AK Interactive WWII RAF Aircraft & RAF Desert 3rd Generation Acrylic Colours (AK11723)

[Mike]

WWII RAF Aircraft & RAF Desert 3rd Generation Acrylic Colours (AK11723)

AK Interactive

 

 

This is another boxing of AK Interactive’s 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’re also 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.

 

There are two sets available, the smaller of which is a subset of the larger one.  The larger 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 smaller set arrives in a rectangular box with a square base, with three bottles in the box, and a length of foam preventing them from rattling about, as the box is designed to accommodate up to four bottles.

 

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.  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?  Those are questions you’ll need to find answers for yourself, as I’m certainly not going to try and tell you how to paint your model.

 

WWII RAF Aircraft Colours (AK11723)

 

 

This set includes the following colours:

 

AK11840 RAF Dark Green

AK11841 RAF Dark Earth

AK11842 RAF Ocean Grey

AK11843 RAF Medium Sea Grey

AK11844 RAF Sky

AK11845 RAF Azure Blue

AK11846 RAF Middle Stone

AK11847 RAF Cockpit Grey-Green

 

 

 

 

WWII RAF Aircraft Desert Colours (AK11726)

 

 

This set includes the following colours:

 

AK11841 RAF Dark Earth

AK11845 RAF Azure Blue

AK11846 RAF Middle Stone

 

 

 

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 a regular 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 the shades you’ll need to complete the interiors of your WWII US aircraft, and once you add some white and black for colour modulation, they’ll be very useful for the modeller.  The recently reviewed RAF Coastal Command & RN FAA includes a black and a white bottle, if that’s convenient or appealing – this is Britmodeller after all.  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