what size paint brush do you use most of the time when painting 1/35 figures?

For myself, I normally keep an assortment of various size brushes.
WN series 7, sizes 000, 00, 0, and 1.
Never used the series 7 miniature brushes so can say anything about them.
I keep them spotlessly clean, and finish off cleaning them in a product called "The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver" that you can pick up at just about any good art store selling brushes.(I have the small round disk package that cost me $3.98 about ten years ago and it's still half full, so it lasts a long time) Always restore the point on your brushed, and keep the little plastic sleeve over the tips when not in use. I store mine tip upright when not in use in an old high coffee mug. I have series 7 brushes I bought over ten years ago still in use. As they wear you just (and all brushes eventually wear) use for more general painting, and eventually will end their life as my dry brushes or pigment brushes.

Another thing I do is keep certain brushes for certain paints. I don't loose sleep over a separate set for oils and acrylics, as proper cleaning and reshaping have worked fine for me. But I do keep a set to use just for any metalic paints, as nothing is worse that suddenly having this tiny stray bit of metal pigment suddenly coming out of nowhere on you nice dark red cloak.

For general modelling work, and ground work I use cheaper brushes. Mostly flats and filberts of various sizes, 1/4 up to 1 inch.

I found over the years, figure painters and their brushes are personal likes and dislikes, some love other brands and swear by them. I've been using series 7's since the 70's and I swear by them.
Cheap Joes usually has a WN series 7 sale once or twice a year, and it's a good time to stock up on them.

Good luck, and enjoy painting your figures.

Hi

I cannot get the W&N brushes in any of the shops local to me so I settled on the Daler-Rowney D77 range, they are still very good brushes and about half the price of W&N which are better brushes so probably worth the extra price, mind you I have over 20 of them in various sizes so I am greatfull of the money saved.

Anyway back to you question, for 1/35th figues which is the only scale I model in I use the following 3 brushes, 5x0, 0, & 1.

Paul

Glueit, I often use Tamiya brushes to paint 1/35 figures as I find them to be good quality and with good care should last a decent amount of time. I would advise you use a brush restorer like Dave said and when you are cleaning fine or pointed brushes always avoid mashing the tip. For real detail work on 1/35 figs (or small details on larger figures) I always try to have a Tamiya High Finish (HF) 'Pointed Brush Ultra Fine' which I suppose is equivalent to about a 5/0 or so.
Abtielung brushes aren't bad either but you can also find decent brushes in most art supply stores. I would say you should experiment and see what type/brand you like then stick with it.

Hello!
My primary interest is figures, I have had some successes with them, so my experience might be of use to you.

I have a #2 brush for larger areas, #00 and #0000 for details, and not long ago I bought a #10/0 brush (it is very good for small details but actually its use is rather limited as it won't hold much paint). I use the 00 brush in 85% of my brushwork so maybe it is a good idea to buy 2-3 pieces at once. I also have a #000 and one #0 long-bristled calligraphy brush which is very useful when painting thin straight lines, for example for shading belt lines or cloth folds.

I use red sable Kolinsky brushes, but since I use Vallejo, Citadel and other non-solvent based acrylics, I gradually switch to synthetic (orange or yellow) bristle brushes because the bristles hold longer, do not get broken and are generally more precise. There are a few very good types in art-supply stores and mostly they are cheaper than the sable brushes.

After being introduced to these by a couple of members of the basement figure modelling club, I now only ever use Rosemary brushes (series 33 pointed) for figure painting.

http://www.rosemaryandco.com/pure-kolinsky-sable-series-pure-kolinsky-pointed-c-77_84.html

They are absolutely stunning and hold their point really well if you clean them afterwards with "masters" brush cleaner. Mail order service is fantastic, well here in the UK anyway, and I have no affiliation - just really pleased with them.
Easily comparable to W&N Series7 in my view and very reasonable price.

A note of caution though, first thing I was advised to do is never store brushes upright in a jar or mug. Haven't thought too long and hard about it but I suppose it makes sense gravity-wise. Well, on this planet anyway.

Oh and to answer the original question, I don't use anything smaller than a size 0 in these, even at 35th.

I want to order some w&n series 7 brushes but i have no idea of the actual sizes from viewing online. I know i will need sizes inbetween 000 and1.