Is it really a competition? srsly.
I should perhaps change my dealio to--I want to make it the best that I can make it at the time. Or, better than the costumes I see already made at the time. There's no realistic way I can make my costume "THE best evar". Because then I'd have to be remaking each costume every time someone one-ups me. And I've already remade my grunt, which was a lot of work, and it was ten times better than the first. If I remade it again, it would be even better. But that's boring. So I'm just going to do the best I can with each covenant and hope for the best.
But really, chillax.
Aside from that...paintbrush or all by hand?? I used my hand with a paint brush, if that's what you mean