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In-Box Review
Luftwaffe colour set 1
Luftwaffe Camouflages (Air Series) Set 1
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by: Anders Hjortsberg [ CPT_FARREL ]

Introduction

Few could have missed the large range of colours and weathering products aimed at armor modelling from AK Interactive. Recently the company has started a line of products called the “AK Air Series”. This series contains both weathering products as well as colour sets for aircraft modelling. So far, three sets have been released one for the RAF and two for the Luftwaffe.

Contents

The set contains eight 17ml bottles of acrylic paint. The bottles are the same kind as the dropper bottles used by Vallejo. Colours included are RLM 02, 65, 66, 70, 71, 74, 75 and 76. According to the labels on the bottles these colours are made with a new formula and should be equally good for brush painting and airbrushing. The labels also claim that the shades are done with scale reduction factor in mind.

Review

Accuracy
As the colours are done with scale effect taken into account I won't compare the colours to colour charts from the likes of Ullmann, Kiroff or Merrick but rather concentrating on how they look together.

I sprayed each colour except RLM 66 onto a square inch of matt photo paper so that I could photograph them side by side. My first impression was that the RLM 65 was looking nice and bright which would make for good contrast with the upper colors. I also noticed that RLM 71 was a bit too bright making it look a little pale in both a 71/02 scheme as well as a 70/71 scheme. RLM 75 is a bit dark and losing all contrast against the RLM 74.

To solve the problem with RLM 71 I simply mixed it with RLM 70 at a ratio of 50/50 and achieved something that looked a lot better to my eye. The dark RLM 75 could be equally easy solved by adding a bit of RLM 76 to it. The colours can be seen below including my own 50/50 mix of RLM 70 and RLM 71.

Note: There's countless ways for these photos to not display properly on your monitor so they're to be considered a rough guide at the most

Spraying
As I had an Eduard 1/48 Bf109E ready for paint I decided to try these colours on to get a better idea of how they work. I sprayed the RLM 65 thinned with Ultimate Thinner and it worked nicely and covered well despite the bright nature of the paint.

During further trials I couldn't get quite a good consistency for detail work while thinning the paint with Ultimate Thinner. I then tried ammonia based window cleaner which seemed to work great at first but led to trouble with colour separation.

Finally, a quick round of Google showed that Tamiya acrylic thinner should work well with AK Interactive colours. I tried it and it certainly worked well! I thinned the colours heavily and sprayed everything but the main wing splinter pattern freehand. For RLM 71 I used my 50/50 mix and it looked much better than RLM 71 straight from the bottle.

There can still be a few issues with clogging if the needle isn't perfectly clean but overall I’d say spraying these colours was a pleasant experience. The result can be seen below. There's no weathering except for pre-shading. I think it's worth noticing how even the satin sheen of the colours is, even though it's sprayed with various thickness for the pre-shade to work.
Pictures here:




If you only want to cover a surface quickly and don’t have to worry about over spray or free hand work the colours can be sprayed straight from the bottle. It’s very useful for quick work on cockpits and landing gears for example.

Conclusion

These colours are really nice and the problems noted can be fixed by mixing with other colours included in the set so there's no need to buy extras for mixing. I only hope that AK Interactive will consider selling these colours in individual bottles as well as in sets because I'm quite sure I'll run out of RLM 65 long before the other colours.
SUMMARY
Highs: Covers well, easy to use, can be sprayed straight from the bottle.
Lows: See text.
Verdict: Highly recommended.
  Scale: N/A
  Mfg. ID: AK2001
  Suggested Retail: 18.95 EUR
  PUBLISHED: Oct 04, 2014
  NATIONALITY: Germany
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 0.00%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 90.83%

About Anders Hjortsberg (Cpt_Farrel)
FROM: ALVSBORGS, SWEDEN

Copyright ©2021 text by Anders Hjortsberg [ CPT_FARREL ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AeroScale. All rights reserved.



