This paint line is a new addition to the ones carried at a LHS that I came across on my last visit. They have a LOT of colors not previously available such as the green for the interiors of US APCs/IFVs that I picked up.
Anyways, has anybody here used these paints yet? According to the guy at the shop, they can be airbrushed with Tamiya thinner. If they work as well as Tamiya, and are compatible with their thinner, with their extensive color selection, they sound like a great option. So please, any feedback, comments, critiques of these paints from members here?
I just ordered a few myself. Tested tonight. Badger Patriot 105 w/ 0.5mm needle, thinned 1:1 with their AK “very compatible” thinner or whatever it’s called (can’t remember right now.) Spraying at 15psi on to some plasticard cleaned with IPA. In a word, the results were… confusing. Pieces of pigment as big as grains of salt were coming out in the form of extremely bad overspray. The finish itself is super smooth and looks great after a few passes, but the pigment thing is baffling. Really not sure what was going on there. Need to test some more thinner ratios, maybe Mr Leveling thinner etc. But so far, definitely not the result I was expecting…
Thanks for that recon report Kyle. Interesting that it happened that way for you. Especially the large grain overspray. When I do get around to trying them out myself, I’ll post my assessment here too. Their armor color selection is fantastic so I am really wanting to like them, even if they are a bit on the pricey side.
Well, my second time using them was much better. Thinned with Gunze Mr Levelling Thinner the stuff sprayed superbly thru my Badger 105 Patriot at around 15-18 psi. A smooth dead flat finish, excellent coverage, highly recommended combo!
Yes,Stik of course I think you mean the Real Colors,not the acrylic,I also use Lacquer thinner,works just great,with the similar jar they feel like Tamiya
Tony, yes indeed I am talking about the Real Colors paint line. I haven’t tried their other paints in the dropper bottles. I really do not like that style of bottle.
Crown, you hit the key points, more thinner and that pressure and they airbrush like a dream. I’m happy to see that they expanded the line to include aircraft colors now as well.
These may be strong words but, I love this stuff! Lol. I do. It mixes so easy, sprays and covers so well. I have two minor complaints, I’m not sure all their colors are spot on and I wish their flat clear was a little more flat. But I have been adding a little Tamiya flat base when I felt I needed it and it works great. And, colors are subjective anyway. [;)]
I’m with ya Wingman. I also love the paint. Especially paired up with the Gunze Leveling Thinner- a match made in painters heaven. But mine came out dead flat, zero reflectivity! Maybe it was the AK One Shot black primer base underneath, but I dont think so. As far as color matching goes, I’ll hold off on calling that for now until I use some colors that I’m more familiar with like the US colors.
AK consulted a number of well known researchers to help with colour matching. Results are open to debate. The company is also a proponent of scale colour, that is, because models are smaller than the real thing, to visually match colours they must be made lighter due to the smaller surfaces.
Now, it could be assumed that whatever is in their paint bottles, that it was formulated lighter to some degree than what was actually suggested by the research, but not so. I recall reading comments from Nick Millman, who was consulted about IJN aircraft colours, and some of the AK samples he received were considered too dark - go figure. Mike Starmer who researches British Armour colours, was discouraged with AK results as none of the colours matched what he provided to them.
These are the only two researchers I’ve seen comment on the final products.
I admit freely I’m not that experienced with colors and what’s correct and what isn’t. When I first tried this paint, I really liked it. I looked things over and saw that they have a very wide selection of colors. I can’t help but experiment with other brands, that’s just who I am, but I made a decision that this would be my go to. It’s readily available, it works so well and this. The colors may not be exact in some cases but they go well together. I’m not much on color theory but I can make small adjustments if I need to. I love Tamiya paints too but that involves a little more mixing than I’m comfortable with. MRP lacquers are awesome but they’re a little expensive and, its just me, but I’m not sure about keeping pre-thinned paints on hand.
One other thing, last year I was buying direct from AK and their service was outstanding!
