Hobby Tools Worth The Money? Vortex Paint Mixer, Kimera Paints, Iwata Eclipse & More 

Did I talk you into or out of purchasing anything?

4:02 - I picked up the same vortex mixer a little while ago and imo you're underselling it. You're definitely correct that you need the ball bearings/bits of pewter in there. But holy crap the thing is AMAZING at mixing paints once you do that-and let's be real you'd be doing that anyway if you're hand shaking them. Being able to just stick a paint on there for 5-10 seconds just holding it down and have perfectly mixed paint is GLORIOUS. I've done this with seriously chunky paints (like GW drybrushing paints) that have completely separated from the medium after not being used for years, and they mix so easily. I'd probably have to manually stir some of those paints (even with the ball bearings inside) just to get them to a shakeable state, and then I'd have to violently shake them for a solid minute. And, like you mentioned-that ain't easy on the joints for some of us. when I stuck it on the mixer I could see paint that had essentially adhered to the bottle get shaken loose and mixed right back in with the medium. another fun little thing that it's great for (particularly on GW pots) is when there's a thick paint on the bottom (like GW's crackle paints), you can flip the pot on its head, stick that on the vortex, and then when you open it up you'll have a nice glob of paint in the little cap dispenser. Great for getting the most out of your paint pots, particularly when army painting. Those technical paints aren't cheap! if you're like me and buy a ton of different colored paints rather than mixing colors for the tones you want (meaning that you'll have colors that aren't used for months at a time), the thing is a godsend. it is definitely pricey, but the convenience is just so nice if you've got a sizable collection of thick paints. A+ purchase. highly recommend to anyone. i'd say it competes with my airbrush (maybe even eclipses it, ba dum tish) in usefulness, personally.

It amazes me how many painters that I have watched have said when the tip of the brush starts to bend it becomes useless. I'm amazed because I disagree 100%. Certainly it's not very useful for painting things like eyes but I love that little curl in the brush because it allows me to get around surfaces and get to places that I can't quite reach when the bristles are perfectly straight. Also in tight spaces I find it easier to edge highlight because of the curl in the brush.

Man, I am drop dead jealous of your blends, I know that it's definitely a stylistic choice that you've made and developed, but I am enjoying going through a bunch of your videos seeing where and how you make decisions (you do a great job talking through your process by the way) and it's been very helpful with taking the plunge on trying to incorporate that skill/style into my projects where appropriate, thanks! Keep up the great work

I've learnt so much from your channel. What I love the most is you actually show the technique in action most of the time. By far my favourite.

Yay for the HP-CS! I just can't express how much more fun and ease its added to my miniature painting hobby. Just, now words.

I've never seen that paint puck thing before. Thanks for sharing.

Windsor and Newton have been around for nearly 200 years. Used them for painting (watercolors, gauche, acrylics, oils, enamels) in my youth. Used by artists world-wide. Always good quality brushes. I now have two Iwatas: an HP-CR and a BCN (bottom feeder for larger coverage). Well worth the investment. There must be a less expensive, better alternative to the Vortex. I agree with others that a hands-free system would mitigate any vibratory transfer to your hand and body.

I don't have that same model of mixer, but I also put the ball bearings into my bottles and use a similar mixer. With my carpal tunnel, it was either buy the mixer, or sell all the supplies and give up the hobby. Totally worth the money for me.

One of the best thing I've done for the vortex mixer is that I used some hot glue to fill the hole. For me it didn't stick inside the vortex mixer so I can take out the hot glue out of the hole if I want to. But I remember doing some testing with water in a clear paint bottle. If you have the hole filled and put the bottom of the paint bottle flat on the mixer you can see the vortex form. But if you angle it the vortex doesn't form the water just jumps and doesn't mix well. So yeah if you get a vortex mixer just plug that hole up with whatever so you can put the paint bottle flat on the mixer it makes a world of difference.

Appreciated your insights, it's easy to buy lots of hobby toys that you don't need. I wish I bought my vortex mixer sooner

Thank you for reminding me why I am more than happy to leave the painting of mini's (as a profession) to you and those of your fellows who seem to find the greatest of pleasure in your artistic endeavors.

I have seen Kimera paints mentioned a lot lately, not sure if I will jump in on them just yet, but they do look good. I love my paint shaker, never leave home without it!.

