Raphael 8404 Kolinsky Round No. 1 Black

Seriously ignore any bad review that stems from it not arriving with a cap, thats not the manufacturer's fault, its whatever vendor was foolish enough to mail them without caps at the tip. I have ordered 4, all came with caps. I have a few Winsor and Newton brushes and in my opinion these are way better. They seem to be much more durable and hold their shape much better. I cant count how many times i have accidentally jammed the brush tip into something, giving myself a heart attack thinking the brush was ruined, but it always retains its shape perfectly without even having to straighten them out again. Winsor and Newton are a bit too thick bellied for me, making it almost clumsy. These are perfect, only a tiny bit slimmer but they are much better at fitting into tighter spaces.I used to have about 5-8 brushes of different sizes that I used daily. Now I only use 3. I use a Raphael size 0, a size 1, and a rougher old brush for the dirty work like drybrushing. The size 1 is my daily workhorse, the size is perfect, you can paint anything from large portions of armor to tiny eyes if need be, because of the wide belly and sharp tip, they are extremely versatile.I cant recommend these enough, I used to use Citadel brushes along with some Army Painter and other brands, and these just blow them out of the water. I cant ever go back to using anything else.Dont let the negative reviews about no caps stop you from buying these, I have received all of mine (from multiple different sellers) with caps and could not be happier!

The Raphael Kolinsky Sable brushes are the best I've found at the price point thus far for model and miniature painting. They have great control, the bristles snap just the right amount and they hold paint well. One possible downside is they tend to come with a label on the end of the handle which might irritate some people depending on your grip, but it is removable and a little acetone or alcohol will get the adhesive off of it. All in all, I'd say you can't go wrong with these brushes for model and miniature painting. To compare them, I like them just a little bit more than the Windsor Newton Series 7, primarily because they don't have the guide hair which is tends to bother me personally, but they are generally on par otherwise.

shipped with a protective tip and is my go-to brush for litterally everything. If I CAN do a thing with a different brush I will because I baby this brush but whenever I want to do something important I bust out this guy. I am about to order another one because I love it so much, I hope it is shipped with tip protection like mine was, but not how others have reported.Update: Got the brush and it was wrapped in a billion lbs of wrap and in perfect condition. I still use my old one because it hasn't worn out yet but now I have a fresh one to pick up where the other one leaves off if and when it has been used up. Great brush, get some brush cleaner, keep the ferule dryish and it will last a very long time.

I've tried dozens of brushes, and this has been the best of the bunch. Does a great job keeping a nice point and the length of the bristles allows it to hold more paint than the Winsor & Newton sable brushes.

I paint wargaming miniatures, and this brush comes to a very fine point; perfect for getting those small details. Before ordering I read lots of negative reviews on the QC and shipping. Many people reported the brush being split or frayed. My brush was protected by a plastic cap, and shaped to a nice point. This is my daily driver brush and I love it!

Brush was received with bent bristles because there was no bristle protector on it.

Wonderful brush, nice firmness, can hold a lot of paint and comes to a razor-sharp point, overall no problems with the brush itself. However I did have a problem with the packaging, as my brush came on its own, with nothing but its brush cap, inside an amazon envelope. the brush cap and brush head were both bent at a 45-degree angle when it came in, but luckily with some water and brush soap I was able to get the brush head back to its intended shape.

This brush is worth the money. I paint miniatures for Tabletop RPG's and had been using the brushes that came with the Learn to Paint kit, and some others I had bought from Hobby Lobby. I thought I would try a more expensive brush. So glad I did! Makes a huge difference in the amount of detail I can precisely paint, like eyes. I will be buying this brush again if it ever wears out.