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EM4 Kolinsky brushes
"What's this? A pre-painted miniatures company selling top quality, ergonomically designed, Kolinsky Sable paint brushes? Yes, it's true. em4miniatures decided we should offer the very best brushes. This range is specially manufactured for us - it's so good we've put our name on the brushes!"
AW says: These are very good value-for-money brushes. They aren't in the same class as W&N Series 7 but they are also a good few scales lower in price! These aren't "Hobby brushes" though but very good brushes for detailed work - we like them and we use them; so we sell them!
EM4 Synthetic brushes
"Another range of brushes specially made for em4miniatures. If you're on a budget or want to keep your em4 Kolinsky Sable brushes in pristine condition for the most demanding jobs, you're going to need a set of these super quality Synthetics."
AW says: Again very good brushes for the money: we tend to use these for small area (in terrain terms) washes and base coating of smaller scenery and we're very happy with them. (Try the Royal Taklon brushes for large area use and dry-brushing).
Royal White Taklon Brushes
These are sturdy synthetic fibre brushes with large soft-grip grips that we use for dry-brushing scenery and terrain. They are just the right size and strength for large to medium jobs on scenery or terrain and will last a long time.
RRP £1.99 - Our Price £1.75
1 inch Blending Mop (coming Soon)
This is a very large mop-like brush that can be used for delicate, gentle dry-brushing, very large area light dry-brushing or for removing dust from delicate model areas. We use these quite a lot and keep finding uses for them.
As with so many of Winsor & Newton's top quality products, their unsurpassed excellence can in part be attributed to the rigorous selection of only the highest quality raw materials. This tradition of excellence began in 1866 when Her Majesty Queen Victoria gave orders that Winsor & Newton, holders of the Royal Warrant, be commanded to produce brushes of the highest possible quality in her favourite size; No. 7. The brushes were to be made from the very finest Kolinsky Sable hair, the handles were to be ivory, and the ferrules to be sterling silver.
Subsequently, these superior fine Sables were supplied to other connoisseurs, albeit with ebony handles and less lavish ferrules. Designating them Series 7 preserved a link with the original supply to the Royal Household. It is this concern for quality which has established Series 7 as absolutely unrivalled amongst Sable brushes, with a long-established worldwide reputation for excellence, which Windsor & Newton jealously guard by unremitting care to every detail.
Serie's 7 Sables are still costly - they could not be otherwise, but if your work demands the best, if you appreciate long life and incomparable service throughout, the purchase is an investment, which will prove to be a long term economy. Manufactured from only the finest taper dressed, pure Kolinsky Sable hair, in rust-proof seamless nickel plated ferrules with black polished handles.
AW Says: I avoided buying these despite all the good recommendations by top class painters - finally succumbing I now realise why they are so highly recommended: my painting improved tremendously and virtually overnight. Tremendous brushes well worth their price tag - look after, use brush soap to clean and they will last you a very, very long time.
Winsor & Newton Series 7
Winsor & Newton Series 7 Miniature
Paint pots:
20 ml empty paint pot with flip-top lid.
30 ml empty dropper bottle.
Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver (1oz)
The Masters - the total brush care product - removes wet and dry oil paint, watercolour, acrylics, alkyds, gouache, latex and enamel paints, as well as stains. Specially formulated brush cleaner and preserver for synthetic and natural paint brushes. Use with water.
Super-Size Masters!
Round Paint Palette
10 well plastic palette with central area for dry-brushing or a wet palette area. Easy to clean cups and in a sturdy plastic.
Flow-Aid and Retarders:
Flow-Aid and Retarder are two combinable products that can radically change and help the way that you paint. FLow-aid breaks down the surface tension of paint and helps it to flow more evenly, helping to eradicate brush strokes and allow for smoother blending.
Retarder prevents paint from drying, the more you add the slower the paint will dry, in its liquid form it is infinitely easier to use than in gel format.
You can combine flow-aid and retarder to create mixes that can help specific areas of your painting, helping to make it easy and more controllable. Two of the most common mixes are listed below with an idea of what they help you to achieve:
1:1:8 "Super Slow"
1 Water : 1 Flow Aid : 8 Retarder
This Mix allows you to use paint for much, much longer than normal before it starts to thicken, let alone dry. It helps immensely with blending as well as keeping larger volumes of paint wet and usable for a massively increased period of time.
1:1:2 "Smooth and Slow"
1 Retarder : 1 Flow Aid : 2 Water
THis is a general use mixture than makes your paint smoother and a touch slower drying
- it is fantastic as a general purpose thinner for acrylic paints and we use this as out standard thinner, completely replacing water.
To ensure the best results we also recommend using only distilled water in the above mixtures.
We also recommend making up these mixtures and storing them in the 30ml dropper bottles above - this keeps them in a handy drop-dispenser for ease of dispensing and measuring alongside your paint.
Liquitex Fluidifiant (Flow-Aid)
Attributes
- For all acrylic paints and mediums.
- Use in conjunction with any acrylic medium or colour when increased flow and absorption and decreased film tension and friction are important.
- A flow enhancer that improves the flow, absorption and blending of any water-soluble paint (i.e. acrylic paint), medium, ink or dye.
- Minimizes brush marks by reducing friction of paint application.
- Does not contain binder. Over thinning of acrylic paint with Flow-AidTM and applying to a non-absorbent surface (i.e. gessoed canvas) may result in poor adhesion. Always make a test piece for your particular application and surface.
- On non-absorbent surfaces, will increase the fluidity and open (drying) time of the paint.
- On absorbent surfaces, will act as a stain, dye or watercolor.
Directions
- Flow-AidTM is a concentrate. Dilute with water before mixing into paint. Distilled water is best, since quality of tap water varies.
- Minimum dilution: 1 part Flow-Aid to 10 parts distilled water to achieve Flow-Aid Water.
- Normal dilution: 1 part Flow-Aid to 20 parts distilled water to achieve Flow-Aid Water.
- Do not use undiluted. Using undiluted may result in poor paint adhesion, cause paint to crack, remain tacky and become water sensitive.
- Do not shake or rapidly stir. This will increase foaming of Flow-Aid . Wait until foaming has subsided before using.
- Absorbent surfaces: Use as much Flow-Aid as necessary. The Flow-Aid Water/paint mixture will be absorbed by the support.
- Mix Flow-Aid Water into water based paint. Do not mix Flow-Aid with turpentine or oil paint.
- Do not use Flow-Aid in marbling, as this technique requires that the surface tension of the water film be maintained.
Liquitex Fluid Retarder
Attributes
- For all acrylic paints and mediums. Fluid consistency thins paints.
- Increases "open" time of acrylic paint. Reduces paint skinning-over on palette.
- Increases blending time, making blending of colours and detail brushwork easier.
- Mix with Liquitex Acrylic paints and mediums to retard drying time up to 50%.
- Fluid consistency, made to be used with Liquitex Soft Body Artist Colour and Soft Body mediums.
- May also be used with Liquitex Heavy Body Artist Colour and Heavy Body gel mediums, however thickness of paints and mediums will be reduced to a more fluid consistency.
- Archival
Directions
- Do not mix more than 25% per volume into paint and mediums or paint may not fully dry.
Liquitex Black Gesso
Black gesso is an excellent alternative to priming figures and models using an aerosol or traditional paint-on primer.
Gesoo goes on thick then contracts as it dries to form a durable, tight fitting layer on to which paint can adhere excellently. Virtually odourless and cleaned up with water it is also the ideal figure and model primer for those owkring indoors without ventilation.
        
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