For those who are looking for good synthetic brushes cuz you don't dig on using weasel fuzz for whatever reason, Windsor & Newton have a pretty good synthetic line called Cottsman that are very nice. They're basically their top end line of synthetic water color brushes. I mean, yah, they'll never 100% be AS GOOD as a Series 7 Sable brush, but they're very much a step up from other synthetics and hold their points very well over time.

Never heard of this channel before. After watching some content I subscribed! Thanks for all the helpful tips. New to the hobby (6 months) and your videos are helpful. Thanks!

I have a basic Iwata that I use for the big jobs, such as base coating larger models (tanks, ships) but my go to brush for most work is my limited edition Harder and Steenbeck Infinity. Apart from being a great brush, the custom shaped trigger is so much easier to control, it makes prolonged sessions much more bearable. The twist and click trigger stop is a great feature, not used that much, but when I do, I'm so glad it's there.

I just started painting minis, and bought that mug set. I was on the fence about it, but wanted both the puck, and something to hold my brushes. I really like it.

I LIKE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING ABOUT HOBBY TOOLS, ONE MUST TAKE CARE OF THEN!

There are many bottles of paints that I've purchased which no amount of shaking would properly mix. Quite frankly I didn't realize that some of my paints weren't mixed right *until* I got a vortex mixer. That thing was a complete game changer.

I agree on your air brush choice. I bought five Iwata airbrush’s over 30 years ago. Two HP-C, Two HP-B and one HP-A. 32 years they are all still going strong. My paasche VL-1 and badger 105 have both died after a few years of use. I also have two Aztek airbrushes. Both over 30years old and both still work great. When you buy quality, you get lifelong tools.

I am also a fan of Winsor and Newton very good lasting brushes for a reasonable price.

I started with an HP-CS, I recommend you get two brushes when you start. A cheap Master brush off Amazon for 30-40$ to spray harsh crap, varnishes/primers etc at .5mm, and I leave the HP-CS with it's .3mm. The Master is also a base brush, so I can shoot all kinds of acrylics through the .5 when I don't have to care about detail. Instead of a vortex mixer, just grab a magnetic mixer (DSPIAE has one for around 20$) then drop in your metal bit, and it'll mix it all from the bottom up.

For single-pigment paints, I really like Golden Artist Acrylics. The High Flow line is great through airbrush, and the Fluid line is great with a brush. There's a great range of colors and metallic paints. They also have a Matte line, but I haven't tried it yet. Instead, I just use matte medium or varnish to control finish.

I've tried THREE of the Wind&Newton size 1 brushes. Because they are so popular, I kept assuming I was unlucky, but all three IMMEDIATELY forked into snake tongues when I tried to use them. I'll stick with my $9 Princeton velvetouch synthetics. Yeah, they totally hook at the end after awhile, but I've actually come to appreciate that. It lets me get into some otherwise unreachable spots!

I love videos that show us different products and opinions about them! More videos like this please :)

Been hankering to get a vortex for a while. Thanks for the reminder and the demonstration!

Great video. Very much needed in our community of hobbyists. Thank you.

Marvelous video Lyla! Looking in the future about what about the Chair and lighting! These are incredible important to check out!

A vortex-mixer seems like an unnecessary luxury until the exact same moment that you put a paintbottle on it , then you'll wonder why you didn't buy one much sooner.

paint shaker was totally worth it for me - saves the wrists and shaking the hell out of them. I use contrasts, speed paints, and the old citadels that are chunky and split easily so this helps mix them in seconds

A good vortex mixer is such a time and effort saver. Best thing I ever bought for painting. And although I was initially dubious, I've also really grown to like the smaller paint puck disks. Thanks for this video, it was great.

Always good to have some quality advice about where it's worth it to spend money!

Hey, this couldn't have been better timing. I just decided to take the plunge on getting an air brush. Thanks for this!

A vortex mixer is nice to have because shaking by hand is a major pain. There are some cheaper models that would probably work as well as the expensive ones.

Hah, I bought the vortex mixer and paint cup/brush holder a couple months ago. Pretty happy with both.

Based on your video and spicy bits, I am getting a vortex mixer. I bought a patriot 105 and am looking forward to using it

Iwata Neo has always been my airbrush go-to. Surprisingly cheap and Iwata makes top quality stuff.

I got the vortex mixer same as you and in the end I'm glad I did. Like they say, you get what you pay for. And yeah, at a little over a hundred bucks it's high but I pretty much know it's going to work from now on. Id rather pay once and get quality as replace cheap junk multiple times.