Comments

I just took my airbrush out of the ultrasonic cleaner too, and squeezed a couple of drops of AK Interactive RLM 76 into the cup, no mixing, and it sprayed great. I'd contact AK Interactive if I was you, something seems wrong.
OCT 04, 2014 - 08:45 AM
Hi there I have my own badly stalled first take on these paints due, and I have to say I actually had no luck airbrushing until I tried their own-brand thinners. Brush painting was fine, but airbrushing was another matter. All the best Rowan
OCT 04, 2014 - 09:06 AM
There was a heap big falling out about a year agao. NEW STAGE AT AK-INTERACTIVE S.L. Fernando Vallejo Calleja, President and owner at AK-INTERACTIVE S.L., has the duty to inform to all his suppliers, dealers, clients and public the following statement: From the 9th October 2013 AK-INTERACTIVE S.L. has ended the collaboration that had with the modeler Miguel Jimenez, better known as MIG Jimenez. This way AK-INTERACTIVE, at the date of 10th of October, has also ended his collaboration with Carlos Cuesta. The reasons to dispense with the services of Mr. Jimenez and Mr. Cuesta are strictly professionals, due to certain behaviours committed they have caused an irretrievable loss of the essential trust needed to keep on with the collaboration maintained until now which has been so profitable for both sides and for all the modeling world. So as said, from now on neither Miguel MIG Jimenez, nor Carlos Cuesta have any relations with AK-INTERACTIVE S.L., and also they do not have the authorization from AK-INTERACTIVE S.L. to use any of the trademarks own by the company and also for the use of AK acronym in any way, with the only exception relative to "The weathering magazine" and its webpage associated. This way make also clear that Elisabeth Wiese, girlfriend of Mr. Jimenez, has never had or has any kind of relation with AK-INTERACTIVE S.L., and that her appearances in the models shows of Mr. Jimenez, a her interventions in the Facebook pages and other media have been made a purely personal fact, due to the romantic relationship between them, and with the direct suggestion of Mr. Jimenez, and not from AK-INTERACTIVE S.L.. AK INTERACTIVE S.L. informs that with the agreements already signed with Mr. Jimenez, any of the rights concerning the magazine property of AK-INTERACTIVE S.L. "The wheathering magazine" and its associated webpage will be transferred to Mr. Jimenez. So as said, and from this date on, any matter relative to "the Weathering Magazine" should be treated directly with Miguel MIG Jimenez. So, ANY ARRANGEMENT FROM THIS DATE ON WITH AK-INTERACTIVE S.L. MUST BE MADE DIRECTLY WITH FERNANDO VALLEJO CALLEJA, through the companys webpage or its Facebook page. Reiterate that from this date on, NO MATTER RELATIVE TO AK-INTERACTIVE S.L. MUST BE MADE thorugh MIGUEL MIG JIMENEZ, nor CARLOS CUESTA, nor ELISABETH WIESSE, now that that they dont have any relation with the company. AK-INTERACTIVE S.L., and its President, founder and owner Mr. FERNANDO VALLEJO CALLEJA, they will go on with its activity as always, although without Mr. Jimenezs collaboration, investigating, innovating and developing products and publications for all modeling branches, joining forces with the best modelers in the world, and of course keeping contact with all modeling lovers through our webpage, e-mails, facebook and our forums; all this to achieve that our customers, the modelers, can get to make real all their dreamed projects and get better everyday in their passion for scale models, which is what AK-INTERACTIVE S.L. and all of his team stand for. Many thanks to all. AK-INTERACTIVE S.L. Mr. FERNANDO VALLEJO CALLEJA President, founder and owner. RESPONSE TO THE CORPORATE MESSAGE FROM AK INTERACTIVE S.L. Mr. Mig Jimenez, Mr. Carlos Cuesta, Miss Elizabeth Wiese, Mr. Iain Hamilton and Mr. Rick Lawer want to inform all of their friends and associates who have been with us all these three years of “AK Interactive” the following: - Mr. Mig Jimenez was the creator of “AK Interactive” along with Mr. Fernando Vallejo 3 years ago. From the very first moment Mr. Mig Jimenez and Mr. Fernando Vallejo agreed that the company “AK Interactive” belonged to both of them. Mr. Mig Jimenez just put his trust in his friend, Mr. Fernando Vallejo, since Mr. Mig Jimenez never came to be included in the legal documents and records of the company. -Mr. Mig Jimenez was the creator of the entire image, logos, products, marketing and image of said company; however until last day October 9th , 2013, when Mr. Mig Jimenez was returning from a trip to Mexico for the