Paint Brushes – Help and Advice

[sirhumphreyrtd 3337xp 3]

Plea for help chaps. Got diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis last year that has affected my hands.

To ease the pressure of gripping brushes I have had to  use kitchen towel and masking tape to increase the diameter of the handles.

While not elegant has helped however as you can imagine needs to be refreshed regularly as they wet.

I know that you can get attachments for pens and pencils to help with the grip, but wondering if anyone has come across anything that would work for brushes?

Cheers

Byan

[avernosKeymaster 34256xp 1]

I’ve not seen anything, Army Painter brushes have a large triangular handle that one of the pen soft grips may actually fit around.

I’ve asked about and I’ll see if anyone else has any thoughts to feed back

[Anonymous 0xp 4]

Have a look for a thing called Plastazote Tubing – I know people who have used it for pens to help grip them.  It might be useful as you can get it with very small holes in the middle, which would be a suitable size for brushes.  Plus you can cut it to fit.

 

[avernosKeymaster 34256xp 1]

actually I’ve just thought of something let me try it out and I’ll be back

[sundancer 43167xp 2]

Couldn’t you use some plastic putty for that or would that make the brush to heavy?

[torros 23820xp 1]

Would those paint brushes with the fattened handles be any better for you?

[blinky465 17029xp 4]

What about making some grips from sugru? It’d be perfect for that. The immediately obvious idea is to mould it over the paintbrush then when it needs replacing, slide the sugru off the brush and pop it onto a new one.

Thermoplastic (those little pellets you drop into hot water) would also do, but the finish would be quite hard – sugru retains a slight rubbery springiness. Then again, something like “blue stuff” or Oyumaru would give the benefits of both – heat to make pliable, wrap it around the brush and when done, simply cut it off, pop it into a pan of hot water and re-use on your next brush (if you’re careful you could even put finger indents into it while it’s setting on the brush if you want to be truly “egonomic”)

[kingandcountry 3014xp 1]

green stuff a substructure perhaps?

or switch to black nasty or gaffa tape (duct tape etc)

A friend with arthritis and couple old war wounds can’t grip a pen with his thumb and finger but he can write with the pen between the first 2 fingers?

[avernosKeymaster 34256xp 1]

weirdly Oyumaru is what I thought of, just done a quick video. I think it would be ideal, and it’s reusable.

[avernosKeymaster 34256xp 3]

 

This is where I bought mine, half the price of amazon or the miniature modelling version

http://www.metalclay.co.uk/oyumaru-instant-mold-moulding-compound/

Hope you find something that works out for you

[144artist 25555xp 1]

Some of my students have special needs and the kids come in all sizes.  One of the teachers uses Silly Putty because it is firmer than clay, molds to the hand easily, and (very important to her!) is very easy to wash and reuse.  Check out school supply stores for similar products, again the Special Needs section has amazing tools for adapting almost anything.

Soft foam cylinders that one can push a hole into with a pencil or dowel for the brush handle to slide through have also made appearances in my room as many kids come with their own modified tools and materials.

I just have the common form of arthritis but have found holding the brush between my pointer and middle finger very helpful.

[zorg 18841xp 1]

you should check out these brushes to see if they are a help @sirhumphreyrtd

Royal & Langnickel SG-303 5 Piece Round Set- White

[stiddy 333xp 0]

What about  Nerf Bullets with masking or gaffer tape underneath

[galaticianParticipant 36xp 0]

I did some google research and what is out there is expensive. I have not used it but I think Sugru would work well. Also was going to suggest craft foam and or surgical gause \ tape. Or if you found some pens with silicone grips you may be able to remove them and attach to the brush handle. I also found a video of a painter using aluminium foil and electrical tape. Granted he’s not painting miniatures but it may be worth a look: https://youtu.be/dtObPn6_yis

[zorg 18841xp 0]

this is a picture of the brushes i was tell you about.

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