Raphael 8408?

[obsidianpainting]

lol Its alright laurence, your tips on the 8404 were great. Im getting one of those as well. I would also like to point out that there is absolutley no place close to me, unless i\'d like to drive 4 hours, that sells winsor and newton, or raphael. so i would not be able to test them.. i\'d have to buy online. And i hear that some people from dickblick get amazing customer service if they get a bad brush, however i have also heard some of it is bad. so... its a 50/50 chance i guess. Im willing to take it my first time around, and if it works ill try to find another source and thanks once again laurence your post was welcomed

Thanks, Gary.

 

[ScottRadom]

I\'m curios to see how your order goes. I hope I am the exception. Next time I need I\'m gonna try the store in West Ed Jericho linked up

Jericho- Thanks AMIGO!

 

[Backstabbeth]

Hey guys on the subject I have a question for yall. I went out today to buy some of these. I called everal art supply stores till i tracked some down. When i got to the shop they had all thier rafael brushes out in a typical display with thier tips all puffed out and no covers. I have never bought a brush that didnt have a pefect tip the minute i got it.

are those brushes all dead, or will a little love make them right?

 

[Einion]

A brush that\'ll form a good point doesn\'t necessarily hold a good shape when dry, so they are worth checking. Ask the shop for a glass of water to test the pointing of the brushes.

More detail in this thread on pF, just after the bullet-pointed section:
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?p=172391#post172391

Einion

 

[ScottRadom]

A coupel of my 8404\'s came with the brush protector (clear piece of plastic) placed on the brush so it had trapped the bristles and pinned them facing the opposite direction so they were bent 180 degrees from where they were supposed too (Another gripe with my Dick Blick experience).

They came back fine! I just used a little liquid brush soap and they hold their point dynamite now.

 

[Backstabbeth]

Awsome. They were resonably priced, so ill give m a shot.

Thanks guys!

 

[boristfrog]

I bought some WN7s for the first time in a sale last year, £25 for 4 brushes was a bit of a bargain, but my size 1 has always seemed a bit off and after only a few months I\'m thinking of replacing it. The point always splits in two.
Is there a way to fix it, or is it ready for replacement?
I\'m very happy with my 0 size though and haven\'t tried the others (a 2 and a 00) yet.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by boristfrog
...my size 1 has always seemed a bit off and after only a few months I\'m thinking of replacing it. The point always splits in two.
Is there a way to fix it, or is it ready for replacement?

No, no way to fix this as far as I\'m aware. This is a problem with the way the brush was made, so it\'s right down at the core of the way it\'s put together.

All brush ranges potentially have substandard ones but unfortunately it\'s become too common in Series 7s, which certainly doesn\'t justify their high price (and their price increase over the years).

Einion

 

[boristfrog]

Thanks, I guess there may have been reason they were cheap
I\'ll get a new one soon.

 

[TAB Studio]

Originally posted by ScottRadom
A couple of my 8404\'s came with the brush protector (clear piece of plastic) placed on the brush so it had trapped the bristles and pinned them facing the opposite direction so they were bent 180 degrees from where they were supposed too (Another gripe with my Dick Blick experience).

They came back fine! I just used a little liquid brush soap and they hold their point dynamite now.

I did have and order of bent tip Da Vinci brushes from Blick.
I emailed right that day and they sent me new ones two days later, and 2 extra brushes to boot ....then and asked me to keep the old ones not to bother to send them back I was welcome to find a use for them if I could. (I use them for washes and the larger models)

I found this a very pleasant response and have learned to become politely vocal if there is a problem.

Many shops just need the chance to fix things and will respond in your favor.

 

[ScottRadom]

Originally posted by TAB Studio

Originally posted by ScottRadom
A couple of my 8404\'s came with the brush protector (clear piece of plastic) placed on the brush so it had trapped the bristles and pinned them facing the opposite direction so they were bent 180 degrees from where they were supposed too (Another gripe with my Dick Blick experience).

They came back fine! I just used a little liquid brush soap and they hold their point dynamite now.

I did have and order of bent tip Da Vinci brushes from Blick.
I emailed right that day and they sent me new ones two days later, and 2 extra brushes to boot ....then and asked me to keep the old ones not to bother to send them back I was welcome to find a use for them if I could. (I use them for washes and the larger models)

I found this a very pleasant response and have learned to become politely vocal if there is a problem.