I own the Vortex Mixer and use it all the time. But the other day, I experienced a lapse of discipline and sanity: I shook a bottle of paint in an organic, 100% natural way, and my shoulder still hurts. As I get older, I begin to realize that the effort-saving gadgets I laughed at in my 20s and 30s weren't meant for me -- they were meant for me in my 40s, when shaking a bottle of AK Reddish Grey BREAKS MY SHOULDER. Thumbs up, slightly lopsided, for the Vortex Mixer.

I'm just beginning with minis, but I've been doing fine art with acrylics for awhile. My water cup is just an old food container with a cheap silicone makeup brush cleaner attached. Way cheaper than the one in the video and I find that it works great.

So.. i spent HOURS looking up diy ways to make a paint shaker or a vortex mixer... Than in a moment of clarity, went to the bedroom reached into the nightstand on the missus's side and took out the perfect "vortex" mixer :D it gets the job done SUPERQUICK!! Jokes aside, it works, doubly good investment.

Recently bought a used HP-CS on Ebay for $110.00. Liked it so much that when I came across another for the same price I bought that one too.

Honestly, it's all in the light imo, i bought a freaking 150€ light and my hobby immediately became more fun and my miniatures 10x better

Paint is such a sticky subject! (waits for groans to subside) I started mid-pandemic, just experimenting, and used cheap craft paints from a big box store. My only hangup, was that they discontinued them! Otherwise they did the job just fine, for my level. I bought a nice wet palette, but its larger than works on my desk, so I'm back to the home-made one I started with. Bought a lesser expensive vortex mixer, but it takes up too much desk space, so its been sidelined. I'm having pretty good luck w/ SUPER cheap synthetic brushes. I DO love to spend money on my hobby, and really love this video review. We're all just going to have different results as we work differently. (I'm still jealous of the airbrush, its going to happen, I just need SPACE....) I love my lights, my phone holder for filming, the epic shelves I built with lights built in, and rolling cart for keeping things off of my desk! The one thing I've never tried is a pro painting handle. Buying inexpensive 'reject' wood and making it into handles fulfills my woodworking itch. :) Thanks Lyla, thoroughly enjoyed your video!\

You may not take good care of your brushes, but you take excellent care of your cat. That much patience can only come with love. Tip - The Citadel painting pots are a good buy. Both the current one with the plastic ribbed sides and grooves for cleaning the brush and the previous iteration with the brush holders attached. I use both, the new one (actually two) for dipping, wetting and cleaning and the old one now just for holding and soaking the brush in water safely..

No airbrush, no vortex, good old mug... My best investments so far: good paints and good brushes. I tried a lot of brands for both, and Kimera are definitely my favorites. For brushes I eventually bought a Tamiya, difficult to find outside of Japan but they have the most precise and durable tip I ever used, even more than W&N, Rafael, Artis Opus...

I’m buying the vortex paint mixer by Four E’s because of your video. Thank you!

For anyone vaguely interested the Iwata hpcs is a good choice, but I would highly recommend the iwata neo CN. Especially if starting out, I find the end results between the two to be negligible and the neo is quite a chunk cheaper. I personally go to it in most situations. But its personal choice.

Great advice. I took the plunge a while back with Rafael brushes, so far they seem most excellent but I think maybe it takes more skill than I have to truly wring the best results from any of the higher-end brushes (W&N, etc). On the shaking of paint - I use mostly Vallejos for figures, the addition of 2x4mm beads and strapping them into a nail polish shaker...By Our Powers Combined!...worlds ahead of either one on their own. Other paints may not take as much shaking? I dunno. Cheers!

Did Iwata sponsor this video or something Lyla?! :P There are plenty of other good airbrushes out there for mini painters. For example the Harder Steenbeck Infinity CR Plus is a higher spec airbrush but it's also way more expensive. I do however also use the same Iwata. I got mine for about £90 which is money I've never regretted spending. I'd absolutely recommend it even for beginners.

Loved this video and all the cat sabotage at the beginning! 💙

I'd say that a wet pallet, a light with a magnifying lens and color settings, and an airbrush were the best investments I made into painting and wish I had done this a decades ago. After seeing how much of a difference they made I just started stripping everything and going through all my old models again.

