AK Acrylics Review

Earlier this year, before the world started falling apart, my friend Mike Todd who owns The Launchpad Comics & Games brought in a new line of miniatures paints from AK Acrylics. He asked me to take them for a test drive, and review how well they performed and see if they met my ridiculously picky paint standards.

I've been painting military miniatures for the past 40 years. I started with Testor Enamels and before long made the transition to water based acrylics. I spent years using several common hobby paints of the early days such as Polly S, Testors Acryl when they came out, Ral Partha, Armory, Coat D'Arms, and of course Citadel. 

One thing I learned early on, when experimenting with craft paints, was that the pigment granules needed to be finely ground, otherwise the paint would clump and clog the model when painting small details. As a result, I also learned that Polly S paints contained Latex....and that's why even after a matte cote they looked rubbery....so I dropped those soon after realizing this fact. 

More recent paint lines I've used for years and enjoyed were Wargames Foundry and their Triad color system, Games Workshop back in the day when they had the best lid that would lock open for you, and more recent years P3 by Privateer Press and The Army Painter have impressed me the most. The one paint line I'm finished with forever is Vallejo. Their shit dropper bottles clogged and blewout more often than not, and they had a terrible separation problem no matter how much you shook the shit. And yes, some of you will take issue with me on that point, but you're more than welcome to keep those paints to yourself. ;)

There are 3 components to a good paint range for Wargaming Miniatures in my view: 1. Bottle type: Can I access the paint in the pot without having to put down the figure or the brush?; 2. Viscosity: When the paint is placed on the drop cloth, does it flow well and is it too runny or too thick; and 3. Coverage: Will the paint cover evenly the first pass, or will it require additional coats?

I waited until my Austrian Hussars arrived for my Seven Years War project to give these colors a proper test drive. I did 3 mounted Hussars and 3 foot models representing them while dismounted. So these paints had not only some big coverage and viscosity tests to pass, but also had a great platform to display their vibrant mix of primary colors. 

AK Acrylics as you saw above are in dropper bottles. Like The Army Painter droppers, these actually got a thumbs up from me on the fact that there hasn't been any clogging or tips blowing out when squeezed. That's a much bigger jump over my experiences with Vallejo. However, they have to be squeezed, so you can't just leave the lid back as with P3 or Foundry and dip color out of the pot. But it makes up for this with item #2 Viscosity.

I didn't shake the pot enough the first time I set out with the Dark Prussian Blue for my Hussar uniform. As you can see from the pic, it didn't mix well and the medium diluted the color and I had to coat it twice before realizing that it just needed a little more shaking. Now, that wasn't a detractor for me, because once shaken the paint flowed out evenly, like cream or toothpaste and dilutes beautifully like P3 with their liquid pigments. 

One strange thing did occur with both the reds and the blues. I go back and tidy up sloppy areas with white paint as I go so I can keep from muddying up the colors. Even though they had a day to dry between their applications and me going back over with the white, the color would bleed and mix to make pink or light blue patches. It was as if the thinned white paint reactivated the dried acrylic. Nothing really bothersome, but something to be aware of. I ended up using less water in the white after the first Hussar and it fixed it for the most part. See below for the red/pink smudging on his right boot heel. 

I used all of the Blues, Reds, & Yellows you see in the top pic. I also used the Brass, and will say this as we segue into the Coverage part of the review: This was the best coverage I've ever had from a metallic color in my 40 years. Metallics over white undercoat are a bitch on the best of days. This stuff covered like a champ. Two coats at the most and the brass fittings were done. Really a great paint!

The Yellows are a dream come true on the Coverage front. Like the Brass they cover better than any Yellow I've used previously. Normally that's a squishy color that has to get layers, but with these I didn't have any trouble. My Hussars have stripes and Hungarian lace decorations on their dolmans and pelisse jackets. These were my first attempt at that type of freehand work, and the true test of items #2 & #3 are illustrated beautifully by how well these paints flowed as I drew and shaped the circles and lines. I'm not sure I would have had as good a result without these. You can see my examples of the finished lace and barrel sashes below:

Now, once I finished all 6 models I decided to go nuts with the Yellows and paint up my newly acquired Limited Edition Tom Meier sculpted Thunderbolt Mountain Elf King from 1988. I have a certain vision for the latest Fae'dred Warband for my The Sword Marches skirmish game, and finally got my hands on my Holy Grail of miniatures I've been searching after for almost a decade.

Here's the initial color blocking and stage by stage pics. The finished product is exactly as I like it, though I did over do it on the Pastel Yellow further highlighted with White from AP, that I needed to ink it down a pinch with P3 Yellow ink. But, nevertheless, the AK Yellows are fabulous!

And here's some pics of my WIP on his Retinue of Archers and Blacksun Blademasters. They are a good example of the Yellows before using inks or Army Painter Dark Tone dip to seal and outline the finished model.

Final Grades: 

#1 Bottling: B+ I don't like droppers at all, but this was top of the line in that category, so I can't fault it further. 

#2 Viscosity: A+ Once shaken it stays mixed for a very long time, spreads easily, and its pigment stays strong when diluted with water. I'm putting it on par with P3.

#3 Coverage:  A   As long as its mixed, this range offers strong coverage and doesn't require much by way of second or third coats. It works equally well with all different sizes of brush, and gives you great flexibility when doing free hand designs or highlights.

All told, I'm blown away by these paints and highly encourage you to check them out. Mike carries a huge amount and I'll be filling in my range with the sheer variety and depth of coverage they have for each color in the spectrum!

Noch Weiter!

Bob