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Posted by James Duff on November 10, 2026, 05:41, in reply to "Re: Not so..."
Hi Ralph,
I apologise if I misunderstood you. I interpreted your message header to confirm that Richard had bought Colourcoats...
To your question though, in common with almost all other hydrocarbon-containing model paints (including alcohol) and glues, these fall into Class III - Flammable Liquids category of Dangerous Goods category agreed between pretty much all westernised countries. It's quite legal to ship them internationally, but there are relatively onerous packaging and manifesting burdens which come with and in addition neither sea nor air carriers trust a random "nobody" and require the persons packaging and submitting paperwork to hold a license they recognise. Because of this, the vast majority of businesses which intend to comply with the law use Freight Forwarding companies.
It's cost prohibitive at a consumer order level - the starting price to ship legally from UK to USA for example was around £500 GBP for up to 10kg but additional 10kg blocks were not so expensive, so with a relatively large trade-size order it can be made to work with the shipping cost amortized across a large quantity of product.
I think the difficulty for manufacturer and reseller alike is being able to manage cashflow. Some countries like Canada have laws about Volatile Organic Compounds intended towards industrial users and household consumers of household quantities of cans of paint, but it puts off retailers from trying to sell enamels. Really though it's about population density / catchment.
Shipping to Australia for example was painfully expensive so you need huge quantities to make it work, and there just aren't that many customers to sell to.
Another difficulty was that it was a big range but difficult to foresee which specific products will be popular at a given time. There were rapid sellers and there were reliable dust-gatherers, but often a new kit would appear and something that was a slow but steady seller would be gone in a week - it's hard to resupply an international seller with top-ups when they have to order 2000 units plus at a time.
It's also difficult to know whether apparent popularity of a given product is a flash or sustained. You can reliably assume that 5-N Navy Blue will sell well consistently, but modellers are hoarders and would often just buy out everything else and stash it away in their drawers. International stockists would mistake hoarders for sustainable demand, buy a load more next time only for it to just sit there. A hoarder who has just bought 12x something but isn't actually building much isn't consumer demand - he's just helped reinforce the idea that supply is unreliable.
Many businesses and retailers in particular keep costs (significantly) lower by just ignoring the law and shipping flammable liquids in the regular mail. The penalties can be large fines or even prison sentences, and given that my day job has me in a leadership role in a hazardous and safety-conscious industry, ignoring the law was never a risk I felt worth taking - I had too much to lose.
Keith likewise is playing with a straight bat as far as I can see.
Hope there's something of interest amongst my rambling! 
Previous Message
Thank you for these details. I am delighted to get the story straight from the source rather than piecing things together from my memory of old posts and internet info.
However, I am curious what is "not so?"
I wrote that Richard Harden runs WEM. You confirm this.
I wrote that Keith Richardson owns Colourcoats. You confirm this.
I wrote that Richard Harden is the authorized US supplier. You confirm this.
You did not address why a US agent was chosen to sell Colourcoats. My understanding is that it is because the mail (US or Royal Mail, or both) will not handle them since they contain hazardous chemicals. I had read that they could not be mailed retail overseas, but could be imported in bulk by a stockist, then sold retail within that stockist's country. That is then what I wrote. You seem to confirm this. You had three US stockists at one time, and I read that there were other stockists in other countries. People in this thread complain they've no access to it in their country any more despite Keith still owning it and being in business. Is that because there's no stockist for their country? Why can't they order direct from Keith? If this is wrong, please correct me. I do not like being a source of misinformation, and the opportunity to get the strory straight from you I find to be a treasure of inestimable value.
At this point, I am at a loss to see what is wrong (not so) in what I wrote, and am dying to now get the story straight. Please do so! Thank you. Previous Message
In 2014 when the original White Ensign Models Ltd went into insolvency, the company and its assets were sold off in three parts:
- Lot 1 was White Ensign Models brand rights, website, stock inventory and rights to White Ensign Models branded detail sets and kits
- Lot 2 was Colourcoats paint sub-brand and rights, stock inventory and rights to Colourcoats
- Lot 2 was stock inventory of third party products
Lot 1 was sold to Richard Harden of Tom's Modelworks. Lot 2 was sold to me. Lot 3 was sold to Hannants.
I thus set up Sovereign Hobbies Ltd as a side venture to continue manufacturing and selling Colourcoats paints and developed both the colour range and chemical product throughout the 10 years I remained in business. I imported WEM detail sets from Richard and sold them in the capacity of his UK agent, and reciprocally Richard imported Colourcoats paints from me and sold them as one of three US agents I had at one point. Richard was always the biggest buyer of the three.
It was always a side venture for us and as my day job became ever more senior in role and demanding, and my wife became a PhD student, something had to go and it was making model paints.
I sold Colourcoats rights and inventory to Keith Richardson, an enthusiastic UK-based customer who had recently retired from Nissan's manufacturing plant in N.E. England. Keith set up his own business called Resolution Hobbies Ltd where he continues to make and sell Colourcoats in the UK. I understand Richard Harden still imports Colourcoats and acts as a US agent for them. Previous Message
Richard Harden runs both Tom's Modelworks and WEM. There's a post some ways down the page from this one by Felix Bustelo:
https://members.boardhost.com/Warship/msg/1793190188.html
In it, Richard posts in with the link. Here's his reply:
https://members.boardhost.com/Warship/msg/1793387314.html
The colors offered are listed. Yes, they're enamel.
James Duff indicated Keith Richardson still owns them, but his website doesn't work, and Facebook indicated the reason is because he had a stroke. So, I have no idea how you order overseas. In the US, Richard is the authorized supplier, and you've got the link.
The chemicals in enamel paint are considered hazardous, so most (if not all) mail services will not handle them. That means another courier service would be used. IIRC, you're in Canada? Richard is the final word, but there could be issues getting them to you, just so that doesn't surprise you if it happens. One reason Richard Harden became the US supplier is because they could not be shipped retail from the UK overseas, so they ended up being sold by authorized retailers in various countries. Hazardous chemicals "don't cross borders easily." Previous Message
Did toms model works take over the Colourcoats paints and white ensign? thanks Previous Message
Good afternoon, I am wondering where I can buy colourcoats paints direct? also, where could I check out a color sheet with the colors that they offer? they are enamel correct? hope so.. who owns them now? thanks guys for any info..
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