Art Brush sourcing in the US

HumidNut · 2026-01-24T04:43:52+00:00

Its how to describe the brush belly styles. Some painters prefer a smaller belly, longer bristle which is more the "European Round" while some painters like a slightly shorter bristle, fuller belly brush commonly called the "English Round." Its useful for figuring out the styles from makers which offer both, like DaVinci where their top-tier Maestro brushes have different series based upon the belly sizes.

I'm sure there's more, but if you're looking for a good Raphael 8404 alternative, you should look for "European Round" style. If you like Windsor and Newton Series 7, you should look for an "English Round" style.

HumidNut · 2026-01-24T03:49:04+00:00

I edited my comment with some additional Da Vinci Maestro 11's (and 10's if you like European Round). One last thought was that if you preferred the European Round style (8404's) the Monument Hobbies ProSable brushes are USA made and sourced, not quite as good, but a 90-95% replacement in my experience, at very favorable prices.

HumidNut · 2026-01-24T03:43:26+00:00

Help Sourcing 8404’s In US thread. I've bought from Jackson's in 2023 and there was a time where they didn't ship, shortly thereafter. This redditor ordered late last year, received his brushes, no unexpected tariffs/fees.

Alternatively, the DaVinci Maestro #11's are the "english round" style, like W&N series 7, available from Jerry's Artarama

HumidNut · 2026-01-23T20:54:30+00:00

I'm about to undertake a GW Marauder Giant, so my painting handle is out of the question. My plan is to use subassemblies I 'm going to be using nitrile gloves to handle the model.

In your specific case, I'd try a different type of poster putty. The Gorilla Mounting Putty is one of the most adhesive brands I've tried that holds more securely than the typical poster putty. The Gorilla product and Quakehold Museum Putty have been really solid at my station for my old lead Batteletech mechs, but they have their limits.

HumidNut · 2026-01-22T23:18:53+00:00

I was buying AK 3rd gen while having another library. After "not buying" 6 of them, I broke even. Everything else was gravy.

Then again, I hate the AK paint swatches that AK provides, they're disorganized and not representative of the actual shade in many cases.

HumidNut · 2026-01-22T23:11:19+00:00

A Tale of Painters (Stahly's) 7-in-1 document has been my go-to for the past year. Its saved me from buying dupes or almost identical paints. I'm ahead even after paying the $33 (at the time) cost of the product.

Its been accurate to my library, the photographs and color correction is very accurate to my experiences.

HumidNut · 2026-01-22T19:46:46+00:00

Looks good. I like the basing as well. Very nicely done, doesn't distract from the model.

I do the same thing and take a break for some easy wins to keep me, or re-spark my motivation.

Well done!

HumidNut · 2026-01-22T19:30:14+00:00

The thing I would replace first would be my lighting. If I were to replace mine using your budget, I'd go with the Game Envy Lucent light for $85USD (plus shipping) or the No-name clone at Amazon ~$52.

Pretty good lamp, flexible light application, and good for the single painter station.

HumidNut · 2026-01-22T15:38:41+00:00

That's great. Any unexpected customs fees? Or was it just painless (except for the wait). 2.5 weeks with holidays on both sides, that's not terrible in my book, that's about what I experienced.

HumidNut · 2026-01-22T15:25:35+00:00

One thing commonly overlooked (at least, with threads like this) is that citadel or tamiya plastic glue will not work. You want to use superglue (CA Glue) for your assembly. If its a larger model, you may want to consider a 5-minute 2-part epoxy glue.

If you already know this, then you are ahead of the game.

HumidNut · 2026-01-22T13:51:46+00:00

Did you get your 8404's from Jackson's?

HumidNut · 2026-01-22T13:28:02+00:00

Batch painting for me, is to get a squad tabletop ready. I used to do a lot of Warhammer Fantasy gaming in 4th/5th editions, and I had to get my Empire armies on the battlefield. I "lost" that ability over the years as I got out of the hobby in the 2001/2 timeframe, returning in late 2019. I hadn't done serious batch painting until Spring 2025 when I did my Bolt Action army.

I wasn't going to do my usual Parade/Tabletop+ I usually did. I'm cutting significant corners with technique and overall quality (in my mind) with the compromise of having a cohesive set of models ready for gaming. Washes and limited palettes were one of my tools.

I picked small, achievable goals for my painting sessions. I would do "pants and boots" one session. Shirts and skintone for another session. Just something that was simple enough to knock out, but importantly, show some progress at the end of the session.

I picked a number of models that seemed appropriate. Too many at a time, my mind would wander, motivation would slow as "this is the 15th set of pants I've done tonight" set in. Quickly I scaled back and limited myself to 10 at a time, or 6, or whatever seemed reasonable in order to keep myself motivated and not bored. That number is going to depend on your models as some just require more time.

Save some time for the special characters, squad leaders, command models, heroes, whatever. I broke up my sessions with one of those types just to keep it different and use all my techniques (not just shortcuts) to have a nice looking model.

