Greetings, fellow miniature painting enthusiasts! Today, our focus turns to a Kickstarter-backed paint brush set that has recently made its way into my painting arsenal – the Maxton Black Ghost brushes. If you’re like me, you might see Kickstarter contributions as future gifts to yourself, particularly in the realm of miniature painting. And this time, my gift arrived in the form of these intriguing brushes and dry brush set.
In this article, I’ll share my firsthand experience with the Maxton Ghost Brushes, which have been my exclusive tools since their arrival.
OTHER GREAT BRUSHES FOR MINIATURE PAINTING!
- Winsor & Newton Series 7 size 1 (Most popular and recommended)
- Da Vinci Watercolor Series 10 Maestro size 1 (Best professional alternative to the W& N Series 7)
- The Army Painter Regiment (An all-purpose workhorse brush; see the in-depth review)
The Maxton Ghost Brushes: What Are They?
On Kickstarter, SleepwalkAir describes these Maxton Black Ghost brushes as premium-grade nylon bristles, characterized by their durability and softness. These bristles offer excellent springiness, ensuring a balanced and responsive painting experience. Not only are these brushes affordable, but their versatility makes them an ideal choice for miniature painting enthusiasts. The design of the bristles is particularly noteworthy; they are engineered to provide superior control over paint application, enabling artists to apply paint with precision on even the most intricate miniatures.
Furthermore, the brush features a thoughtfully contoured wooden handle, crafted to fit comfortably in the artist’s hand. This ergonomic design facilitates the creation of intricate details with greater ease and accuracy, enhancing the overall painting experience.
A standout feature of the Maxton Black Ghost brushes is their soft bristles, which play a crucial role in reducing the visibility of brush strokes in your miniature paintings. This characteristic allows for a smoother finish, where the minute details of your artwork can truly stand out and take the spotlight, a vital aspect in the art of miniature painting.
Getting to Work: Exploring the Maxton Ghost Brushes’ Performance
To start off with, the all-black design of the brushes does look pretty slick. The bristles on the brush are very soft and have a great spring to them. The handles feel good in your hand and have adjustable links to grip where you want.
I have already prepped and primed this model before these brushes arrived. Since they got here before I started putting paint on it, I will be using them exclusively on this model. Getting some paint on the palette, I begin working on the main portions of the space marine.
Loading up the bristles is just fine, but going through and starting to put paint on the model itself is very nice. The bristles are very soft and feel good as you apply paint.
READ MORE: BEST BRUSHES FOR PAINTING MINIATURES AND MODELS (OVERVIEW)
After getting a solid black base to work for this Black Templar. I move to edge highlighting to help bring some contrast to this model. The brushes work very well with this; again, the soft bristles and spring are super helpful. As I am trying to use just the right amount of pressure to highlight the edge of the model, but not so much that it gives me globs of paint. It is about this step that I start to realize and notice the bane of all synthetic brushes’ existence: the curl.
How Maxton Ghost Brushes Handle the Challenge of Curling
I have probably, at this point, been working with these brushes for a few hours, between 3 and 4, and the tip of the workhorse brush, the number two brush, begins to curl. This is a very common thing with synthetic brushes. It happens with all of them; however, it usually doesn’t happen within the first two or three painting sessions. At this point, it is mostly annoying and doesn’t cause any sort of issue when it comes to applying paint, but once the curl starts to happen, it will just continue.
Continuing to work on all of the model, I move to the number one and zero brushes to work on the eye lenses of the space marine. The fine points of both of these brushes are very nice, working well with the small area that I am trying to work on. In the amount of time that I spend working on these eye lenses, no curl that develops in the one and zero size brushes. Which is a really good thing because trying to paint anything that small without the sharpest of points is frustrating, to say the least.
Testing Maxton Ghost Brushes on Complex Banner Details
After completing the space marine proper, I move to the banner that he carries. This banner is loaded with all sorts of highly detailed items and will be a great test for these brushes in general. Using the number three brush, I put a base coat of bright red down, and it goes down very smoothly. Getting all of the basecoats down with the number three goes without issue.
