Angry Griffin's Oldhammer

Tag: Brush Review

  • BrokenToad Fugazi Mark III Imitation Sable Brush Set Review

    BrokenToad are a UK based company who make (amongst other things) a variety of styles of paintbrushes aimed at miniature painters. Their synthetic line is called Fugazi, and today I’m reviewing the full set of brushes from that line.

    The box I have is the Mark III, as you can see from the picture. The brushes were packed well and had protective plastic sheaths to prevent the tips being damaged:

    There are four brushes in the set – 2, 1, 0 and 000 (aka 3/0).

    There is a brush care slip with the brushes:

    In the listings online there’s also a statement about the tip curling after some use, and how to fix it by dipping it in hot water and straightening it. I’ve only been using these for a week so it’s probably early days for that to be happening, but I’ve seen no sign of it. Update: A month later, still no issues.

    The brush handles have a distinct patterning which makes them easily identifiable amongst your other brushes.

    So, what are they like in use?

    I’m impressed by how sharp the tip is on the brushes and how well they retain that tip throughout use. Compared to the Citadel STC range I was trying out last month these brushes are night and day different – the Layer brushes don’t hold their points for nearly as long without cleaning.

    I was practicing working on eye lenses and tried doing the lenses of this Questoris Knight with the #1 Fugazi and was pleased with how easy it was – I’d normally reach for my 2/0 Raphael or Winsor Newton to do so but it was no harder using the #1.

    I wanted some good synthetic brushes to complement my sable brushes, which I’m not keen on using with metallic paints in an effort to extend their life and keep them pointy. So far the BrokenToad Fugazi brushes have exceeded my expectations substantially, and are very good brushes in their own right.

    You should be able to grab your own set of Fugazi brushes from eBay US, eBay AU or eBay UK (affiliate links) or check out the official stockist list.

    2 week update: I find that I am primarily using the 2, 1 and to some extent the 0 size – the first two especailly are nice and springy and have a consistent paint flow. The 3/0 after a few sessions has proven to be a little long and less stiff than I would prefer so it’s fallen out of favour, but the other brushes are solid and are currently my primary brushes for metallics.

    1 month update: I have come to favour the 2 and 1 strongly – the 3/0 bends too easily for my liking and the 0 is much the same. The 2 and 1 are definitely my favourite synthetic brushes in those sizes and are still holding a point very nicely – they’re my go-to for metallics.

  • Citadel STC Synthetic Paint Brush Review

    So Citadel released their STC line of synthetic paint brushes – including detail brushes, glaze brushes, dry brushes and more – here’s my review of them.


    The full range consists of:

    Layer Small, Medium

    Base Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large

    Shade Medium, Large

    Dry Small, Medium, Large

    Glaze – one size

    Citadel claims that they have noticeable springiness and a different level of stiffness and snap-back compared to their regular brushes. This is definitely the case in practice – they don’t feel much like the normal range of Citadel brushes in use.

    So far I have tried the Small Layer brush, Medium Layer brush, Small Dry brush and Medium Shade brush. The Medium Layer brush splayed after the first use, unfortunately, where the Small Layer brush has proved to be excellent for use with metallics – which I am not keen on using with the sable brushes so it’s a good fit to use with those.

    The dry brush works well and it’s quite distinctly different to the standard Citadel dry brush – the springiness is noticeable and I find it works quite well, being predictable and easy to manipulate.

    The Shade brush works well and deposits washes at a controlled rate, so that’s a winner for me as well.

    I’ll pick some more up and see how the rest go. The Medium Layer brush I made the mistake of using a watered down paint with which raced up the bristles into the ferrule as soon as the tip contacted it – and no matter how I rinsed it or used brush soap on it afterwards I couldn’t get it to hold a point. I suspect if I had stuck to thicker paints with it it would have been fine.

    2 month update:

    I don’t much use the Small Layer Brush after acquiring the Brokentoad Fugazi brush set – the latter holds a much better point for longer. The STC Glaze brush is squarely my favourite from the STC range – followed by the Medium Shade brush, both of which I use daily.