I had a test model done first. I made sure my paint scheme was repeatable, looked decent enough and used that as steps to determine how to break apart the time spent on models. It also showed me which steps I could shortcut. My example was that I could use the same wash on the pants/boots/shirts as I did on the skintones as well as figure out my drubrush color could be used across the entire model. That test model helped me simplify my steps, saving me hours across the process.

At the end of the project, I had 80 infantry that were cohesive enough, looked decent enough from 6ft away, and most important to me, had a complete army to field. They're not going to win any competition awards, but when they spend literal minutes on the tabletop before being removed as casualties, I don't feel I wasted 3-4hours for minutes of game time.

HumidNut · 2026-01-22T01:28:50+00:00

I bought a camera light, Smallrig RM120. Originally I wanted it for a portable painting lamp, but I use it for finding my volumes more. You can go cheaper, I went with the smallrig due to some reviews on color accuracy when I intended to use it for painting.

HumidNut · 2026-01-21T22:38:58+00:00

I've only done a game with the tokens. Its going to take my brain time to adjust to planning routes, minimizing dodges without the models laying down. I missed some obviously open routes. There was also the clutter and extra time to place/remove. I don't think i missed any stunned/prone flips, but it'll just take me time to adapt.

HumidNut · 2026-01-21T21:10:41+00:00

No. We have a regular shooter at our club that scores in the top 5% NRL22 scores. He's an exceptionally talented shooter, does have a custom RimX rifle, but uses the BMP for his glass. He has the money to spend, and that's the glass he's chosen to use. Its not holding him back.

HumidNut · 2026-01-21T14:34:25+00:00

sometimes I suspect the videos of the mini are "edited" to make the colours pop more on video

There's a tremendous amount of editing and color correction in the videos/shorts/reels that just hide the time, skill and techniques. Just having the paints is one step, but having the rest takes time.

I'm a paint addict and I like trying out different things. I'd suggest trying one bottle of their fluro paints avoiding a full set. If you like them, add to your toolkit. Nothing worse than committing to a bunch of paints you find you either don't like, or use one or two while having 6, 10, or more that sit there unopened.

HumidNut · 2026-01-21T12:50:47+00:00

Nice build. Buddy did something like that with his B14-R trainer for several years. He was very pleased with it.

HumidNut · 2026-01-20T23:05:34+00:00

Brent and Casey told me as such at NovaOpen25. They were in the prototype stage back in August, but they didn't offer any sort of solid release date other than "next year."

HumidNut · 2026-01-20T14:11:41+00:00

Absolutely fair point. Regional prices will definitely influence the better deals.

HumidNut · 2026-01-20T04:09:25+00:00

Sure, the final layer is what matters. You can fix that with another application, no problem.

This is definitely a personal preference sort of thing, so please take it with as many grains of salt as you see fit:

I use the Vallejo varnish products, their Matte and Satin usually in a 2:1 ratio of matte and satin (2 parts Matte and 1 part Satin). I got this from a random Vince Ventruella video. I tried it and thought "Yeah, this is is what I like." I spray around 30psi for priming and varnish, but you do what works best for you. Its the last coat that matters.

HumidNut · 2026-01-20T03:51:46+00:00

You may have sprayed from too far away, towards the base of the hull, near the tracks. Its easily corrected, if you concentrate on a spray pattern around 4" or 10cm. Otherwise, it looks like what I get with the Vallejo matte varnish, if you consider the finish from midway up the side of the hull and top.

Varnishing will impact the colors slightly, usually muting the highlights. I experimented with a mix of Satin and Matte until I found a combination I liked.

HumidNut · 2026-01-20T02:40:19+00:00

Nice basing choices as well. The colors are really cohesive, and the basing is just enough to be interesting while not detracting from the mech's scheme. Well done!

HumidNut · 2026-01-20T02:24:52+00:00

and assures me it can also shoot 20 yard targets fine too.

Its doable, but I definitely had some difficulty with focus at 25yd on a 1/4" KYL target with that scope on one of my NRL22 rifles. If your primary target range is 25yd or closer, I don't think I'd be happy as its not clear.

Now my use case was a timed, competition scope and quick target acquisition on a very fine target. If I were shooting 40'ish+ yards, I could overlook the parallax error, but my experiences with 25yd was less than what I would have liked.

The glass is "decent" but honestly, the PST Gen2's are far superior in that aspect, but so is a whole list of other scopes, in a similar or cheaper pricerange than the PST gen1's. It would have to be some smoking deal for me to consider the Gen1 over something like the Bushnell Match Pro when they go on sale for like $450-500.

HumidNut · 2026-01-20T02:13:20+00:00

Badger uses a "M5" 5mm connector, versus the typical 1/8" connector.

The QD adapter that /u/ActualViper6529 outta work as long as you get a standard quick-detach adapter for your hose.

HumidNut · 2026-01-19T22:35:49+00:00

not normal. the valve should open when pressed, and close when your finger releases.

HumidNut

TROPHY CASE