AK Interactive Modern Royal Air Force Aircraft Acrylic Colours (AK11755)

[Mike]

Modern Royal Air Force Aircraft Acrylic Colours (AK11755)

AK Interactive

 

 

It had been a while since we’d reviewed any products from Spanish Paint & Weathering company AK Interactive, but they hadn’t been sat idly twiddling their thumbs.  They’d been working on a new range of acrylic paints, which they refer to as third generation acrylics, aiming for excellent coverage, what they describe as awesome grip, and a promise of no clogging of your airbrush if you use one.  They also state that they’re great for use with a paint brush undiluted, but they should be diluted with water or their own thinners if using with an airbrush, which I’ve successfully tested with my usual vague “semi-skimmed milk thickness” goal for the thinned paint, and using Ultimate Thinners as my thinners of choice.  Each pot arrives in a 17ml dropper bottle with sharp contours at the shoulder and a cruciform profile to the white screw-top cap, which is also knurled near the bottom to improve grip further.  The labels wrap around the body of the bottle giving general information about the new range, plus its name and product code near the top, with a bar code along one short edge.  Overall, it’s a nice look, but that’s not why we’re here.

 

The set arrives in a cardboard box with a clear plastic inner tray containing eight bottles of paint to which I’m probably going to add glass beads, as I feel that they make paint mixing quicker and easier.  The design of the packaging is simple and based on an overall white theme, with a slightly retro font on the front that is a little hard to read.  The usual orange AK logo with the negative silhouette of an AK-47 in the centre is prominently displayed, as well as the Air Series logo that refers to the fact that this is an aviation set, not an airbrush specific set.  That’s something that could be clearer, and could confuse new users.  The 3G Acrylics brand logo is also present, with the product code above and the strapline “Scale Reduction Factor” below.  This refers to scale colour, which can be a divisive theme, although I’m personally OK with that.  Essentially, it refers to the perceived lightening of a colour applied to a scale model, as if seeing it through “scale air”, or aerial perspective, which reduces the saturation of any colour over distance, a well-known technique used in art, especially to depict the effects of distance in scenery and other distant objects.  Some folks may not subscribe to it however, and that’s ok too.  For example, would the “scale reduction factor” be the same for a 1:72 and a 1:24 aircraft?  Would the difference be visible?  So many questions, so little inclination on my part to answer them.

 

 

This set is packed full of British RAF colours for your modern aircraft, not that we’ve got many, or many different types left!  Surprisingly, the term modern incorporates a lot of post WWII and Cold War shades, as the examples on the back of the box show, with an old Vampire next to more modern options.

 

The set includes the following colours:

 

 

AK11840 RAF Dark Green

AK11843 RAF Medium Sea Grey BS381C/637

AK11851 RAF Dark Sea Grey NS381C/638

AK11852 RAF RAF PRU Blue BS381C/636

AK11853 RAF Light Aircraft Grey BS381C/627

AK11854 RAF Camouflage (Barley) Grey BS381C/626

AK11855 RAF Dark Camouflage Grey BS381C/629

AK11856 RAF Camouflage Beige (Help) BS381C/389

 

These paints are just as easy to apply by airbrush or paint brush, and once dry they are very tough as acrylics go, especially if you key the surface beforehand with a buffing-type sanding stick.  A primed and buffed surface is slightly ahead in terms of adhesion, but not by much so it’s good news all round whether you’re a modeller that primes religiously or not.  In addition to airbrushing well without clogging, the paint goes on well with a paintbrush, needing one or sometimes two coats depending on the colour, and brushing out well with very little in the way of brush marks if you use a broad filbert brush.  I’m not normally a brush-painter, and was really pleasantly surprised at how well the paint went down despite my lack of experience.

 

 

Conclusion

I like these paints and their bottles are practical and attractive, although I’m not massively keen on the fonts used on the box artwork, but that’s just my personal taste.  This set gives you plenty of (mostly grey) shades for the modern RAF, and once you add some white and black for colour modulation, they’ll be very useful for the RAF modeller.  The recently reviewed RAF Coastal Command & RN FAA includes a black and a white bottle, if that’s convenient or appealing.  There’s a whole range of these colours available both individually and in sets for aircraft, AFV and other modelling genres, some that we’ve now reviewed, and the rest we’ll be getting to soon.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[John Laidlaw]

22 minutes ago, Mike said:

So many questions, so little inclination on my part to answer them.

😂.

 

Nice review, thanks Mike. My interest is now piqued.

[Dave Swindell]

For a Modern RAF colour set, the choice of aircraft types for the colour call outs is rather interesting, all of them having been retired from RAF service for some years, the single seat Vampire in particular having been retired over 70 years ago!

[Mike]

7 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said:

For a Modern RAF colour set, the choice of aircraft types for the colour call outs is rather interesting, all of them having been retired from RAF service for some years, the single seat Vampire in particular having been retired over 70 years ago!

It's certainly a.... disparate set

[PhantomBigStu]

Picked up a small number of singles, just started painted first model to use them, only brush painted the first coat but like what I’ve got. Though I’ve been here before with Hataka Blue lines that had an eventual problem that led me to not switch to them, hopefully that bridge doesn’t appear. 

[PhantomBigStu]

On 2/4/2022 at 2:19 PM, PhantomBigStu said:

Picked up a small number of singles, just started painted first model to use them, only brush painted the first coat but like what I’ve got. Though I’ve been here before with Hataka Blue lines that had an eventual problem that led me to not switch to them, hopefully that bridge doesn’t appear. 

And indeed it hasn't, and they are a joy to use, definitely looking making the switch permanent and will be getting myself some raf colours, see how they compare to XA. 

 

edit: sneaky though, paint sets price isn't competitive, can get 8 paints on its own for the same price as the sets and the 6 and 4 are pricier per bottle. so thats any chance gone of me getting a set 

Edited February 8, 2022 by PhantomBigStu

[bootneck]

Being a Vallejo only user for the past five years or so, and liking Mike's descriptive review, can anyone advise me if these AK paints are any better than Vallejo in application?

 

cheers,

Mike

[PhantomBigStu]

6 minutes ago, bootneck said:

Being a Vallejo only user for the past five years or so, and liking Mike's descriptive review, can anyone advise me if these AK paints are any better than Vallejo in application?

 

cheers,

Mike

Like a thinner slightly more durable model color