Mu 54 - BrokenToad, Kolinsky Sable Brushes

by Massive Voodoo



Good Morning Jungle Painters, 
today there is another Material Unpacked dropping in the jungle.

A little while ago we had a look on BrokenToad's Pigments and this time we have tested their brushes. Still don't know about Broken Toad? Well, here are some words about that young company, taken from their homepage:

"BrokenToad grew from the belief that it is possible to have high quality hobby products at affordable prices. To achieve this we try to go the extra mile to discover what hobbyists actually want rather than to dictate what we think they need and with over 20 years’ experience in the miniature hobby world we feel we have the first-hand experience to know what a hobbyist expects and deserves from a product. We love our little niche community of hobbyists and hope we that we can help to make it a slightly more pleasant place to spend time doing what we all love."

BrokenToad Model Hobby Brushes
Massive Voodoo has been asked to have a look on their range of brushes and so we did. There was not much unpacking needed, rather some proper time of testing, using them during some serious miniature painting work.

The brushes which arrived at the MV-HQ all have been secured with a plastic tip, like every serious brush should. The bright wood feels unusual first, but honestly who cares about the wood colour of a brush if it is doing his job good?


 Let's see what BrokenToad says about their brushes via their homepage:

"BrokenToad Miniature Series brushes are available in sizes 2, 1, 0 & 3/0 currently, each one is individually handmade from pure 100% male Kolinsky sable (Mustela Sibirica) hair by brush makers with 30 years’ experience in the artist brush making industry. All the hair for our brushes is ethically sourced, fitted into cupronickel ferrules and presented on varnished Birch wood handles which come from a sustainable forest in Germany. The brush head features an ample belly, capable of holding a decent amount of paint, which tapers to a very fine point allowing the paint to flow precisely and accurately onto the model. With its natural conical shape and excellent snap we feel that handmade Kolinsky sable hair brushes are the best choice for model painters."


Ready to be painted with ...

Hair Quality
Now for the hair quality and the tip during painting with them. Out of 10 points of quality they do recive 7 points from MV. Straight out of production the hair has been pretty stiff but with some paint and water on it the hair quickly felt soft and painting worked fine.

Tip Quality
While putting them to serious tests some minor problems occoured. The tip did split. Questioning  BrokenToad about that issue we found a major solution for all future brush problems and it helped:
Baby Shampoo!

We should have done this earlier, right from the beginning, giving the brush hair a good wash with warm water and baby shampoo and leave them soaked with baby shampoo for about twenty minutes. Clean them afterwards with warm water again. The stiffness of the hair dissapeared even more and the tips got stronger and sharper. Thanks for the hint.

What BrokenToad says:
 "... more of a quality step i now take, because of issues such as the one you found with the tip i now personally inspect and hand condition each and every brush tip before it is sent to a customer or supplier to hopefully remove this problem before it even occurs!"

Handling
The handling of the brushes is good. I mean there is no complex new inovation in the their form and no extravaganza in their shape of the grip area. We are happy with that.


Roman says:
"I am using mostly Windsor&Newton Series 7 brushes. The quality of the BrokenToad brushes is pretty close to the quality of a W&N. A big plus for the Broken Toad Brush Series is its price/quality-ratio. They cost about half of a W&N and do their job pretty well."


After some treatment of Roman the brushes still look fine ...

Summary
The brushes from BrokenToad are exactly what they are saying via their homepage:
Affordable quality which keeps you a happy painter.  A recommendation for everyone who is searching for quality brushes for a good price.

Where to get 'em?

BrokenToad has no shop on their own, they work with retailers. Find the list of their retailers via their homepage. If you want to be a retailer of Broken Toad Products use the contact form via their homepage:

www.brokentoad.co.uk

Keep on happy painting!


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