A comparatively cheap (if you already have a mini drill) alternative to a shaker might be building a mini-dissolver with readily available materials. If you have a badly stabilized paint, a shaker won't help much (unless you're going to basically mill it with metal balls). A dissolver could do much better - up to certain particle sizes. Dissolvers are used in the coatings industry and that's pretty much the size they come in. They're basically a rotating saw-like disk spinning in the medium. In the university lab we used Dremel type mini-drills - that you usually use for grinding off or intarsing small metal, wood, etc. objects - with small propellers or saw-disks, if we were working on very small samples the size of miniature paint bottles. The particle size distributions checked out, so the diy thing became common for very small samples. We fixed the drill in place of course, but I don't see how that would be necessary here.

I bought the Four E’s mixer last year. Great investment. I compared every model and price point and decided to just spend the money and get the best one. I haven’t regretted it at all.

Definitely recommend a vortex mixer for anyone who has plans to paint for longer than a few weeks. It also enables you to use paint ranges with less of a hassle, since some ranges are fairly quick to separate between their pigments - Army Painter has several colors that are almost impossible to even mix properly by hand. And 130 for a vortex mixer is a hundred more than what I paid for my INTLLAB vortex mixer. Works like a charm, designed for tattoo inks (I think). So it's not a big purchase, really you can find several good options for under 50 bucks already.

I tried the Windsor Newton Series 7 and still have a few kicking around but I've since switched over to the Artis Opus S Series and D series brushes. They are so much better. Watch some of the RU-vidrs that paints though if you're going to try them. There's a few, Ninjon is one I believe, that has a code you can use to get a special set that has all five of each series in a case. The normal sets only contain four brushes. Their Series D are especially amazing if you use drybrushing at all. I will never go back to drybrushing with and old gnarly brush again.

Thank you for taking time to make this video , it helped me decided on a few purchases in the next few weeks

Thanks for your review and the reasons you use what you do. That does help! First video of yours I watched and subscribed for the hope of someday seeing your "helpful" pet in action (grin). Always looking for new tips and viewpoints in the mini painting hobby, looking forward to delving into your video catalog. Keep on creating!

Vortex mixers are amazing. I got a cheap one off amazon and I use it before every time I paint now

I am the same way with my brush care, definitely should be better, so thinking about getting those brushes to force myself to take better care of them, and have higher quality and sturdier brushes overall. Thanks for the video!

I’m glad you keep in the cat’s shenanigans

I love my Badger tools. Made locally.

I've seen two of your video's (or uploads) now this one made me giggle but my comment is wow your mini's and incredibly well painted

I only had an Iwata HP-CS airbrush and compressor delivered last week still haven’t had the time to even unbox it yet but I’m really looking forward to having a play with my new toy. 😂

Great video Lyla. Thank you!

My Eclipse recently died, after years of abuse, and I upgraded to a much more expensive Harder and Steinbeck brush. I thought going from my old Runway13 brush to the Iwata was huge, the the Infinity CR+ is so good. I did give the Iwata to a mate, and he's repaired it, and has been using it again.

Vortex mixer? Two thumbs up from this model painter!

I use a different shaker. It is meant for test tubes, otherwise the same as yours. I have the same airbrush as you and a Harder and Steenbeck. I would suggest you try Pencil Masters Brush Cleaner & Preserver. I just got it and restored an old dry brush only brush to be useable for painting detail brush.

I have purchased the paint puck and the windsor newton brushes on your recommendations and wow you are spot on, the paint puck in awesome even having to pay $80 australian for it, I get the Windsor Newton brushes from the UK where they are around $20-30 dollars Australian as to buy them from shops here in Aus i can pay anywhere from $60 to $100. They are well worth the money compared to cheap synthetic brushes

I avoided buying a vortex mixer for years because of the cost. About three years ago I finally broke down and bought a refurbed lab mixer. Some of the best money I've ever spent for a painting tool. If you ever use Scale75 paints, I consider a vortex mixer a must buy. For brushes, I prefer the Da Vinci Series 35 to W&N Series 7. When you get a good Series 7, it's a great brush, but I've had very uneven quality over the last 5 years or so. And I've yet to get a bad Da Vinci Series 35. (Their Series 10 is also excellent, but I prefer the larger belly of the Series 35. YMMV.) I've never seen the need for something to scrape my brush on. I rinse very regularly and use brush soap and have never seen a paint build-up either within a session or at the end of a session. And there is no reason at all to worry about the orientation of your brush as long as the bristles aren't bent. Capillary action will cause any fluid to migrate up toward the ferrule regardless of what direction you store the brush.

