AK Extreme Metals

[RidgeRunner]

Hi all!

 

I'd be grateful of your thoughts, guidance, cautionary notes, etc on these paints.

 

Easy to apply (airbrushed)?

Easy to clean?

Thinners and primers to use?

 

Thanks a lot,

 

Martin

 

[Ologist]

I've tried a couple of shades recently, and have to say, I've been very impressed with them. The finish is just about as good as Alclad, but they are a bit more forgiving to spray. I've used a pressure of up to 20 psi, and they've gone on very smoothly and dried quickly, with no sign at all of graininess. Whilst they don't go down quite as thinly as Alclad, they still need a well prepared surface, as even tiny scratches and surface flaws will show through. You can easily patch up some areas  and they blend in very well.

A big advantage, as least time wise, is they don't need a primer coat. The smell is also not quite as overpowering as Alclad, but I still make sure I've got a lot of ventilation.

They are thin enough to spray direct from the bottle, after a good shake, as they settle out quite quickly.

Although described as enamels, they need something a bit stronger than white spirit for airbrush cleaning, but liquid reamer makes short work of this, if negating the advantage of their lower odour.

 

Jon

[Rabbit Leader]

There's a few excellent videos on the Flory models YouTube site, where these are applied to a 1/48 F-104. They look pretty good from what I can tell and what's mentioned on the vid. 

 

Im yet to get my grubby hands on a batch however plan to for my next silver build. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[RidgeRunner]

Thanks chaps. 

 

Out of interest - as it is mentioned above - what psi do you normally airbrush metallics? Mine is always grainy - enamel, Humbrol 11 and metalcotes.

 

Martin

Edited August 1, 2017 by RidgeRunner

[Muzz]

I have a few colours in the AK Extreme Metals range, as with other similar types the primer depends on the look your going for highly polished finish you want a gloss black or similar but other than that anything will do, can even get away without a primer with it. It's definitely easier to use and more forgiving than Alclad, it's doesn't need thinned either.

 

I have got some good results with it using the Alclad hot colours over the top but I personally feel the metal look is just not quite as good as Alclad but very close.

 

On the other hand I would imagine it will last longer as I've had a few Alclad colours go off in the bottle.

 

Muzz

[Skodadriver]

22 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

Thanks chaps. 

 

Out of interest - as it is mentioned above - what psi do you normally airbrush metallics? Mine is always grainy - enamel, Humbrol 11 and metalcotes.

 

Martin

I've been a fan of AK Interactive Xtreme metals since they came on the market.  They are far more "paint like" and forgiving than Alclad and give a finish which is at least as good.  They are also much easier to touch up. I'm hopelessly unscientific when it comes to airbrush pressure - I just took an old scrap model and played around until everything felt right.  I will say that AK  seems to benefit from a slightly higher pressure than Alclad but that's about all.  You might find this article helpful.

 

Problems of graininess or "orange peel" are much more likely to come from poor preparatory coats than from the AK Metal itself.  Any metal finish demands scrupulous preparation - the slightest roughness in the primer or the tiniest scratch on the underlying plastic WILL show up and you needn't kid yourself they won't.