Artis Opus Series S Brushes Review for Miniature Painters, Wargamers & Hobbyists

Last Updated on November 25, 2020 by FauxHammer

You’ve heard a lot about them – a lot of good, some bad, but what the facts? are these brushes any good? Come and find out in our Artis Opus Series S Review

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The Best Brushes for Miniatures & Models

This article is part of our series looking at the Best Brushes for Miniatures & Wargames Models.

If you want to check out what the best brushes are for your projects, please check out our Best Brushes for Miniatures article by clicking the image above.

Artis Opus Series S Review – Summary

I love them – High-Quality Kolinsky sable brushes which are on par with much more expensive options like Windsor & Newton Series 7 – With the bristle tip on equal to Raphael 8404. It’s clear that this range was made with Miniature Painters in mind.

Being a new company there are some kinks to work out but that’s the company and its operation – not the product at all. Since I picked these up I haven’t put them down and genuinely do not want to switch to another brand.

Oh, and they come in a sexy box.

Artis Opus Series S Review – Packaging

First up the packaging here is part of the product.

A box to hold 5 brushes is also available on the website.

Love or hate the white handles (I love them) they certainly stand out from the crowd and try as I might after hours of use, that logo is printed so well that it’s not even slightly marred after hundreds of hours of use.

They are presented fantastically and are still the one brand which gives you something to show off as a presentation piece. This whole package screams “I take miniature painting seriously”

Crack it open and you’re presented with the parts and presentation leaflet

The beauty of this is that it is all self contained within one unit

And just in case you forget what brand you own, the logo is presented right there. Though custom options are available from the website.

Inside the box you have a Care and QA leaflet.

Most noteably this showcases some of the artists who use these brushes. there’s no BS here, I;ve met some of these artists and watched them paint. Guess what? They use these brushes.

This is also the only brush set I’ve seen which comes with a care leaflet explaining how to clean your brushes with the included brush soap to ensure they last as long as possible.

It is nice to see that they have gone to the care of QA testing and signing off the date they were tested.

Though, on that I was a bit disapointed to find that after the QA test had been completedthe brushes had been wedged back into the guard bending sveral of the bristles on two brushes.

Unfortunately this meant that a few of them which could not be coaxed back into place needed to be trimmed. Though after they were the brush worked sound.

If this were not a review set, I probaly would have gone back to Artis Opus and shown them the pictures and i’ve no doubt they would have sent replacements.

And with the QA card, they can easily see who tested these brushes and when, improving their QA service as they grow.

To put this into more context, as a reviewer. I really appreciate getting the product like this. It gives me chance to look at their customer service.

Unfortunately as a critic, whilst I do my best to provide unbiased reviews, I am still at the mercy of what manufacturers send me and in many cases, I’m sure the product has been selected specifically for review. I even had one brush manufacturer send a not to the packaging team saying “make sure the points n these are good as he is reviewing them on the internet”, well that note ended up in the pack that came to me!!! that doesn’t let me review a product unbiasedly and skews the results of my experience being relative to yours.

But here, Artis Opus a least had the integrity to send me the next thing on the shelf. Lets be fair, despite the hiccup we’re here to see if the brushes work well. we’ll get to that.

The included brush soap does not froth up into a lather too well, not compared to what I’m used to. I have no idea if this soap is better or worse than other brands, but again, just not what I’m used to and I find it hard to use because of the lack of frothiness.

But at least they include it there in the set, and if you do’t already use brush soap, pleas etake their product as a hint. you should.

The set comes as standard with #000, #00, #0, & #1 brushes.

The #2, #3 & #4 brushes are optional and can be purchased seperately

The brushes themselves are well balnced.

When it comes to Kolinsky sable brushes, all of the op brands are really on par when it comes to smooth paint flow. all that really matters between them ishair length and density.

A longer brush has a bit less direct control but you get more fluid strokes.

The density of the bristles determines how wide the belly of the brush is, the wider it is the more liquid it will retain which can help the flow of your paint, or even hinder depending on how thick the paint is.

The Artis Opus brushes realy do find a nice sweet spot acoss the wide range of brushes availble. They all have needle like points on par with the likes of Windsor & Newton which are widelyconsidered to be the best brushes just becasue some guys on the Eavy metal Team use them.

One major thing to call out on these is the handles.

Hardly noticeable on any pictures of the brushes, but these are some of the widest handles I’ve ever had.

Until these, I’d never even considered it, but due to the extra width they just feel much more comfortable in my hand, and maybe it’s psychological, but I really feel like that extra surface area gives me a lot more grip and therefore control.

Artis Opus Series S Review – Application to Models

So this is normally the bit where I pick up a few models and show you how the brushes performed. But the problem with that is simply that there is little way to show the level of control you have with each individual brush in a way that relates so well in the written for,

Instead, let me share my experience.