Now it’s time to highlight again, and this is where that curl on the number two really becomes challenging. Even with using the side of the brush and avoiding the tip, the curl just gets more pronounced as I paint. Becoming very irritating to try and work around. This leads me to wonder if there is such a thing as too soft of bristles when working with nylon brushes.
Questionable Durability of Maxton Ghost Brushes
The lifecycle of a synthetic brush is determined by how well you take care of them and the quality of material. When I got these brushes and first started using them, they felt extremely good on the model, but after a very short period of time, the tips of the brushes began to curl.
This is how nearly all synthetic brushes meet their end, and I expected this to happen eventually. However, in the week that I was working with these brushes, painting 1 to 2 hours daily, they already started to develop that curl. This is my chief complaint with these brushes. Maybe the nylon is too soft, and because of that, it is prone to the curl.
I’m not 100% sure why it happened with these brushes. I treated these brushes just like I treat all of my brushes. These ones really started to become challenging by the end of the week. There are ways that artists have spoken about to help undo that curl. I have never attempted to undo it, so I can’t speak to how well it does or doesn’t work. Also, by the end of this project the black was fading out of the bristles. While the black looks good at the start it doesn’t stick around for long.
Are The Maxton Ghost brushes worth it?
There are many different tiers of value when it comes to miniature painting and the equipment that we use. Can someone use very cheap synthetic brushes and make an incredible work of art? Yes! Can someone spend hundreds of dollars on brushes and make the model look like a seven-year-old was finger painting? Also, yes.
Synthetic brushes can be a great place for many painters. I use them to this day and will continue to use them. Spending $40 backing this Kickstarter for this pack I received six synthetic brushes as well as three synthetic dry brushes. So at a rate of less than $4.50 a brush, this is a great value overall.
Maxton Ghost Paint Brushes for Miniature Painting
Pros
- Nylon bristles are soft and springy with good control
- Comfortable
- Precise paint control
- Reduced appearance of brush strokes
- Versatile
- Affordable
Cons
- Bristles curl over time (unavoidable)
- Durability questionable
- Limited use for display-level painting pieces
Other affordable Brushes for Miniature Painting
| All-Purpose Hobby Brushes | Details and Price |
|---|---|
| Blick Masterstroke (short handle) | Price on Blick Art Materials (size 0, 1, 2) |
| Rosemary & Co. Series 33 | Price on Rosemary & Co |
| Army Painter “Regiment” | Price on Amazon Price on Noble Knight Games |
Final Thoughts
As I said at the beginning, I really like backing Kickstarter campaigns as a way to receive a future gift for myself. Sometimes I follow them very closely because I’m eager to get the item, sometimes I’m just surprised, either way, I enjoy the idea of supporting innovative companies. I will continue to use Kickstarter to support those companies.
Do I recommend that you go and get the Maxton Ghost Brush Black set? In short, yes, for the price, these brushes are good. I hope that the set that I got is not representative of the line as a whole. Could these brushes become a solid workhorse for painting an army? Maybe, armies take a lot of time. These brushes started to break down after one model and a week of painting.
Would I use them to paint a full-on display model or a competition piece? No, probably not. The number of hours that have to go into a display piece far exceeded the number of hours that I put into the piece. I was working on this week, and I can only assume that the shortcomings noticed here would only get worse. Consistency is key in competition-level painting. However, I feel these brushes break down a bit too quickly for such detailed work.
Be aware of the limitations of your tools no matter what they are, and you’ll be in a better position to pick the right one for the job. I hope you found this review helpful!
I want to thank you all for joining me today as we talked about these brushes, and I look forward to visiting with you again in the future. Until next time! 🥳
About the Author
Alexander Foust is a loving husband, father of twins, and committed Emergency Room Nurse. Balancing his personal and professional life, he finds strength in his faith and enjoys fitness, miniature painting, and tabletop gaming. You can reach Alex who is open to miniature painting commissions via email ([email protected]) and his MARLevel Painting Facebook page.
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How does the reviewer describe the quality of the brushes in the GHOST Maxton Black Miniature Paint Brush Set? Greeting : Telkom University