W. Britain Soldiers
W. Britain has been making quality toy soldiers since 1893. Some of the first Britains sets include the 1st life guards, Royal Horse Guards, 5th Dragoon Guards, and Royal Scots Greys. They were excellent collector’s items but didn’t have the meticulous details that the Britains of today do, and the majority of these sets only include soldiers on horseback or at the ready. Though elementary, these were the beginnings of the long history of William Britain figurines.
Part of what made those first Britains immediately popular was their value to customers. Britains toy soldiers cost less than German manufacturers’ figurines and customers noticed. By using their now famous hollowcast method, W. Britain could use less metal to make the same soldiers as their competitors. Hollowcasting was not invented by W. Britain but once William Britain began producing toy soldiers it was certainly part of their signature manufacturing style.
Hollowcasting is not the only method of manufacturing that Britains have used over the years. W. Britain also offers plastic toy soldiers. In the 1950’s, William Britain bought Herald Miniatures which produced plastic figurines. These plastic figurines were a part of the Britain’s product offering and in the 1970’s W.Britain also began producing plastic figures with metal bases for their Deetail product line. Plastic toy soldiers are often thought to be lower quality than metal but these plastic toy soldiers are now another collectors item from this renowned company.
In the 1960’s, Britains lead toy soldiers took a big hit to production. William Britain had produced thousands of sets of lead toy soldiers up to this point but the cost of lead rose and UK increased safety regulations on lead. These factors stopped production of Britains’ famous lead toy soldiers. William Britain shifted their manufacturing focus.
For more than 10 years, W. Britain focused production on plastic soldiers and other toys. In 1973, Britain began producing a new kind of metal toy soldiers. They were originally intended to be toys but were eventually dubbed collectors items. These figurines were die cast in metal alloy and these are the toy soldiers that W. Britain produces today. Die casting is a way of forming metal figures. A molten metal is poured into a cavity to form each figurine.
The steps of creating a Britain toy soldier has also evolved over their years of production into a finely crafted process. These extremely detailed and accurate soldiers come from a strict series of steps for production. An idea for a toy soldier is sketched out with special attention to proportions of the figurines and perspective. Historians and historical books then validate the details of each soldier from their uniform to their hairstyle. Toy soldier visions are brought to life by creating wax figures of the drawings then creating molds from the wax figures. Lead-free pewter is poured into the molds then these metal figurines are hand painted with realistic details. So much attention is paid to the vision and creation of each W. Britain piece that it is no wonder these soldiers are considered some of the finest in the world.
About the Author
Want to see where history has taken us? Check out all of the W. Britain Collections at The Toymaker of Williamsburg or find out more facts about William Britain in my William Britain Blog.
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