
What we do
Quite simply, we make excellent quality enamel model paint.
Why enamel? It offers huge flexibility to the newcomer and expert alike. It will brush well and will also thin right down and airbrush like a lacquer. It blends beautifully, it adheres properly, and it will tolerate rough handling and masking without painting disasters.
Our colour range is vast, and we take great pride in the quality of our colour matches. In order to maintain our enviable reputation for "getting things right", we are actively engaged in research much of the time. Sometimes this is travelling around seeking out historical documents and artifacts to record, and other times we are discussing with subject matter experts and reading competing works to compare and consider possible impacts.
We do not crank out Federal Standard 595 colours from a machine and tell you that is what you need. We take accuracy and research seriously so you can trust what we supply to you.
Why we do it
At Sovereign Hobbies, we often ask ourselves why we do this. We never set out simply to own a small model paint company; we started as modellers who cared deeply about accuracy, finish, and the satisfaction of getting a subject right. After trying many different model paint brands and types, we found ourselves consistently drawn to enamels for their durability, coverage, and traditional modelling feel.
We understand that not every modeller prefers enamels, and that is perfectly fine. What matters to us is producing paints that give serious hobbyists a dependable and well-researched starting point. Our aim is not just to offer colour in a tin, but to provide shades that reflect careful study, historical context, and practical modelling experience.
Creating a standard colour with modern equipment is relatively straightforward. The real challenge begins when working with historical subjects, specialist schemes, and colours that are poorly represented by modern references. In those cases, accuracy depends on research, comparison, documentation, and the ability to prove why a colour is right.
We know that real paints faded, weathered, and varied in service. We also recognise that historical manufacturing was not always perfectly controlled. However, advice such as “paint it how you think it looks” is only useful when a modeller already understands what the correct starting point should be.
That is why Sovereign Hobbies exists: to help modellers begin with confidence. Our paints are developed to represent the intended fresh appearance of real-world colours, supported wherever possible by up-to-date research and original documentation.
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How we do it
This little company is a side business with no full-time employees. It is made to fit around our real lives which includes earning the family income and raising children. We are eternally grateful for volunteer help from two fellow enthusiasts, Stew and my father Robbie, without whom our production could not keep pace with sales.
Our paint is made in relatively small batches e.g. 1litres at a time. The lids are painted using paint from the very same batch inside the tin. Our tins are sourced in batch sizes we can afford to buy and have space to store. The lids are designed for tightness with the advantage is that they do seal properly which is necessary forposting and paint longevity.
We fill by hand. Various machines have been bought, used and discarded as inferior to hand filling at the batch sizes we work with. Ultimately, all this means we are capacity constrained. Whilst we do try to predict and manage stock levels, it's futile as we can never account for inexplicable surges on certain colours.
Trade orders are subject to very substantial shipping costs to carry out legally, so it's not possible to drip-feed our dealers overseas. Fulfilling orders between 1,200 and 3,000 tins takes time. From spraying, decanting, packing and shipping, so it takes us a long time to fulfil trade orders even if the dealer only wants 12 tins of everything. If our stock is low on a variety of colours we have to produce a full batch to complete the trade order.
The colours themselves are sometimes very easy, with an official reference to a recognised colour standard. Other times, they are difficult and require lots of methodologies to triangulate on an appearance that is supported by various sources of evidence and agreeable with third party individuals who often help us.
This requires us to own lots and lots of reference books, colour chips, fans, optical colour measurement equipment and conversancy with paint chemistry, photochemical tendencies of various paint systems used on the original subjects and of course be multi-lingual in colourspace coordinate systems.
Royal Navy Research Publications
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Royal Navy Camouflage - C.A.F.O. 679/42 - SEA-GOING CAMOUFLAGE DESIGNS FOR DESTROYERS AND SMALL SHIPS
Regular price £6.99Sale price £6.99 -
Royal Navy Camouflage - C.B.3098(R) 1945 Edition - THE CAMOUFLAGE OF SHIPS AT SEA - Ship painting guide extract
Regular price £4.99Sale price £4.99 -
Royal Navy Camouflage - C.B.3098(R) 1943 Edition - THE CAMOUFLAGE OF SHIPS AT SEA PDF
Regular price £9.99Sale price £9.99 -
Royal Navy Camouflage - C.A.F.O. 2146/42 - DARK MEDIUM TONE CAMOUFLAGE DESIGNS FOR SEAGOING SHIPS
Regular price £2.99Sale price £2.99




