Repainting pre-war vintage Britains (2 Viewers)

Clive57

Clive57

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Hello everybody . . . I have just joined and this is my first post here.

I am in the process of restoring my late fathers lead toy soldiers, most I think are Britain's but with a few John Hill mixed in I believe. I really want to return the figures back to as near as "as new" as I can. The majority have little of the original paint left on and although I have a basic idea of what colour things should be I am looking for some information on colour mixes, including flesh colours and even the bases the figures stand on. I am sure this info must exist somewhere or failing that maybe some good quality photographs of Britain's figures in their original paint to use as a reference.

Thanks in advance if anybody can help.
 
Hi Clive. Welcome to the Forum. Since you are going to be repainting, rather than retouching these vintage figures, the colour matches aren't going to be as critical. There's a good guide to basic Britainsesque colour mixes here: https://londonbridgecollectorstoys.com/humbral-paints/ Prewar, Britains mixed their own colours from powdered pigments, but postwar went to Humbrol.
Ian Partridge (yes, a member of the band XTC) has a chatty essay on his philosophy and colour mixing suggestions on this site: http://irregularminiatures.co.uk/ You'll have to go to their 42mm section, then to the Deutsche Homage line, then scroll down to find the essay.
Pictorial guides are a little harder to use - reproduction techniques and computer images don't give a true colour value. They are great for stylistic ideas, though. The least expensive general reference work for Britains figures I can suggest is Andrew Rose's Collector's All-Colour Guide to Toy Soldiers. If you've got £ to spare, or are a Britains fanatic like me, there are James Opie's books, and especially Joe Wallis' detailed set-by-set studies. Wallis has just published an all-colour edition covering Britains production for the years 1925-41. It's a companion volume to his other two books, the three together illustrating every Britains hollowcast figure and variant from 1893-1966.
And you have a resource for replacement parts, advice, and finished sets in Andrew at Replica Metal Soldiers: https://www.facebook.com/replica.metal.soldiers/
Please post pictures, and feel free to ask any questions you may have about your project.
 
Last edited:
Yes, it's Andy (not Ian - senior's moment there). Long time collector, restorer, and designer of toy soldiers. Per his Wikipedia bio: "Beyond music, Partridge is an avid collector, sculptor, and painter of toy soldiers, an "obsession" he credits to his mother throwing away his toys as a child.[SUP][37][/SUP] In a 1990 interview, he estimated owning thousands of figures since he started collecting them in 1979."
His 42mm Deutsche Homage line for Irregular Miniatures emulates Heyde's style.
 
Welcome Clive,

I think Mike's advice about using Humbrol gloss colours is a good place to start and don't be afraid to experiment mixing colours if you can't find a match to your liking.

We used to have a member here JohnnyBach who did some excellent restorations of old Britains and their like. It is worth looking through his threads, although unfortunately I think most of his images have been deleted.

There are other ways. You can use modern acrylics and gloss coat over the top which creates a nice finish.

I came across this post on a wargames forum recently, which I believe have been done in this manner-

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=115677.0

Either way enjoy your restorations and post some images.

Scott
 
Thank you everybody for the welcome messages and your prompt responses. There is some very useful information there which I will go through in detail. I currently have a lot Humbrol paint on order so I will be making a start when that arrives and I will post a photograph of my first efforts.
 
Well I've finally got around to working on the first batch over Christmas and New Year . . . what remained of any paint stripped, holes filled and repaired with metal putty. Now ready for primer then painting.

20210102_141307.jpg
 
Nice start Clive,

What brand is the taller infantry figure in the middle of the group?

Scott
 
Hazebrouck said:
Nice start Clive,

What brand is the taller infantry figure in the middle of the group?

Scott
Click to expand...

Hi Scott, I don't know, the inscription on the base is very worn, there is the usual "Made in England" and above that is what I assume could be the makers name. The first letters are worn away but the second part of the word is "ETORS", maybe somebody here will know what that is? The others I am guessing are a mixture of Britain's and John Hill but I don't know which is which as there is nothing visible on the bases.
 
It's a Britains figure. The full word is Proprietors. They made two very small series of larger than usual marching soldiers which sold individually. H series "Large Size" (7cm) had three - Line Infantry, Foot Guards, and Highlanders; HH series "Extra large Size" (8.3cm) had the same three types. I can't tell from the photo how tall your Line Infantry guy is, but he's either catalogue # 4h or 1hh. I'm using a reprint of the 1940 catalogue for reference.
Looking forward to seeing him in full scarlet and blue splendour!
 
Mike Niederman said:
It's a Britains figure. The full word is Proprietors. They made two very small series of larger than usual marching soldiers which sold individually. H series "Large Size" (7cm) had three - Line Infantry, Foot Guards, and Highlanders; HH series "Extra large Size" (8.3cm) had the same three types. I can't tell from the photo how tall your Line Infantry guy is, but he's either catalogue # 4h or 1hh. I'm using a reprint of the 1940 catalogue for reference.
Looking forward to seeing him in full scarlet and blue splendour!
Click to expand...

Thank you Mike, much appreciated . . . well I have just measured it and it is 7cm, and yes I think I can just about make out the word Britains Ltd under the Made in England. I would love to find some old catalogues to identify some of the others also, I don't suppose you where I could get them from do you?, hard copy or as a PDF or anything really.
 
Well, Clive, all I can suggest re old catalogues is that they show up at auctions, like Vectis' (vectis.co.uk). There have been a few reprints of old Britains catalogues - there's one offered on eBay right now https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1940-Britai...858296?hash=item23d1bfb938:g:UhIAAOSwHSxeUsSq . I found my reprints at used book stores, and as library discards. I should mention that the pictures in old catalogues are quite small, and black and white, not so useful for matching with the real toys.
For IDing Britains toy soldiers, I go through the listings on auction sites like Vectis, Bonhams, C&T, and aggregators like The Saleroom https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/candt-auctioneers/catalogue-id-srct10077. I've downloaded thousands of pictures and descriptions over the last 15+ years. Just a little obsessive!
 
Mike Niederman said:
Well, Clive, all I can suggest re old catalogues is that they show up at auctions, like Vectis' (vectis.co.uk). There have been a few reprints of old Britains catalogues - there's one offered on eBay right now https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1940-Britai...858296?hash=item23d1bfb938:g:UhIAAOSwHSxeUsSq . I found my reprints at used book stores, and as library discards. I should mention that the pictures in old catalogues are quite small, and black and white, not so useful for matching with the real toys.
For IDing Britains toy soldiers, I go through the listings on auction sites like Vectis, Bonhams, C&T, and aggregators like The Saleroom https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/candt-auctioneers/catalogue-id-srct10077. I've downloaded thousands of pictures and descriptions over the last 15+ years. Just a little obsessive!
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike, yes I was thinking of the catalogues as a means of identifying the figures I have, but maybe the auction sites are a better bet for that and also as a source for determining the original paintwork. Like you I have started a downloaded photo collection for reference, thanks for the tip 👍🙂
 
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