I've had the HPCS for about a month and i'm still trying to get a handle on it. Great tool but intimidating!

I agree that a vortex mixer can be worth it. My hands sometimes get shaky after shaking a bunch of bottles which makes it harder to paint. Everyone, definitely add a stainless ball bearing to the bottle and you may have to do a little shaking to loosen up the ball before using the mixer. I’ve had the same one as in the video for about year and it’s held up.

I have the 4E vortex mixer as well. I have Rheumatoid arthritis so shaking paint is not something that I do anymore simply because of the pain it causes. I will have to see about the Kimera paints, though I have three sets of acrylics as it is (Golden High Flow, Monument Hobbies Pro Acryl, and Citadel's paint) so not sure if I need more paint lol.

FYI tattoo ink vortex mixer about $25 on aliexpress. Mine is awesome and has been going strong for 2 years

As far as I know, there's plans for second basic Kimera set, also single-pigmented.

Yep, been looking at the HP-CS a while. The NEO CN is really good for the money though!

I began with a Master airbrush set I got on Amazon a little over a year ago and recently upgraded to a Badger 105, here, and I'm definitely noticing the difference. The Master has been relegated to spraying primer (though it's getting iffy about that of late) because while I'm still growing accustomed to the Badger, it's a noticeable difference and I'm glad I moved up in quality because it is making things a lot easier for me. The one time I got a W&N brush from Amazon, its point went straight to hell in extremely short order, and I've not touched them ever since; I like Princeton synthetics and frankly? The sable brushes I've gotten from Blick Art Supply and Monument Hobbies (I strongly recommend them in particular) have been really good and consistent so far. Good video as usual, Miss Lyla!

I bought a vortex mixer, first time I was ever able to get my metals truly mixed

Lots of fantastic information, thank you!

For brush cleaning pushing the brush repeatedly against the cup side wall so that you pump water through it is still the best way to clean a brush.

ca. 4:40 : Well... I don't know, if the dicussion in your country has been in an likewise direction as here in germany, but I started with an cheap nail polish shaker for something around 20€. This wasn't worth the money. The cheap crap git dead after a few month and I really plan to spent the money for the lab-vortex-mixer somewhere in the near future.

Love the framed vegvisir and elder futhark runes!

Lovely cat 🐈 ! 😉 Another thing to consider when choosing an airbrush is the ease to find spare parts. And that’s the problem with Iwata in Europe: spare parts are difficult to find, and when you find them, are very expensive. My beginner airbrush is an Iwata Neo CN, but I was unable to find spare joints for the cup so.... I switched to the H&S Evolution.

Nice done. Not a fan of the brushes, but I do have everything else. Keep up the good work.

I use my fiance's electric massager gun with the ball attachment I got from Big 5 for $20. Worked perfectly.

People are saying there's an issue with vortex/tattoo ink mixtures where you can suffer an injury similar to what builders making regular use of jackhammers - the vibrations can cause harm to nerves in your muscles. However, a nail-paint shaker that lets you strap the paint bottle to the shaker may be of use without the risk of harm. Those smaller paint pucks are available on Amazon for around £10 a pack of 3, depending on the colour/where you buy them from. I quite like the one I've been using, just put a couple in a jam jar, it works well. :)

I use a cordless Dremel attached to a plastic medicine bottle with a bolt and nut thru the side take dropper type bottle put it in put the cover on and turn it on for me it does the job. I also have mixing balls in every bottle.

The brush holder part of the Paint Puck looks good, and I'll be checking out Kimera paints once they get their basic set back in stock. Thanks!

I find my vortex works best if you hold the paint bottle as little as possible (I suspect too much contact dampens the vibrations). So the method I use (I don’t credit as I read it on a review myself) is to invert the bottle so that the lid is pushing into the rubber nub of the vortex with the tip of my index finger pushing down on the base of the bottle. I still use ball bearings because the sediment in my Vallejo paints is very thick and heavy when it separates out from the solvent.

Also please check out brush soap which can really extend your brushes lifetime

Will definitely look at kymera, thanks!