promotion of the trademark, Mr. Mig Jimenez and Mr. Carlos Cuesta were fired without previous notice. Hence, Mr. Rick Lawler and Mr. Iain Hamilton left the company voluntarily at that moment in solidarity with Mr. Mig Jimenez and Mr. Carlos Cuesta. - All quality control, development of ideas, books, DVDs and many others, were created by Mr. Mig Jimenez, as indicated in most products, such as the Book “FAQ 2”, leaving the distribution to his partner Mr. Fernando Vallejo. The relationship between Mr. Mig Jimenez and Mr. Fernando Vallejo has ended due to the breakage of the verbal covenant they both had from the beginning, resulting in the dismissal of Mr. Mig Jimenez in the face of an overall imbalanced situation. - Only a week before the dismissal of Mr. Mig Jimenez, he, along with Mr. Fernando Vallejo wrote a contract in which it read that the magazine “The Weathering Magazine” was intellectual property of Mr. Mig Jimenez and that said magazine would become Mr. Mig Jimenez’s full property in case of his dismissal . To date, Mr. Fernando Vallejo hasn’t hand in any files, logo, web domains or servers relating to this magazine to Mr. Mig Jimenez, breaching said contract. Therefore, Mr. Mig Jimenez currently does not have any control or responsibility over the magazine nor over the subscribers or advertisers who, in any case, have paid their fees to “AK Interactive” not to Mr. Mig Jimenez. - There are many other issues of legality that Mr. Mig Jimenez and Mr. Fernando Vallejo must solve. At the same time, Mr. Mig Jimenez is free to create or do anything he sees fit to continue his professional modeling career outside AK Interactive; creating new books, paintings , accessories or any other idea under the brand he wishes to, always respecting the existing contract; which he can make available to employees, suppliers or customers request. Finally, it is our duty to notify that the Facebook account “AK INTERACTIVE FACEBOOK” was created exclusively by Miss Elizabeth Wiese who worked on it for three years selflessly with the sole aim of helping Mr. Fernando Vallejo and Mr. Mig Jimenez. As we all know, Miss Elizabeth Wiese used an “AK Interactive” account ([email protected]) authorized by Mr. Fernando Vallejo for all promotional work, helping countless times in sales care work, stands, as well as helping in promotion and customer service . As you all can see in the many photographs of “AK Interactive” albums on Facebook and the thousands of private messages she exchanged with many modelers. -“AK Interactive”, since October 9th, 2013, has misappropriated of what Miss Elisabeth Wiese created from her own will and without any financial remuneration, which she rejected, for the sole interest in helping said company, grow . All of us expose that “AK Interactive” under the direction of Mr. Fernando Vallejo, has acted in an improper way breaking all verbal agreements it had with Mr. Mig Jimenez just when the company “AK Interactive” had been consolidated internationally. This has led to a breakage in the trust, essential to continue with the existing collaboration to date. It’s only up to you to judge what “AK Interactive” has done with Mr. Mig Jimenez. Thank you all for your friendship over the years and we ask you not measure up people’s success for how high up they get to reach, but by how high they bounce when they hit bottom .
OCT 04, 2014 - 11:05 AM
Hi Anders, yes, it's a special cleaning liquid that only reacts with AK by MiG paints and has no effect on Tamiya, Vallejo, Lifecolor and Humbrol paints No, it's very much the AK set that causes problems. Reading the mail by Antoni it looks like this will become another orphan brand anyway.
OCT 04, 2014 - 05:48 PM
Hey, I'm only trying to help here, given that you've mastered several other brands of acrylics that many find hard to spray I thought it could be worth looking into if something's wrong somewhere. I'd still contact AK about it but it's up to you off course.
OCT 05, 2014 - 01:12 AM
FWIW I spray the AK Interactive colours at 25 PSI through a 0.20mm needle in my EVO airbrush.
OCT 05, 2014 - 01:13 AM
Not taking potshots at you Anders, the only difference in setup is the airbrush itself and I tried the Badger Krome, Badger Velocity Renegade and a Harder and Steenbeck Ultra all with the same dismal results. That is why I am sure it's the paint.
OCT 05, 2014 - 01:33 AM
A very useful and timely review. Many modelers like the idea of "one stop shopping" for paints. Good review, Anders!
OCT 05, 2014 - 04:56 AM
OCT 05, 2014 - 05:28 AM
   
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