Mark Dollery
Well-Known Member
Hi Guys, I got a bit more information on the Brokentoad paintbrushes & also their pigments.
I contacted Brokentoad by email & was surprised to find that Kris of Broken toad is a local lad who lives a couple of miles from me. A couple of emails later & I found myself on the way to his premises. It turned out we had some common ground with the local gaming club & also some associated with my son & friends.
On speaking to Kris, I did ask (the question on everyone’s mind!) why ‘Broken Toad’ & his reply was ‘it’s a talking point & will get us noticed’ & he’s right, it does.
Kris is a commercial miniature painter in the 28mm range & needed a good paintbrush that will do the job at the right price, the right quality & is durable. Kris has gone one step further & done this after researching his requirements & has got a renown paint brush manufacturer to make the paint brushes to his specifications & decided then to release them under his own branding.
Kris also has some good business ethics as I feel meeting people face to face gives you an impression of a person & I can honestly say, Kris has some important standards which he wants to pass onto his customers. (This extends to actually hand conditioning of each brush before he dispatches them to ensure that the brush reaches the customer in the best condition!) & also Kris is conscious of using sustainable components to construct his paint brushes & the environmental impact.
After a cup of coffee & a good conversation, I took my leave with a set of paint brushes & some weathering pigments & as it was the my Club meeting, I took the paint brushes along with some acrylic paint for some other opinions of figure painters within the club.
I will not bore you with the setup & painting but sufficient to say, they were a hit with the guys & the first two standards for Kris were met. Quality & cost!
The paintbrushes are able to hold a good volume of paint within the bulk of the brush body near the ferrule & with a fine tapered point which can release the paint with excellent control of the flow with the length of the bristles being good for me. I could feel the control I needed to deposit the paint. After each paint session with the lads, the paintbrushes were cleaned & rinsed & checked for any tip curling or damage. I was pleased to see that they had come through unscathed.
The paintbrushes passed their first baptism of fire with flying colours to a point where an order went out to Kris for a few sets & that some also came from the Armour / Aircraft lads who use any old hairy sticks! Testament indeed!
So two standards down & one to go, so a road test on the paintbrushes durability is my next test on my next run of figures & busts & also some trialling of the pigments, I will report back on the results.
Mark D
I contacted Brokentoad by email & was surprised to find that Kris of Broken toad is a local lad who lives a couple of miles from me. A couple of emails later & I found myself on the way to his premises. It turned out we had some common ground with the local gaming club & also some associated with my son & friends.
On speaking to Kris, I did ask (the question on everyone’s mind!) why ‘Broken Toad’ & his reply was ‘it’s a talking point & will get us noticed’ & he’s right, it does.
Kris is a commercial miniature painter in the 28mm range & needed a good paintbrush that will do the job at the right price, the right quality & is durable. Kris has gone one step further & done this after researching his requirements & has got a renown paint brush manufacturer to make the paint brushes to his specifications & decided then to release them under his own branding.
Kris also has some good business ethics as I feel meeting people face to face gives you an impression of a person & I can honestly say, Kris has some important standards which he wants to pass onto his customers. (This extends to actually hand conditioning of each brush before he dispatches them to ensure that the brush reaches the customer in the best condition!) & also Kris is conscious of using sustainable components to construct his paint brushes & the environmental impact.
After a cup of coffee & a good conversation, I took my leave with a set of paint brushes & some weathering pigments & as it was the my Club meeting, I took the paint brushes along with some acrylic paint for some other opinions of figure painters within the club.
I will not bore you with the setup & painting but sufficient to say, they were a hit with the guys & the first two standards for Kris were met. Quality & cost!
The paintbrushes are able to hold a good volume of paint within the bulk of the brush body near the ferrule & with a fine tapered point which can release the paint with excellent control of the flow with the length of the bristles being good for me. I could feel the control I needed to deposit the paint. After each paint session with the lads, the paintbrushes were cleaned & rinsed & checked for any tip curling or damage. I was pleased to see that they had come through unscathed.
The paintbrushes passed their first baptism of fire with flying colours to a point where an order went out to Kris for a few sets & that some also came from the Armour / Aircraft lads who use any old hairy sticks! Testament indeed!
So two standards down & one to go, so a road test on the paintbrushes durability is my next test on my next run of figures & busts & also some trialling of the pigments, I will report back on the results.
Mark D
