Those of you who have older W. Britains soldiers will have noticed that Britains "white" (used on Guards belts and piping, USMA Cadet trousers and belts, etc., etc.) is no longer very white. This is because with age Britains's white faded to various shades of dirty white or cream. London Bridge suggests Humbrol # 41, Ivory, which is an off-white and more closely represents the "white" that Britains used.
After 35 years of studying Britains, London Bridge's Britains expert, Mr. Ruddell, says he is slowly becoming convinced that Britains never used white as such. Before 1936, all the colors were ground and mixed at the factory from dry pigments. The addition of turpentine and various mineral spirits changed the white pigment upon mixing.

Britains colors varied considerably over the years, so the best method of preparing paint of the "correct" color is to match it to the color on an original figure. In the 1950s, particularly, some very strange, dark Guards tunics got through quality control.

If you do not have an original Britains figure available, you can buy one of our figures already painted to use as a sample. We match our colors very carefully, so you can be assured of a very close match to the original. We also paint our figures in the original Britains style so you will have a very authentic example. An example of this can be seen in the painting of Guards bearskins where the whole underside is flesh colored instead of black.

Primer	Plasti-kote all-purpose anti-rust primer, #321 "Gray" (If you have trouble finding it, try Pep Boys.)
Protective Overcoat	A properly primed and painted figure should not need any further protective coating. There is always a risk that the protective coating itself will discolor or peel.
Bearskins	Testors Model Master #2721 "Classic Black"
Guards Trousers	8 parts Humbrol H-15 "Midnight Blue", 1 part Humbrol H-21 "Black", and 1 part Humbrol H-19 "Bright Red"
Guards Tunics	4 parts Testors Model Master #2718 "Guards Red" and 1 part Testors Model Master #2717 "Bright Yellow" For 'early' Britains tunics, you can use 70% Humbrol No. 19 and 30% Humbrol No.18. For 'early, early' Britains tunics, use 50% Humbrol No. 19 and 50% Humbrol No. 18.
Rifle stocks	Testors Model Master #2708 "Manganese Brown Metallic"
Wagons	True Test Hi-Q Enamel #U-39 "Slate Gray"

Click here for the list of Testors colors we can supply.

You may also contact us for additional information on mixing colors to match Britains.