I use paintbrushes of both organic and synthetic hair to achieve the effect on my figurines that I desire. The drybrushes are useful for edge highlights, allowing me to easily emphasise shadows more. I have also recently started using an airbrush. While I am not proficient yet, it is a useful addition to my tools

The figures I put together are Warhammer minifigs made of High Impact polestyrene. For this reason I use n-butyl acetate - or plastic cement - to put together to paint. They are then primed before i use acrylic paint to render the figures.