Foundation paints =I=censor=I= my brushes?

I use a variety of brushes, ranging from $10 a pop to... well, a pack of seven for a buck. The latter ones are OK for rough jobs and "test" schemes, and are good for taking a lot of abuse because they're cheap to replace (as drybrushes they're very good 'cause drybrushing tends to destroy brushes)

I also bought some Foundation paints, and have been using some purple on my Necrons.

Today whilst I was painting using one of these said cheap brushes, and halfway through a Necron Warrior the bristles started to have a hissy fit and die on me. One splintered, no problem - pull it out, keep going. It's a cheap brush, right? Well, more and more start doing this until eventually the entire brush tip has given up on life. I find this unusual because these brushes have been through hell and back - various paints, primers, glues, nothing has dealt any damage to them until I started using Foundation paints.

has anyone else had similar experiences with brushes being destroyed by Foundation paints? I haven't used them a whole lot but I do know they contain a lot of pigment - perhaps the type and quantity can destroy brushes. I've only used them with this one cheap brush and the GW official "basecoat" brush (which mine appears to be a piece of junk, the bristles are horrible).

This is caused by Foundation paint, yes, but it is easy to fix. Foundation is much thicker than regular acrylics, and contains less float medium (acrylic is a type of glue, each kind of paint dries at a different rate), closer to white glue. If you let the paint get to the start of your bristles, then it will dry there, forcing single hairs out. Three things to combat this.

1. Only use tip of brush, never let paint (of any kind!) get to the end of the bristles!

2. water those muthas down! they have loads of pigment, so keep em wet, or go to colors or art placement, and pick up some acrylic float medium (can slow drying time).

3. wash your brush off every few minutes, this will protect your brush. Also make sure to clean brushes thoroughly.

Yep, any paint in the base of the brush where it meets the ferule is bad news.

I love foundation paints, and they haven't caused me ay problems. As has been said already, rinse often, water them down, and possibly consider buying some brush soap. I use Mona Lisa pink soap from Micheals and it's great. After cleanign your brush conventionally if you rub it in some soap you might be suprised how much extra stuff comes out. I know I was!

Upon closer inspection of the brush it seems that just a tiny amount of the paint managed to work its way into the end of the bristles. I guess the quality of the brush amplified the "oh my god I'm dying" factor.

Thanks for the advice. I had watered down the foundation a wee bit but I guess it could go a lot more without reducing its effectiveness.

yea, you to water foundation paints alot. I've had lots of brushes that got all screwed up from that stuff getting to the end of the bristles.

Could be worse! Once you start wrecking kolinsky brushes they're a lot more expensive, and much harder to replace.

don't GW make their brushes with kolinsky?

Maybe. I don't like them very much at all. I like the brushes I use quite a bit (Raphael 8404) but they are quite a bit more than ther GW ones.

master of the deathwing wrote:don't GW make their brushes with kolinsky?

that seems to be the general consensus around the 'net about their brushes, but that still doesn't save some of them from being utter pieces of fething gak.

*chucks basecoat brush in the garbage*

now to continue my foundation-ing with a brush that isn't brand new and also isn't completely frayed.

One thing that wasn't mentioned is having a water glass that holds the brush in the water like the GW brush cup or whatever is great (I've MacGyver'd my own, still in the process of adding an electric fan to the bottom to cycle the water... yay engineering!) but lately I've done alot of production line painting (orks and necrons 10-30 models at once) and it thrashes brushes because of laziness/forgetting to wash the brush often during long runs with the same color, i've started a two brush system where now since i used to go through brushes so quick i picked up 2 detail and fine detail GW brushes and then cycle them between models so they're soaking and so far havn't gotten any paint dryed at the top of the bristles which seems to be working out for me.

I run a nice trio of Cirrus Windsor & Newton Kolinsky sable brushes. bit pricy at $40 per brush, but its like a dream. I only whip those out for really intricate pieces or paintings, usually artificial sable colours brushes are good.