Whether you want to buy paint for basing, highlighting, shading, creating texture or just touching up already painted models Games Workshop makes it all and we have it here. From the Citadel Edge range to the Citadel Shade range you will find every paint you could ever need in the Citadel paints category. The brushes are designed to hold less paint so that acrylic and watercolor painters do not deploy too much onto to the canvas. The shorter bristles provide sharp precision as they are less floppy. For painting miniatures, you would actually want the brushes to hold more paint in the belly but still have a fine tip.
The Citadel Painting Handle is the progenitor, the benchmark, the one against which all other painting handles must be measured. Simple, firm and effective, it is the Emperor of Mankind to the Primarch gene-seed of all other painting handles.
Click this link & buy your hobby stuff from Element Games for the UK & Europe to support FauxHammer.com – Use Code “FAUX2768” at the checkout for double reward points.
Our Affiliates / Hobby Stores
- UK:Element Games, The Outpost, Wayland Games, Mighty Lancer, Goblin Gaming, Forbidden Planet, Model Scenery Supplies, eBay, Amazon
- US/Canada:MTechCave (Code “FAUXH” = 15% off), GameKastle, eBay (US), eBay (CA), Amazon
- Europe:eBay (DE), eBay (FR), eBay (ES), eBay (IT), Amazon
- Australia:eBay, Amazon
- Global: RedGrass Games, Warcolours
FauxHammer – Latest Video on YouTube
The Best Hobby Handles for Miniatures & Models
This article is part of our series looking into the best Hobby Handles for Miniatures & Models.
To see our up-to-date list of the best Hobby Handles for your miniatures, just click the image above.
Citadel Painting Handle Review – Summary
One of the most basic and inexpensive painting handles on the market, the Citadel Painting Handle is the place where all hobbyists should begin their explorations into painting handles.
Citadel Painting Handle Review – Apology
Hi Guys, FauxHammer here again. So. I’ve had this handle to review for, well, years. And well, it was never top on the list of priorities.
But when the new writing team came along I decided to share it out to get our opinions out to you.
Then literally, just as we are about to release the review, Games Workshop go and release a new… toy!
So yeah, sorry for the delay, shouldn’t happen again now there are more of us. but since Rob went through all the trouble to write this. we thought we’d still share it anyway. Until we get our hands on the new one. (which Rob has on the way to him already, I just haven’t told him yet… This is my way of seeing if he actually reads the site once his stuff is published, doesn’t tell him)
Citadel Painting Handle Review – Introduction
If you are a seasoned hobbyist, you’ve probably owned a Citadel Painting Handle at some point. Every now and then, they turn up as a freebie with a partworks magazine, and they’re the kind of thing you pick up at the end of an order when you go into your local Warhammer store to buy a box of minis.
For those of you that haven’t – or, more specifically, for those of you that don’t own a miniature painting handle of any kind, what are you doing?
For the first three months of my now nine-month tenure as a hobbyist, I did not own a painting handle. I did not even know they existed. I thought that constantly dropping your figures and getting hand cramp from clutching their bases was just a part of the painting process, so when a Citadel Painting Handle arrived as part of my Mortal Realms subscription, my world was changed forever.
No longer did my figures make leaps for freedom from my fingers. They stayed anchored firmly to the handle, and because of the handle’s comfortable grip, gone were the painting cramp.
Citadel Painting Handle Review – Design
With a larger, solid handle and two spring-wound brackets, the Citadel Painting Handle is easy to get to grips with. Your miniatures can sit on one of two-tiered cuts into the bracket – the lower one for smaller bases, the taller one allowing you to fit a couple of larger ones in there as well. Citadel do also sell an XL Painting Handle for the largest of bases, something no alternative company seems to be trying to muscle in on as yet. The handle also has a flat base, so it can be stood upright when you put it down.
The handle’s spring-wound mechanism is its genius. The brackets on either side grip any attached miniature in place so firmly that there’s really no chance whatsoever of your figure trying to make a jump for the floor.
More advanced painters will lament the absence of a finger rest and any kind of place to attach a cork for pinning, but for beginner to intermediate-level painters, you can’t really go wrong with this. It does everything the beginner to intermediate level painter needs, and does it very well.
