James River Branch: Tools and Supplies

Tools: Brushes

It's virtually impossible to do any modeling without brushes. Painting, dusting, applying chalks, glue, flux or all manner of stuff—you're going to need brushes. And not just any old brushes, but lots of different kinds: big ones, little ones, good ones, cheap ones, disposable ones. I find that I almost can't get out of a craft store without another new brush—or package of brushes.

Basically I have four types of brushes at my disposal: fine pointed brushes for detail painting; small and medium flat brushes for applying chalk weathering and painting larger areas; larger flat brushes for dusting and cleaning, or dousing areas with solvents or cleaners; and loads of disposable brushes (below right) for glue, scenery goop or other messy materials that would quickly ruin brushes.

I also have a couple of "special category" brushes set aside for very specific purposes. These are small, really cheap brushes—the kind sold for kiddie crafts—which I use to apply acid flux for soldering, or liquid plastic cement for bonding styrene. Since these substances tend to eat brushes over time, I replace them periodically (being in the 50-cent range, they're essentially disposable).

Incidentally, some modelers really like foam brushes, but I've never warmed up to them; I'm not sure why, but you may want to give them a try all the same. Also, for very fine painting work, a recent addition to the brush world is a tiny toothpick-like tool with fuzzy flocking material on the tip—you may like these more than I do as well.

Just getting started? Walk into your local craft store and stroll down the brush aisle—you'll find a mind-boggling variety. For very fine painting work, I'll spring for a few decent $3-4 brushes, such as 3/0-10/0 spotters, as they'll perform noticeably better than the cheap six-pack variety; but economy brushes are still good to have on hand for less-critical work.