LIFECOLOR BRITISH RAIL PAINTS

After a couple of weeks' worth of testing, I'm really happy with these new acrylic BR paint shades from Lifecolor. As mentioned in a previous post, I helped out a little in the development of these paints, although this was my first chance to try out the production batch.

The three main loco livery elements: BR green, blue and maroon all look accurate to my eye, the blue and green in particular giving excellent results. Rail grey, for Post-1960s blue and grey stock looks fine, too, as do the two freight colours: bauxite and unfitted grey.

Each of the paints demand a few thin coats to be applied before the correct colour begins to form, but this is natural enough, especially with acrylics. Around half-a-dozen ultra-thin airbrushed coats, applied when the previous one has set (around 10-15 mins) should do the trick. The paints are also a joy to hand-brush, although a longer wait between layers is needed - about 2-3hours - and a couple of light coats should do the trick, depending on the colour beneath.

Appropriately, the maroon, blue, green and rail grey each dry to a semi-satin sheen, while the freight bauxite and grey offer a much flatter finish. All of the paints need a few coats of a clear gloss before applying decals, Johnsons Klear floor polish being just the job, adhering well to the Lifecolor paints (better than to some enamels). Once finished with a sealing matt or satin varnish, the shades look great. I tested mine on an old Hornby Class 37 body and a Lima wagon, both pre-primed with a light grey base coat (for the blue, green, bauxite and maroon) and white (both greys).

Available now from stockists, including The Airbrush Co., the paints are packaged in a six-pack or individually. Definitely worth trying for yourself.