Citadel Painting Handle Review – Testing
I’ve used a Citadel Painting Handle almost every day until very recently, and the only reason I’ve stopped using my Citadel handle is that I’ve reached a point with my painting where I need something a little more advanced.
Getting your figures on to and off of the handle is easy: simply pull back one of the brackets and slot your figure in, or push the base of the figure against one of the brackets so it slides back and you are able to slot it onto the holder. Done.
Of all the handles I’ve tried over the last few months, Citadel’s offering remains one of the easiest and most comfortable to hold. The larger handle can be braced against the inside of the hand and gripped with several fingers so you always feel as though you have a good level of grip on the painting handle.
The handle will fit 25mm, 32mm and 40mm round bases, as well as 60x35mm oval bases, which covers everything from a Skeleton Warrior or a Chainrasp up to a Ninth Edition Space Marine or most things on a mount of some kind. Even with figures on the larger bases attached, the handle doesn’t feel unwieldy. It’s solid, sure, but that’s not a bad thing – it’s a reassuring weight, not cumbersome.
It doesn’t do anything fancy. It doesn’t try to do anything special. It just holds your figures, and does so extremely well.
Will Citadel Painting Handle Improve my Hobby?
If you don’t already own a painting handle, then yes, certainly.
I actually put this past a few buddies of mine outside of the FauxHammer team. One, who has been painting for years and has cabinets upon cabinets full of Tyranids in his home, said he noticed a visible improvement in their painting ability not too long after buying himself a handle, and would never now be without his Citadel handle.
Another, who has previously never owned a handle, began to notice an improvement in his painting almost immediately after receiving a Citadel Painting Handle: not only did he feel as though he could get a brush into those hard-to-reach areas better, he also felt he had more control over the entire painting process with his figures anchored to Citadel’s Painting Handle.
If you’re a more advanced painter, then the likelihood is that you’ll need slightly more from a painting handle than what Citadel’s humble but durable offering can give you – as mentioned above, a place for pinning, a finger rest, and so-on. If you are, or you’ve been using a Citadel handle for some time and feel like it’s time for a change, have a look at our list of the best painting handles for some inspiration.
Citadel Painting Handle Review – Price and Availability
Ironically, at the time of writing this, and for a few weeks prior, the Citadel Painting Handle has been unavailable on Games Workshop’s website. Now, this may be because it’s being phased out in anticipation of the new questionably shaped painting handle that was announced the week of the 19th October 2020.
It’s also not currently available on Amazon for anything less than £20 which is daylight robbery, so I would strongly suggest having a poke around your favourite independent hobby retailer’s website or their store as they will likely have a couple knocking around. Most places have it for around the £6 mark ($7.80/€6.60), which is entirely more reasonable.
Citadel Painting Handle Review – Final Thoughts
The benchmark. The progenitor. The one against which all that come after will be measured.
It is the basic form of a painting handle, simple yet brilliant and thus perfect in its own unique rite. Everything it does, it does to perfection, and whilst there have been many successors to this handle, with every bell and whistle imaginable, there will only ever be one Citadel Painting Handle.
It’ll be interesting to see how 2020’s 2.0 version will hold up against it.
Click this link & buy your hobby stuff from Element Games for the UK & Europe to support FauxHammer.com – Use Code “FAUX2768” at the checkout for double reward points.
Our Affiliates / Hobby Stores
- UK:Element Games, The Outpost, Wayland Games, Mighty Lancer, Goblin Gaming, Forbidden Planet, Model Scenery Supplies, eBay, Amazon
- US/Canada:MTechCave (Code “FAUXH” = 15% off), GameKastle, eBay (US), eBay (CA), Amazon
- Europe:eBay (DE), eBay (FR), eBay (ES), eBay (IT), Amazon
- Australia:eBay, Amazon
- Global: RedGrass Games, Warcolours
FauxHammer – Latest Video on YouTube
What did you think of this Review? please let us know in the comments.
If you like what we’re doing here you could really help encourage more content with a share on any social media platform.