I picked up these brushes from Artis Opus in February this year, who kindly gifted them to us.

And since then, I simply haven’t put them down. Instead of one model, here’s my Instagram feed of just some of the models I’ve painted over the last few months

Not once have I touched or even wanted to touch anothers set of brushes

Why would I, they do pretty much everything I need.

The pont of each brush is matched to the next, so when it comes to detail work, the smaller brushes are good to have that finer level of control, thanks to a shorter bristle. But due to the smaller belloof the brush, paints can dty out a bit faster.

In all honesty, 99% of my painting work is done with the Artis Opus #3 which unfortunately does not come as part of a starter set. Though that set is aimed at beginner to intermediuate panters and if they included the #2 and #3 in the set in place of the other brushes the price would go through the roof. sable hair aint cheap.

But that #3 is incredible. So if you get the set I’d say get the #3 brush too. or if you are not interested in the set due to the price point. at least treat yourself to one of their #3 brushes and consider this to be the benchmark to which all other brushes should be compared. start here and work your way out to different sizes as you need to.

The #3 is perfect for everything from blending (above) to details (below)

Everything on Ragnar below was painted with the #3 brush, and that includes the pupils

The #4 brush is where things start to get a bit unwieldy for your typical miniatures, even basecoats can suffer from the brush holding so much paint.

But move up to another scale, such as busts and these brushes are an absolute dream. And for this purpose, you can now buy a #5 & #6 brush.

Artis Opus Series S Review – Price & Availability

Artis Opus are on the more expensive side of hobby brushes, but you are paying for quality. well, style and quality.

But they are fairly average, something the Artis Opus #3 which I have lauded is fairly equivalent to the similarly sized Raphael 8404 #2 or the Broken Toad MkIII #2 – so nobody’s getting ripped off with these, they are fairly priced, that’s all. Especially when you remember the extra wood due to the slightly thicker handle these have.

The expense comes in a bit more when you get the boxed set as you obviously need to pay for the box itself. This really depends on whether you want it. you may have brush storage already, but if not, this is brilliant for taking care of your brushes. if you get all 3 Artis Opus Sets, they even have a nice stand for all the boxes.

Availability wise, you will find them in several hobby stores such as Element Games (one of our preferred affiliates) and also on their website, which offers customisation options for your box and the optional 5 slot storage should you want a selection of as many brushes.

Will Artis Opus Series S Improve my Hobby?

if you are not already using sable brushes, then this is a clear Yes, markedly.

If you are already using sable brushes then the differences between brands are really down to personal preference. as I have said the #3 brush in the Artis Opus S range really should be your default brush and in that a yardstick by which all other brushes should be measured. But when it comes to measuring those differences people are really just splitting hairs. no choice is wrong, it’s about what works for you, use that.

Painting is a very natural thing and there are a ton of nuances between each persons, hand, eye, and psychologically how they measure paint fluidity for their work. there is no right answer and the brush shape is just another factor in that journey. Let the brush choose you, not the other way around.

It’s long but not too long, the belly is big but not too big. And without sounding too much like Goldilocks, the point is just right…

Artis Opus Series S Review – Final Thoughts

I love these, they are my default settings, my favourite set. I now have 3 of the #3 brushes becasue I know that eventually 1 will give and I don’t want to have to hunt around for an equivalent when I am so comfortable with these.

Again, don’t take my word for it, there are a ton of pro-level painters out there putting their names against them for good reason.

Are they the absolute best brushes in the world? Well, we can debate this until the world ends and still not arrive at an answer. Whilst everyone is stood around arguing between them, I’ll be painting.

But they are a solid set of top-end brushes, they look sexy, come in a gorgeous box and they are fairly priced. at the very least, go buy yourself a #3.

Please Note: This site uses affiliate links. Our Affiliate Partners are shown below
(Affiliate links will result in compensation to the site on qualifying purchases)

Click this link & buy your hobby stuff from Element Games for the UK & Europe to support FauxHammer.com – Use Code “FAUX2768” at the checkout for double reward points.

Our Affiliates / Hobby Stores

• UK: Element Games, The Outpost, Wayland Games, Mighty Lancer, Goblin Gaming, Forbidden Planet, Model Scenery Supplies, eBay, Amazon
• US/Canada: MTechCave, GameKastle, eBay (US), eBay (CA), Amazon
• Germany: Taschengelddieb
• Europe: eBay (DE), eBay (FR), eBay (ES), eBay (IT), Amazon
• Australia: eBay, Amazon
• Global: RedGrass Games, Warcolours

• 3D Printers: Phrozen 3D, Elegoo, Anycubic

FauxHammer – Latest Video on YouTube

Summary

Reviewer

FauxHammer

Review Date

Reviewed Item

Artis Opus Series S Brushes

Author Rating

4

Product Name

Artis Opus Series S Brushes