I have discovered AK paints and Matt @coondog and I were discussing them and other paints, so we started this group. Jump in and post.

I have tried AK Chrome, Duraluminum, steel and stainless steel colors. I have more on the way and will post my experience with them 🙂

I’ve never used AK paints , but often see them mentioned here on imodeler. Since Model Master’s unfortunate end… I’ve mainly used Tamiya paints since that the main brand stocked by the LHS. I need to spend more time researching other products, like AK paints .

So far my only experience is with Vallejo Model Air. Although I'm quite happy with them, I do want to compare with other paints to get a feeling on how those behave. Very interested in this discussion, a great idea to start this topic, Cricket @bikequeen

@holzhamer @ssgt @clipper @johnb @gswkat WOW! Quick turn around! Thanks everyone! I should have mentioned that I was speaking about the AK Xtreme metal paints. And they are a lacquer base. I have not had any real experience with them other than this bike. Yes they do take a bit longer to dry and what i have used they remain tacky even after 2 or 3 days. As most of you know i build mainly bikes and I wanted a metal color for a lot parts so I’m happy with AK

Having said that I’m still very new to all this so I will keep you updated 🙂

There is the bike, front side fairings are AK Stainless Steen, Engine is AK Duraluminum, and a fuel tank and seat fairings are AK Chrome ( which was an issue until I got the Harden & Steenbeck airbrush

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

Next time in visit the LHS, I’ll have to see what AK or other paints are available there. Your motorcycles look great cricket @bikequeen … the photos look like they could be used in a catalog put out by the bike manufacturers .

I use AK 3rd generation acrylics, which i like a lot. I prefer them to Ammo Mig acrylics as their RAF colors seem a bit more precise and are not as glossy in the first place . They do need to be thinned down considerably and they also need a flow improver (i use the one from Vallejo). I only use acrylics due to health concerns.

The only three I have tried are AKs Extreme Metals Black Base, Aluminium and Duraluminum. It was towards the beginning of me using an airbrush so I definitely wasn't great at it, it might be worth me trying them again to see if my opinion has changed. I found the base to be difficult to use due to how little pigmentation was in it, but it was exceedingly glossy to produce a good result when the metallics were applied. The two metallics were fine if done over a black base (regardless of which brand the base was) but was quite weak and easy to damage even if given a long time to dry, meaning that masking off individual panels would just damage the already painted areas. Overall I think if you wanted a relatively weak but super shiny metal, then go for Alclad. If you want a paint that's a lot stronger then go for MRP, the shine is about the same as AK in my eyes and is a much better paint to work with. They all stink the same, so you'll need the mask and extractor setup for all of them.

Overall, seemed alright but didn't find them to be the best in shine or the best in usability.

Haven't tried the acrylics but I have been tempted to pick up a couple of the basic colours like black, a basic aluminium, a grey etc. The sort of colours needed for cockpit brush painted details and such.

I will say I'm a bit of an MRP fanboy and they cover everything I'd ever need for airbrushing apart from a super shiny chrome, but as mentioned that's more of Alclads sort of domain

Humbrol enamels to be dropped? I thought they had to reformulate them to comply with EU regs. I use mostly Humbrol and Xtracolor enamels, along with Mr. Color and Tamiya lacquers. I’ve been using AK Extreme metals for NMF too.