Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Brush, Round SH #0

I have been an amateur miniature painter for a few years now and decided to get some better brushes. I previously thought the cheap synthetic brushes and the very cost-effective Kolinsky brushes that were $25 a pack of 3 were sufficient to paint. However, I have decided to try and elevate my painting. Since I started getting significantly better miniature paints, I decided I needed to get a high quality Kolinsky brush to paint with. As this one is highly recommended by a lot of miniature painters, I decided to give it a try.After years of using brushes that probably have not cost more than $2 in the past (with exception to a really cheap Kolinksy brush), this one is a game changer. Holds paint very well, keeps a tip, and is very smooth and accurate.As others have pointed out, you do often get a stray hair or two, but cutting them off with a sharp hobby knife or clippers fixes the problem. The only other problem I have is that because they are so expensive comparatively, I waited so long to give them a try. I now regret waiting so long.

Right out of the package the brush was an extremely fine point, with exception of one stray hair. As this hair was clearly bent and irreparable, I decided to cull it with a sharp hobby knife. I am using this brush for fine detail work and light paint application, which means I am not loading it with much acrylic paint, only the tip dipped in water thinned paint. I am attempting to preserve the brush, so I am babying it. I can't say how it would hold up against more rough use. I have only used it to apply paint in my space marine's eyes. It made placing the tiny white dot far more simple than it has been with other brushes/tools. The bristles tend to behave differently than other brushes I have owned, I would assume this is due to them being made of a finer material. The pigment and water flows directly to the tip, and the bristles don't tend to hold onto the paint, once you want it to leave the brush. This means you aren't struggling against the brush as you paint. This is an excellent brush, and for my purposes/light use case, was well worth the cost.

Not sure why people are saying these are bad brushes. Every other site, other than Amazon, holds these in high esteem. After buying the #3, and now the #0, I can say that, for inking, these are fantastic brushes. They hold they're point very well, allow ink to flow easily, and are easy to clean. Albeit, I haven't tried any other brand with ink... I say I've made a good choice!Update: I've been using these for inking, watercolor, and now gouache. They are awesome at everything I throw at them. I have the size 0, and 3, now I'm looking at dropping the $50 for the Size 6.Update #2: I ended up going with the size 7.. I mean... if it's the queen's favorite, why not try? Once again the quality blew me away. It has just as fine a point as my size 3, which has the point if my size 0. It even comes in it's own magnetically closing box.

Kolinsky Sable is the means to a greater painting experience.

I was so excited for this brush, but it came with hairs that were already curled and didn't hold its tip beyond the first few strokes. I got brush soap to see if that helps, but I am definitely disappointed because I got this brush recommended to me from a miniature painting brush review Youtube video and was hoping it would work really well, but it worked worse than the cheap synthetic brushes I had been using before it.

I didn't believe all of the hype I saw when people talked about these brushes, but now that I have one they really do make model painting so much better. My details look better and I can do a lot more with this than my cheaper synthetic brushes

My first professional paintbrush.

This was my first nice brush and the best one in my set. It lasted several months of heavy usage and was way better than any of my cheaper brushes. It came to a great point, held a lot of paint, and was completely worth it.Eventually, the brush had worn down, so I went straight back to get a replacement. The new one I got arrived not even shaped into a point. And nothing I did could get it to work. It was actually so bad that the one I was seeking to replace still worked better, as did cheap synthetic brushes. Anyways, because I had used it to naively try fixing it I wasn’t able to get a return.I tried ordering a third time, hoping the second order was a rare mistake. But nope. Third brush arrived without a point also. I wasn’t making the same mistake again, so didn’t even try using that one and returned it unopened, as luckily the case is transparent.You can try this brush out, but carefully examine it before opening. If it is not in a clean point when it arrives, it’s not worth it and you should get a return. On my end I’ve become tired trying to get another good one, so have been looking into other brands.