Tiny Head Brush (Steeple Point)

U-STAR detail brush with a tiny pointed head

A pointed brush with a small head is the tool for places you cannot reach with an ordinary brush without dirtying their surroundings. It will manage a thin line, a small instrument in a cockpit, a patch on the sleeve of a figure or the repair of a single sharp transition between colors. The U-STAR range also includes a variant with a flat tip; according to the name this variant is the pointed one.

When to reach for it

A detail brush comes into play late in a build, when the model is already painted and it is a matter of small things. Typically those are the eyes and features of a face on figures, handles, buckles and clasps, controls in an interior, retouching after masking and finishing off the edges an airbrush cannot render. The quality of such work does not depend on the brush alone, though: it is above all the consistency of the paint that decides. Acrylic that is too thick dries on the tip and splays it, while paint that is too thin runs off target.

Use and care

• Load the paint onto the very tip only, never up to the ferrule; paint at the ferrule splays a brush permanently.
• Pull the excess off against the edge of a palette before a stroke, so that the first touch does not release a drop.
• Work in short strokes and preferably in two passes; one long stroke with a tiny brush will not carry the paint through.
• Never leave a brush standing tip down in a pot; it gets deformed.
• Wash it out after work and reshape the tip to a point, then let it air-dry.

Who the brush is for

For figure painters, builders of interiors and cockpits, and for anyone finishing a model by hand after an airbrush. It goes well with the flat variant in the same range, which suits facets and edges better.

Check the size of the head, the length of the handle and the type of bristle on the box.