Many shops just need the chance to fix things and will respond in your favor.

My dissapointment with my Dick Block experience wasn\'t from the problems I encountered with the agonizingly slow delivery or even the small problem with the brush bristle.

After getting the confirmation eMail that my ordered had been recieved, and would be processed in the next couple days I waited another 10 business days with no order. No panic, but I did pay for express delivery and I was jonesing for my new toys. My eMail to them was polite in tone, and was inquistive and not confrontational. The response was that the order would be shipped once they had picked the order, and that my stuff would arrive before christmas. I placed my order... oh I wanna say end of novemeber but it might have been very early December. A side note on the response was to indicate that if I needed my product sooner, I should\'ve indicated as such on the order comments. I thought I had indicated that when I picked express shipping.

All in all I was dissapointed in the service, and after shipping and duty the price was not as cheap as I originally thought it would be. That part isn\'t their fault. Why I had to pay 20 bucks duty on a 49$ purchase is bewildering.

but the brushes are fantastic. I barely use my WNs7 at all now. I find the extra rigidity (snap?) of the bristles fantastic with the way I paint. I would reccomend these brushes to anyone. And as far as Dick Blick I appear to be the ONLY one who\'s had a poor experience with them so others should probably feel safe in giving them the benifit of the doubt.

 

[TAB Studio]

\"And as far as Dick Blick I appear to be the ONLY one who\'s had a poor experience with them\"

That sucks I am and I completely understand the bad residue

Maybe people that ordered recently could spare time keep us updated on quality, it has been 6 months since I last ordered from them I am curious now.

I heard lately of people that are leaving Amazon shopping cause their service abruptly changed. Poor shipping and damage chief complaints.

 

[Backstabbeth]

I just ordered a 0 and 1 of both WN7 and raphael.

Ill let ya know how it goes

 

[Herb the bitter]

Late to this thread, but thought I\'d weigh in if nothing else for future reference as not many people seem to have used the 8408.

In my experience it is too pointy to use for general painting, but works well for making fine lines. However since the 8404 makes such fine lines I find that I almost never use it.

All the weathering was done with an 8404 on this marine(actually I think the whole marine was done with the 8404):

 

[Backstabbeth]

nice marine btw!

i just got my order of 2 WN series 7 and 2 raphael

0 and 1 in both ranges

the raphaels are bigger than the series 7. thier points are fantastic however. I like i nice pointy point since it allows you a wider ranger of how thick your like should be. If i want a thicker line/wider flow, i just press a little tiny bit more.

anyway, one of the series 7 (the 0) would not keep a point at all, it was split. I got them from blick.com. I called them up and they immediately sent a new one and said just hang on to the old one. One thing i did notice is that the series 7 you get from blick say \"in partnership with blick\" on the brush itself. Thought that was kind of wierd given that they are half price of where you can find them anywhere else!

as far as the raphaels though, they look fantastic but i havent used them yet. I will be using them for my next mini after which i will post a comparative review.

 

[Balisage]

I know there are thousands of brush threads. But none of them seem to mention Raphael 8408.

Mentions have been 8404, Winsor and newton series 7, Miniature and standard.

So my question is, does anyone use 8408?

Im buying a couple brushes,

Winsor and newton miniature - 000, and 2

Raphael 8404 - 6/0

Raphael 8408 - size 0

I was wondering if anyone has used one so i can figure out if i actually want to buy one. If not ill just get a 8404 size 0.

Thanks, Gary.

The difference is the length of the brush hairs. 8408 is a tad longer. I personally love the 8408 because of this. I feel like I get more control and glide out of the brush.

 

[bullfrog]

I bought a few 8408s online by mistake one day.....usually buy 8404s. I know this is a wishy washy answer but the choice between the two really comes down to what you are used to and your painting style. I much prefer the 8404 brushes with the slightly fuller point that holds more paint. The 8408s have a full belly but a fine tapered point and I found that paint tended to dry on it much faster. I also like brushes you can apply a certain amount of pressure with and I found the narrow tip bent to easily. I’d imagine they would be much better suited to other forms of painting than miniatures.
Don’t be fooled by the sizes of decent quality brushes. You can get away with buying larger sized brushes that hold more paint as their tips are as fine as much smaller brushes. Since using larger sized brushes I’ve never run into trouble with paint drying on the tips. Now I only bust out a brush smaller than a 0 or 1 for fine details like eyeballs.