Kimera are planning to expand their pure pigment range with another set of 14 colours in the not too distant future, which would more than double the existing pure pigment range. Having a paint range of single pigment colours is always going to be a limiting factor, especially when you target a certain amount of pigment while trying to keep things affordable. It's just going to leave some options off the table. That being said, some more signature series colours can go a long way. In the meantime, Monument Hobbies Pro Acryl paints are a nice way to complement the Kimera paints.

A vortex shaker and the Kimera set are definitely on the list though. My wrists are not happy with trying to get Vallejo to a printable consistency anymore...

I actually have the talon on its way as my first proper gravity feed airbrush

I completely agree with you on the HP-CS, I use my Badger patriot 105 I got as a gift and an Iwata neo that I bought first. I almost never use my HP-CS because I'm scared to wreck it. I started using it again to challenge myself to paint fully with an airbrush. After using the neo and 105 for so long exclusively I regret all the time I spent not using my HP-CS and just babying it on the shelf. As for series 7 brushes, I dislike them as far as sable brushes go. Reaper's sable's brushes to me are more full and come to a point better, something about the series 7 brushes just rubs me the wrong way. I use them for my watercolor paintings and those are phenomenal. I just feel like they work not as great with the water-based acrylic compared to reaper's brushes.

I have the Iwata eclipse myself as my first airbrush and its been so amazing to work with it. even just basecoating armies becomes a breeze instead of a choir. I really want the paint pick to but can' t find a source in europe to get them. since if i order them from outside the EU customs will fuck me over. not a good enough painter to make Kimera worth it for me. but the winsor and newton brushes are pretty dope! i mostly use the size 2 for everything and the 1 for smaller stuff. having 2 size 2 ones for blending also is really handy.

Just got my first airbrush an Iwata - someone dumped the hobby ... so I got the whole package, the airbrush, compressor, ultrasonic bath, about 100 paints varnishes textures etc, paint rack, brushes, even some grass and other terrain materials ... for around $400 ... It I hope to learn how to use it. Poor iwata was made for pros not for noobs like me. But I will learn how to use it.

Talked me out of Kimera paints. I paint infrequently and casually, so while they sound TOTALLY AWESOME I don't like mixing colors. I'm much happier grabbing the color I want and going with it.

We are talking about double action airbrushes here. Single action has its place for casual beginners and industrial applications. Be happy you did not talk about compressors and really get me started. I own both the Eclipse HP-CS (shown here) and the "High Performance" HP-CS (about $250+). They are intended for different paints. Always study the airbrush application charts these guys have on their sites carefully before buying any airbrush. The Iwata high performance line is not a tool for beginners. The Iwata Custom Micron (about $600) is the high end tool for really fine stuff. My Eclipse HP-CS performs much better with acrylics since I replaced the nozzle, needle, and cap to the larger size (to 0.5mm from 0.35mm). The AM-11050 crown Cap turned it into a roadster. I now have a high performing cheap air brush with a lot of money pored into it. Gravity feed with a larger cup size is the way to go because they are easier to clean. Avoid a siphon feed for this reason. Siphon feed may be best for high volume industrial applications. A beginner will not go wrong a Paasche Talon set with the three needle diameters. Sort things out with a product like that before blowing more money. Sometimes less is more. Iwata makes nice stuff... Paasche and Badger offer good choices too if you understand what you are buying. If you use acrylics, you will require a draft horse, not a quarter horse. And, you WILL clean your airbrush from stem to stern after each use with acrylics or else you WILL have a really bad day. If you work with inks, you may do much better work with something else. Take good care of your paint just as you would your tools! Keep paint toward the bottom of the container and away from the mouth and lid closure where cured paint builds up, begins to cake, and forms chunks that may summarily fall back down into your remaining good paint. Those chunks will foul up your airbrush and give your substrate the Jackson Pollock look. Straining paint to remove chunks of partially cured binder and crust is not fun and you don't have to do it if you are careful. So, what does shaking the container all about do besides mix the paint? I prefer stirred and not shaken. The stir motor with impeller that can be had for about $10 and runs on a AA battery is a much better investment than a vortex mixer. Hint: No vibration or wrist action involved either. I transfer my paint with disposable transfer pipettes and never tip my containers for reasons I have mentioned. The best bristle bush may depend on what paint you use. The viscosity of the paint and an awareness of the chemical compatibility of your bristles may strongly indicate that less is more and help avoid a bad day.

I like the Iwata eclipse Takumi. The side feed cup gives me a lot of room and options, doesn’t get in way of seeing either. About the same price now.