Tea stained or white pith helmets. What should I go with?

[Ace From Outer Space]

Good morning folks!

I've only just recently started painting some Wargames Factory plastic Anglo Zulu war Brits. I know that the pith helmets were White when issued, and were often tea stained by units on active service. Which looks better in your opinion?

I'm tempted to just paint them white... What do you think?

Thanks in advance guys! I'm being indecisive....

Cheers

Ace 

[rob_alderman]

A mixture. 

That's how I'd do it.

[joroas]

I'm being indecisive....

I think I used to be indecisive, but now, I'm not so sure............

[Svennn]

White gives the best contrast with the uniform but for me getting a really good white is a lot harder and going stained gives you the opportunity to vary them all a little.

Officers in pristine white, troopers in dirty stained?

[Argonor]

If the unit is fresh shipped in, use white - if they have been on service for more than a week, use stained.

I think it's a matter like urinating in your beret to make it not 'stand up' - no soldier wants to be caught dead looking like a recruit 

One thing, though: I don't really get WHY they dyed the covers... white should reflect the sun (and hence the heat) better than brown, and wearing bright red uniforms really makes the 'less obvious target' thing obsolete....

[joroas]

I think white stands out at a distance more than red or brown. 

[Plynkes]

One thing, though: I don't really get WHY they dyed the covers... white should reflect the sun (and hence the heat) better than brown, and wearing bright red uniforms really makes the 'less obvious target' thing obsolete....

The helmets didn't have removable covers in this war. They actually stained the helmet. And truly, it is the brilliant white that really stands out from a distance, not so much the red.

Group photos and pictures taken in the field tend to show everybody the same one way or the other, officers and men. So it doesn't seem to have been a matter of individual initiative or choice, more likely at some point the commanding officer gave the order for the battalion or battery and everybody did it. So personally I wouldn't mix and match within a unit, but within an army maybe.

If you like white helmets the volunteer cavalry units don't seem to have gone in for tea-staining much. I personally think white looks much more pleasing to the eye, but tea-stained would be more common, especially as time wore on.

[rob_alderman]

One thing, though: I don't really get WHY they dyed the covers... white should reflect the sun (and hence the heat) better than brown, and wearing bright red uniforms really makes the 'less obvious target' thing obsolete....

Wasn't it still a time when the uniforms were tailored to scare the enemy rather than hide from them? A bit obnoxious really.

[Grekwood]

A mixture. 

That's how I'd do it.

yup..that's what i did with mine 

[rob_alderman]

And this guy is obsessed with bananas, so must know what he's doing!

No seriously, I'd mix it up, do some more stained than others. If you don't like them, you can always repaint them.

Another option would be to do them all white and then 'stain' them with ink or a wash. 

[colin_baillie]

Games Workshop Bestial Brown washed over a white helmet seemed to work on mine. Some ended up darker than others.

[answer_is_42]

This topic comes up alot. There's been more than one argument about it. I'd go with mostly stained. This photograph shows a group of British soldiers a couple of months after the first invasion (at Rorke's Drift):

[Justin Buck]

I have painted both white and stained helmets and I think it comes down to personal choice as both look good. A unit of white helmets makes them look sharp, while a unit of stained helmets makes them look like veterans.
Justin

[M Blakey]

Mix it up man!

also its nicer to paint a variety or you just get bored. Some of my officers have stained other imaculate white such Pulleine, Melvill ect.

and when i stain i do it very lightly in places others heavier just looks abit more realistic 

mike

[colin_baillie]

This topic comes up alot. There's been more than one argument about it. I'd go with mostly stained. This photograph shows a group of British soldiers a couple of months after the first invasion (at Rorke's Drift):

I think that the picture shows a "second invasion" unit that included troops with Indian style covered helmets. That could be why they look so dark, rather than being stained.