series 7 brushes, there is no need to go smaller than a 0. My workhorse brush is a 2 and it holds a point beautifully. I also use the regular Series 7 brushes and not the miniature brushes, as the longer bristles hold more paint.

If you have stray hairs, use a new X-Acto blade and carefully trim the offender.

Whenever I've had trouble with the tips, I get a brand new razor blade (single blades, like you can get at Harbor Freight) and I give it a shave. It's hard to describe, but I'll try.

I hold the brush tip against something dark and put on some high powered reader glasses to magnify. Then I angle the razor at 45deg angle and carefully run the edge over the tip to shave off the offending bit. I've done this for tip curls on synthetics as well as a weird "split/curl hair" I had on my W&N 0. I was worried about ruining it the entire time but I was able to get it. Just be patient, SLOW and use something very sharp.

Thank you all!

All of this advice will be taken into account.

Whatever you do, go lightly on the cutting/trimming, since you can always take more off, but it's very difficult if not impossible to put the bristles back, once removed.