Brush types for miniature painting

You can paint a whole army with two or three brushes, as long as they are the right ones. This guide explains what a brush is made of, the different hairs and shapes, what the sizes mean, and which brush to reach for at each stage of a model. If you just want names, see the best brushes for miniature painting.

The parts of a brush

Tip (point): The last few hairs. On a good round they come to a single sharp point when wet. This is the part that does almost all the work on a miniature.
Belly: The fat middle of the hair, which holds the reservoir of paint. A bigger belly lets you paint longer before the tip dries.
Heel: Where the hair meets the metal. Paint that gets in here dries, pushes the hairs apart and ruins the point.
Ferrule: The metal tube that grips the hair. Crimped onto the handle.
Handle: Wood or plastic. Short handles are easier to control close to a model; long ones are for easel painting.

For miniatures, the point is everything. A brush with a fine, single point can paint a hairline and a whole cloak, depending on how much of the hair you press down. A brush that splits into two points or curls at the tip can't do either well, whatever its size.

Hair: sable, synthetic or a blend

Hair	What it is like	Best for
Kolinsky sable	Natural hair from the tail of the kolinsky, a Siberian weasel. The hairs taper naturally and have scales that hold paint, so a kolinsky round carries a lot of paint in the belly and still keeps a very sharp tip that springs back into shape. It is the most expensive hair and wears out quickly if you scrub with it or leave paint to dry in it.	Layering, blending, glazing, edge highlights, eyes: anything where the point matters.
Other natural hair	Red sable, weasel, squirrel and blends of them. Softer or less springy than kolinsky and cheaper. Goat hair is very soft and turns up in drybrushes made for miniatures.	Washes and glazes (squirrel), soft drybrushing (goat).
Synthetic	Nylon or polyester fibres (taklon is one common name). Tough, cheap and easy to clean, and they don't mind harsh paints. They hold less paint than natural hair, so the tip dries faster, and over time the tip tends to curl into a hook. Good modern synthetics come close to sable for a while.	Basecoating, washes, metallics, contrast and speed paints, drybrushing, terrain, and anything that would wreck a good brush.
Synthetic blends	Synthetic fibres made to copy sable, sometimes mixed with natural hair. Somewhere in between: better paint-holding than plain nylon, cheaper and tougher than kolinsky.	A good main brush if you would rather not buy animal hair, or want to keep costs down.

Most painters end up with both: one or two good kolinsky rounds for layering and detail, and a handful of cheap synthetics for everything that is hard on a brush. If you would rather not use animal hair, a good synthetic blend round is a perfectly good main brush; replace it more often.

Shapes

Shape	Looks like	Use it for
Round	Round belly tapering to a point.	The miniature painter's main brush: base, layer, blend and highlight with one brush by changing how much of it you use.
Detail or spotter	A round with short hair and a tiny belly.	Eyes, tiny freehand, rivets. Holds little paint, so it dries quickly; many painters prefer a bigger round with a good point.
Flat	Square end, hair pressed flat.	Wide even coats on vehicles and terrain, straight edges, and stippling texture.
Filbert	Flat with a rounded end.	Soft-edged coats on cloaks and big panels, and wet blending on busts.
Drybrush	Short, stiff or very soft hair, often with a domed or angled end.	Drybrushing: dusting nearly dry paint over raised detail. Wears out fast, so it is always a separate brush.
Wash or glaze brush	A large round or soft flat that holds a lot of liquid.	Washes, shades and contrast paints over a whole model, and broad glazes.
Liner	Long, thin round.	Long smooth lines on banners, vehicles and freehand.

What the sizes mean

Round brushes are numbered from very small (000, also written 3/0, and smaller still) through 0, 1 and 2 up to large sizes like 8 or 12. There is no shared standard: a size 1 from one maker can be noticeably bigger or smaller than another's, and the length of the hair matters as much as the width. Some makers publish the real size; Rosemary & Co, for example, give their Series 33 size 1 as 1.7 mm across and 11.8 mm long.

For 28 to 32 mm models, a size 1 or 2 round with a sharp point does most of the work, including much of the detail. Smaller brushes hold less paint, so the tip dries out before you finish a line; that is why experienced painters often do eyes with a size 1 rather than a 000. Bigger models, busts and vehicles want bigger brushes.

Which brush for which job

Job	Brush	Why
Basecoating	A medium round or small flat, synthetic	Gets paint on fast and doesn't matter if it wears.
Washes and shades	A large round or wash brush, synthetic	Holds plenty of liquid so the wash goes on in one pass.
Contrast and speed paints	A medium round, synthetic	A full load flows on evenly; the paints are hard on fine hair.
Layering	A size 1 or 2 round with a sharp point, kolinsky or a good synthetic	Holds enough paint to work a whole panel with the tip.
Glazing and blending	A size 1 or 2 round, kolinsky	Thin paint dries more slowly in a big belly, giving you time to blend.
Edge highlights	A round with a sharp point, or the side of one	The side of the tip gives a steady line along an edge.
NMM, gems and glints	A size 0 or 1 kolinsky round	Tiny crisp dots and lines need a point that doesn't split.
Eyes and fine detail	A small round (0, 00) with a good point	Control. Use the smallest brush that still holds a little paint.
Zenithal and broad highlights	A large round or soft drybrush	Covers big areas from one direction quickly.
Drybrushing	A drybrush, synthetic or goat hair	The scrubbing would destroy any other brush.
Metallics	An old or cheap synthetic round	Metal flakes lodge in the heel and are hard to wash out.
Glue, varnish, texture paste	Your oldest brush	It will be ruined.

Linked jobs have their own step-by-step guide, with the best paints for each step.

Looking after your brushes

Rinse often. Dip and wipe every minute or so, even mid-layer, so paint never dries in the hair.
Keep paint off the heel. Load only the front third to half of the hair. Paint that reaches the ferrule dries there and splays the hairs apart for good.
Never leave a brush standing in water. It bends the tip and soaks the handle, which can loosen the ferrule.
Wash with brush soap at the end of a session. Work the soap into the hair gently in your palm, rinse, then shape the point with the soap still in it and leave it to dry. The soap sets the shape.
Store brushes tip up or lying flat, not tip down in a pot. When travelling, protect the tip; if you use the plastic cap, slide it on carefully so it doesn't catch the hairs.
Don't scrub or stipple with a good brush. Keep an old or cheap brush for drybrushing, texture, metallics, glue and varnish.
Retire brushes down the line. A kolinsky that has lost its point still makes a fine basecoat or wash brush.

Common mistakes

Buying the smallest brush for detail. A 000 holds so little paint that it dries before you finish the line. A size 1 or 2 with a sharp point does finer work.
Painting with a dry or overloaded brush. Thin paints to milk, load the belly, then wipe the tip on the palette so it comes back to a point.
Using one good brush for everything, then wondering why it hooks after a month.
Dipping the whole brush into a pot. Put paint on a palette and load from there.
Judging a brush dry in the shop. A brush only shows its real point when it is wet.