Click the share links at the bottom of this screen (or on the left for computers and tablets)
Want to keep updated with the site? You can subscribe in the sidebar for RSS or by email below
(Sidebar is below the article on Mobile Devices)
Related
Brushes are an essential part of being a wargaming hobbyist (or just painting miniatures in general).
When you buy your first brushes, go for something that is cheap and readily available. You will almost certainly ruin your first set of brushes, so make it sure it did not cost you a fortune.
When you have painted your first few models (like 20+ or something) you might be ready to upgrade to something better.
But remember this: expensive brushes will not make you a better painter. Quality tools are important but in the beginning, you cannot feel the difference between a good tool and a crappy/mediocre tool. Go for cheap quantity first and expensive quality later.
Affiliate link disclosure
Age of Miniatures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Affiliate links might occur on this page.
This site also takes part in other affiliate programs and we are compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. Read more about our affiliate links here.
Affiliate link disclosure
Age of Miniatures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Affiliate links might occur on this page.
This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. Read more about our affiliate links here.
Two Different Types of Brushes for Miniature Painting: Synthetic vs Natural hair
In general, you have 2 kinds of brushes. 1. Brushes where the bristle is made of natural hair. 2 Brushes where the bristle is made of some kind of synthetical material.
Advantages of natural hair:
- Retains water and paint a lot better while painting (it can hold more paint inside the bristles/belly). This means longer working time and less time spent getting the paint back in the brush.
- The natural hair is more durable and will hold the point better (it can hold a point for many years with proper care). A good natural hair brush will last way longer than a synthetic brush.
Advantages of synthetic hair:
- Less prone to damage from paint (acrylic paint is actually quite hard on natural hair)
- A lot easier to clean than natural hair
- Less expensive (since you do need to get the hair from a rare mink or some weird stuff like that).
6 Things to Look For In a Miniature Brush
- The Ability to Hold a Point and Retain the Shape Over Time: The point/tip on your brush is super important. Over time the brush can wear down, and the point of the brush will start to split. I have some brushes that I can paint with a for a few minutes and after that, the point insists on splitting in two (making it unusable for fine detail work and just a real paint).
- Size of the body: If you are painting with a very small brush with almost no body, you will have to reapply paint to the brush almost constantly. Also, it is very easy to accidentally damage a brush with a very small body. Having a decently sized body is important (at least when you basecoat or blend)
- Spring/Snap: The more bristles in the brush and the wider it is, the more snap and spring the brush has. When you bend the brushes while painting, the hair should immediately “snap” into its normal shape afterwards. If not, you lose control when painting (it will feel like painting with a wet spaghetti).
- Durability: An expensive awesome natural hair brush can last for years (at least with proper care). A cheap, inexpensive synthetic brush cannot last very long (but on the other hand, you do not have to worry about brush care that much).
- Feeling: The feeling of a brush is very hard to quantify, but the brush should feel right for you. I have painted a lot with the Winsor and Newton, so this means they feel “right” for me. Trying to paint with brushes that are not made in the same way feels very off to me. A lot of the feeling with a brush depends on your habits and needs, but some of it also depends on hand size and various other factors.
- Price: we cannot get around that the price of the brush is also something that you need to consider.
Quality natural hair, mostly from a Kolinsky Weasel (also called a Kolinsky Sabel brush) will win on a lot of these parameters. They hold a point longer, they have a big body that can retain paint well, they snap back in place quickly, the durability can be amazing and the feeling is great. The downside? They cost a lot…
What Sizes of Miniature Brushes Do You Need?
The size on the brushes will usually range from “000” (very small) up to a big “12”.
For painting miniatures the size “0” and “1” will most likely be what you are looking for.
A size “2” can be good for bigger basecoat and a “00” can be good if you do very fine detail work. I have a single size “3” brush and have almost never found a use for it. Some brands have a unique naming scheme (like the Citadel brushes where they try to call the brushes something understandable for beginners).
Professional Artist Paint Brushes
There is no uniformity as to how big a size 1 is when you look across the different manufacturers. This means that the size 0 from one company can be as big as a size 1 of another company. You just have to try them out to figure it out.
