Nevskaya Palitra Round Brushes

This is my review of the Nevskaya Palitra round brush (size #2).

The Russian-made Nevskaya Palitra is similar in design to the Spanish-made Escoda sables. Nevskaya Palitra brushes are relatively cheaper in this part of the world compared to Escoda.

  

Cheers,

Calvin

What Brushes Do I Use?

I’m often asked about my go-to tools, so I wanted to break down my brush kit for you. 

My workflow relies on three main types: round, flat, and filbert brushes. For flat and filbert brushes, I’m not loyal to any specific brand. Since I use these primarily for general coverage and aggressive dry brushing, I treat them as 'expendable assets'. They take a beating, so the bristle quality is less important than the price tag. I stick to affordable synthetic bristles that I can replace without guilt. 

Round brushes are a different story entirely—I view them as a long-term investment. A poor-quality round brush with a splitting tip is a nightmare that wastes time and ruins fine details. Being a 'prudent artist', I look for the sweet spot between high-end performance and reasonable cost. While some European brands are difficult (and expensive) to source here in Asia, I’ve found my perfect balance with Tamiya Pro II and Nevskaya Palitra. For me, these two brands offer the best precision for the price."

Tamiya Pro II - Kolinsky Sable

Nevskaya Palitra - Kolinsky Sable

That is all for now; in my next post I will elaborate on the performance of these two brushes. So stay tuned...

Cheers,

Calvin

FeR Miniatures - Untersturmführer, Ostfront Summer 1942-43

Just as I was about to lay the final strokes on the USMC bust from Young Miniatures, in comes a box art assignment from FER Miniatures courtesy of Fernando Ruiz for two 1/12 scale half-figure/busts sculpted by Spanish sculptor Ramon Martinez.

This is probably one of the most exquisite sculpts I have come across in recent years. The sculpting of the drapery on the camouflage smock and the stoic expression is wonderfully captured. While it is not exactly a "recovery" project from the USMC MARPAT camouflage,  I decided to ease matters by utilizing the colors composed by Jaume Ortiz in a ready to use set marketed by Vallejo Acrylics (VA) as a spring board.

I find the colors composed by Jaume for the Waffen SS camouflage set from VA be very ideal for painting the Palm Tree pattern as well as the Oak Leaf and Plane Tree patterns. There are two very unique colors in this set, Dark Black Green and SS Middle Brown, which are not readily off the rack, which I particularly like. I have also made the switch to using Nevskaya Palitra sable brushes for the painting of this half figure. 

The body is much longer and slender and has a little spring as you pull the brush across the painted surface. The paint stays wet longer and holds more paint than W&N Series 7 brushes. The Nevskaya sable works remarkably well if you are painting with a higher paint dilution. It is not recommended to work with a heavier body paint, as it is not really designed for "pushing" paint due to its slimmer body. I am, however, able to pull longer fine lines with Nevskaya sables as compared to the Series 7.

For this project, I devised a new system to ensure that the proportions of the camouflage pattern are accurately mapped to the figure. This involves creating a "pointer" to track the features of the camouflage pattern during the painting process. I initially created one by attaching a length of stretched sprue onto the ferrule of the brush with blue tac.

Needless to say , the Blue Tac and stretched sprue expedient proved to be too flimsy. Thus  I fashioned a sturdier one one from a length of plastic rod and bore a hole at its base just large enough to secure it to the ferrule of the brush. I must say that it worked pretty well and it seems that I will be painting like this from this point on (pun intended).

Cheers,

Calvin