Review: Chronicle Cards Techlon Tiger Drybrushes set

Last year Chronicle Cards brought their third brush set to life on Kickstarter. Following the all-round wolf bristle brushes and fine Kolinsky sable brushes, they’ve now created a set of drybrushes made from synthetic hair. The set has now seen a general release in Chronicle Cards’ online shop, and I’ve had the opportunity to thoroughly test the Techlon brushes. In this review, I’ll explain why I consider the Techlon Tiger Drybrush Set to be one of the best on the market.

Chronicle Cards are located in Brisbane, Australia. The Techlon Tiger Drybrushes Kickstarter has been funded in 8 minutes. After the successful fulfilment, the brush set is now available in Chronicle’s online shop, along with their wolf bristle brushes (which I reviewed here), their Kolinsky sable brushes (review here), as well as brush soaps, a collection of beautiful dice, and a couple of other RPG goodies. The shop is shipping worldwide via a global shipping partner.

Techlon Tiger Drybrush set review

The retail version of the Techlon Tiger set contains 12 drybrushes. Like all Chronicle sets, the brushes come wrapped in a black velvet pouch in a round gift tube. The set also comes with an access code for Chronicle Card’s Dragon Vault, a digital resource for free printable miniature files, RPG content, and more.

Five of the brushes have round heads, perfect for drybrushing large areas or whole models slapchop-style, or for an “Artis Opus” painting style combining stippling and drybrushing. As with their other brush sets, Chronicle Cards has made a point of a beautiful presentation. The brush handles are finished in high-gloss white paint, while the ferrules and bristles are a sleek black.

The other brushes have a mix of straight, angled, and pointed bristles. There are 3 flat drybrushes (small, medium, and large), 2 angled brushes (small and large), as well as a pointed large size 7 brush for applying washes, and a size 0 detail brush for smaller details. I like the variety of shapes and can see a use for every brush in this set.

Synthetic vs natural hair

The brushes in the Tiger Drybrush set all feature synthetic, vegan Techlon fibers (also known as Taklon), commonly found in high-quality makeup brushes. The bristles are super soft, which helps achieve softer blendings, and have a pleasant spring and snap. I’m using the Kickstarter prototypes for a few months now, and the brushes have maintained their shape excellently and cleaned well with brush soap. Additionally, even during vigorous drybrushing, no hairs have come loose from the ferrule.

The question is, what makes the better drybrush: synthetic fibers or natural bristles as found in brushes like the Artis Opus Series D or the Whiteline MC1 brushes from PK-Pro (review here)? There’s no definitive answer.

Synthetic hair is smoother on a microscopic level, allowing paint particles to slide off more quickly. This often leads to faster results but can also contribute to unsightly streaking. However, the hair is often softer, which makes for softer blends. Natural hair has a more porous surface where paint particles can adhere more strongly, resulting in slower paint release, which might aid in achieving a more even application. However, natural hair drybrush brushes often use stiffer bristles such as goat hair. They are also harder to clean, and in my experience, they tend to shed hairs more often. Personally, I prefer the softer bristles of synthetic brushes for drybrushing.

Value

The Techlon Tiger Drybrush Set costs $68 / 62.95 € / £54 / $99.98 AUD. For this you get 12 brushes, i.e. $5.66 / 5.24 € / £4.5 / $8.33 AUD euros per brush. This is more than fair for the quality, as there are also some large brushes with a lot of bristles. Shipping costs are calculated during checkout, thanks to Chronicle’s worldwipe distribution partner the costs are reasonable. Shipping to Germany, for example, costs 5.95 € and there are no import fees.

But why should you buy this set and not a cheap make-up brush set from Amazon for 10 bucks? I used to do the same, but I’ve now switched to the Tiger brushes. The problem with these makeup sets is that the shapes of most of the brushes are not exactly fit for the hob. The short, round brush heads, which are so ideal for dry brushing and stippling, are usually missing or have too long hair. I usually only use three or four brushes from these sets, which puts the price back into perspective. With the Techlon Tiger Brushes, every brush does have a useful shape.

By the way, Patreon members receive a 20% discount on all products in Chronicle’s online shop, in addition to many other goodies. It’s worth it from the very first set!

I hope you found this review helpful, feel free to leave a reaction or comment below, or post your questions here or discuss on our Discord channel.