When it comes to how big the body is, it can also vary wildly from different brush sets. You have to learn by experience what suits you. A rule thumb is that too small a body is not that great. Only on my very, very fine detail brushes, I want a small body (I do not need a lot of paint to paint eyes or similar details). Basecoating, edge highlights and blending requires a bigger body to move the paint around in the required way. A lot of the brushes made specifically for miniature painting have, in my opinion, too small a body on the brush.
Citadel Paint Brushes Online
Buying a 0, 1 and 2 from the company’s brush set will give most of what you need. If this is your first time buying quality brushes, maybe just go with a 0 and 1. Those two types are by far the ones that I use the most, and the 00 and 000 is only used very sparingly (if at all) on a model.
Where to Buy Your Brushes?
I have tried out different webstores (since the selection of quality brushes in my local brick and mortar stores is subpar) and have run into a few different problems with quality control, poor customer service and so on.
Lately, I have been getting my supplies from the webstore Jackson’s Art. I have been very happy with both price, shipping times, quality control and customer service. They have the quality brushes I want as well as cheap brushes and the brush cleaner I use.
They ship internationally and I can highly recommend them. It is also there some of my affiliate links in this post will go to.
As a bonus for using my links, you get 10% if it is your first order with Jackson Art. Does not sound like much, but 10% on expensive brushes can also be something!
3 Different Good Quality Natural Hair Brushes
You can get cheap and efficient synthetic brushes from hobby stores everywhere (Citadel, Army Painter and random non-miniature hobby stuff). I find the difference in quality to be minimal so try different cheap stuff out until you are ready to upgrade. Be warned that Citadel brushes are neither cheap nor of very high quality, but they can do ok in a pinch.
3 different series of quality brushes that are commonly recommended:
- Winsor & Newton Series 7
- Raphael Series 8404
- Davinci Maestro Series 35
I have tried all of the above and all of them could become your favourite brush in the end. The difference between is quite small and you cannot go wrong with any of them.
Winsor and Newton Series 7 (get the normal brushes made for watercolour, not the miniature stuff that has too small a body) is what most people will recommend. It is by far the most used “pro” brush, but that does not necessarily make it the best.
Raphael Series 8404might be just as good as the Winsor and Newton AND it is cheaper. I only have a single one of these right now (bought after a few too many Winsor and Newton brushes had issues on arrival because of poor quality control).
Davinci Maestro Series 35is a solid brush, but not for me. The body was too thin and I found that it could not compare with the other two when it came to retaining a sharp point with extended use.
What I Think Is the Best Miniature Brush for Warhammer and Miniature Painting
When I started out looking for a good brush, the Winsor and Newton series 7 was the one that most experienced painters recommended. After 5 years of using it, I have never regretted that choice. In fact, I have my very first size 1 Winsor and Newton and still use it for some detail work. In my opinion, you cannot go wrong with a good Winsor and Newton Series 7 brush.
My suggestion? Get 2 Winsor and Newton Series 7 – a size “0” and a size “1”. For about £20 pounds they will significantly improve your painting experience.
That said, I have lately run into different quality control issues. I bought a fresh batch with a 00, a 0 and 1 and they were ALL broken on arrival (the plastic tip made to protect the bristles had been jammed into the bristles, making them unable to hold a point). I have seen others commenting on different bad brushes from them, so if this continues I might shift to the Raphael instead.
Below is a video about why these weasel hair brushes are so expensive (but also so damn good).
Maintaining and Getting the Most Out of Your New Brush Quality Natural Hair Brush
Citadel Paint Brushes Colors
If you buy a quality and expensive brush, you NEED to take care of it. The natural hair will get damaged if you neglect to clean it and then you would be much better of just using a cheap synthetic brush instead.
I suggest buying some Master Brush Cleaner. It has been around for ages and comes highly recommended. I have used it on my brushes since I started using quality stuff and it has done very well. It can even extend the life on your cheaper brushes, helping to avoid that annoying splitting issue (check the price on the Master Brush Cleaner here)
Having a good brush is great, but without a wet palette you might get the most out of your purchase. Check out my take on the best wet palette on the market.
Looking for more great hobby tools?
Comments are closed.