Army Painter Bionic Bristle Brushes Review — Solid everyday painting

In the miniature painting hobby, the paintbrush is probably the tool we buy the most of, and has the widest product range. From inexpensive plastic brushes with synthetic bristles sold in massive quantities on Amazon to the finest Kolinsky Sable hair brushes sold for hundreds of dollars, there are numerous products available, making it a little maddening.

To help you out, here are some pointers. A good brush will have a solid tip that can reshape itself with the help of some water or perhaps some brush soap. For synthetic brushes, they should be able to do this, being used in all mediums, from acrylic paint to enamels to thick texture pastes.

Secondly, consider the bristles themselves. Are they stiff? Soft? Depending on that, you’ll get a different finish. Softer bristles are good for lighter paints and carry a lighter load. Look at a drybrush and you’ll see what I mean. Harder bristles hold more paint and offer more control.

Lastly, a good brush should feel good in the hand. Ergonomics are important, and as you look at brushes, you’ll notice some brands have a thicker body, some might be longer, shorter, some may have a place for the thumb…these are entirely subjective to the person holding the brush, however, so keep that in mind, and handle a brush for yourself. 

So, keeping these in mind, I’ve spent the last 2 months with Army Painter’s brand new Bionic Brushes, and I’m ready to talk about them, because while I think they are good, almost great brushes, they’re not perfect, but I still think they’re worth the purchase. Let’s dive in. 

Their Bionic Bristle line is a relaunch of their current brushes, using what they refer to as ”next level precision”  thanks to “durable synthetic fibers”.  Now, if I’m honest, I’ve used a lot of Army Painter brushes when I started painting, and I wasn’t too impressed. My old brushes tended to fray, have stray fibers, not retain their shape, and ultimately were destined for the basecoating bin, with the eventual fate of becoming glue brushes. 

The relaunch promises that the brushes don’t do that, and I’m happy to say that, for the most part, they don’t fray or have split fibers, minus a few on the Layering and Basecoating brushes. 

After 2 months and significant testing, I’m pretty impressed with the Detail, Speedpaint, Psycho, and Insane Detail brushes. All of these brushes have kept their shape after being used by every medium I could throw at them. In fact, every article I have written for the past 2 months have used these brushes. From painting up several Marvel Crisis Protocol models, testing artist-grade acrylics, using gel medium, enamel rust paints, and even painting liquid green stuff on a project…these brushes hold up.

The Psycho and Insane Detail brushes are exceptionally impressive. These brushes are smaller than a 00 brush and are really meant for things like eyes, scratches, and tiny details. They typically load up for just a little bit, then you have to clean them, which means they go through a lot of abuse, and I was happily surprised that they kept retaining their shape.

The Speedpaint brush (which is a 3-size brush) was a great basing level brush, and to be honest, it’s probably the best brush of the set, as it brings a great balance of hard bristle and soft. I don’t know why it’s called a Speedpaint brush outside of the branding, but you can use it with any paint.

In my various tests, all of these brushes hold paint perfectly well, and they are smooth to use. When it comes to handfeel, though, I really prefer a brush with a thicker handle. While the Bionic Bristles have angles, which make them great to hold, I personally prefer a rounded, thicker head. 

Now for the negative, and this isn’t a big deal, but it is important to call out. Two of the brushes, the Layering and Basecoating, did not retain their shape, despite the use of brush soap and other shaping techniques, and had a few bristles stuck out that I had to trim. However, I was sent 2 sets of the brushes, and the other set of brushes does retain their shape and does not have frayed bristles. I chalk this up to a quality issue, and my advice to you is to check the tips when you are purchasing your brushes. Like I said, not a big issue, but an issue regardless.

Notably, the new brushes are pretty specific; there are no new drybrushes, Monster, Vehicle, or Scenery brushes.  But there are brand new brushes we should talk about, and that is the Chipping Set. The Chipping Set is a new series of brushes that are used specifically for weathering.  I was sent the Miniature Chipping set, which consists of 4 brushes, 2 in each size, a Precision Chipping, and Battleline Chipping. These brushes are technically sponges, and they’re attached to a small brush handle, which makes it very easy to use! 

For these kinds of brushes, you’ll want to dab the sponge into your paint of choice, wipe it off, and then dab it onto the surface you’re painting. Hopefully, you’ll get some random chipping, which is the phrase we give to the spattering and random nature of the paint. And the results are great. No complaints about the brushes, but I will say that the packaging is kind of ridiculous for such a small brush. As you’ll see in the photo, I was expecting a larger brush, but you can always recycle the box.

At the end of the day, are these brushes perfect? No. But what they are is reliable and stable. While I prefer Kolinsky Sable brushes for my display and competitive painting, these brushes are basically my everyday go-to brushes now. I’d suggest picking up the Speedpaint and Detail brushes and see how they work for you. And try out those sponge brushes, they’re fantastic.