Product review: XTREME METAL paint by AK-Interactive

Hi guys and girls!

Today I would like to cover the XTREME METAL paints by AK-Interactive.

A word of caution before I start, these paints are enamel based and need to be applied with an airbrush. You really should wear a respirator or open a window to protect your lungs!

The paint can be applied without primer and is ''pretty durable'. If you plan for some serious weathering later on, I do recommend applying primer before applying the XTREME METAL paint. If you apply an enamel based paint over a acrylic or polyurethane primer it will withstand all sorts of abuse. I don't really know the science behind this, but its true. If you know why this is feel free to educate me in the comments.

Burnt Metal is very comparible to Tin Bitz, Tinny Tin or Scortched Metal

The tests I did where without primer. The paint seems quite durable as I lightly scratched and knocked the model over a couple of times without any damage to the paint.

The paint is self leveling and even if it pooled a little it will even out nicely. It has great coverage and gives a great result in just a few thin passes. It is fast drying, so after you're done cleaning your airbrush you can paint straight over it.

Brass compares the best with Brassy Brass or Tarnished Brass

That brings me to my next point. I didn't know what kind of paint it was. I expected it to be enamel so I cleaned my airbrush with odorless thinner. This worked eventually but still some of the paint dried inside my airbrush cup. After some soaking I cleared the nozzle of my airbrush. This incident did make me order the special cleaner that comes with the paint range. I suggest that if you buy these paints, you also order the cleaner just in case!

The paints can be polished. I used a rotary tool with a cotton buffing wheel. This might be a little aggressive for some surfaces. In that case I suggest using soft buffing pads.

Dark Aluminium is a great (Bolt)gun metal or (Shadowed)steel replacement 

The only paint that was a bit disappointing to me was the Jet Exhaust. It isn't a metallic paint, it is simply a transparent black. I do feel it is a good AK-Interactive product as with a few passes you can build up a nice gradient to achieve a nice blackened metal look. (the kind you really want on exhausts) I will also try to use this paint to paint some black miniatures. The transparent black might help blend the sometimes rough highlights back into the shadow.

Jet Exhaust is a transparent black. Very hard to compare to other colors

My conclusion is that this is a very good paint range if you need metallic base coats for your models. It withstands some wear & tear and takes washes and other paints very well. The result is very realistic and its easy to apply.

That's it for now! I hope you enjoyed reading this review and that it helps you decide if you would like to give these paints a try for yourself. I didn't try brush application with these paints because the manufacturer recommended against it. If you have any questions, recommendations of other comments please leave them below!

As always, thanks for reading and see you next time!

** I just got the XTREME METAL Cleaner and tried it out. The paint that has been stuck in my cup for a week and I got it clean under 5 seconds. Good job AK-Interactive! **

Basic weathering test

Hi everybody!

Today I want to share with you a step-by-step weathering project I did a little while ago.

For this, I used a 1:32 scale oil drum by Tamiya. They come in a kit with oil drums, jerrycans and buckets. These are great for scenery or display bases but are also great to practice some weathering on!

If you want to reproduce what I did here, you are going to need the following:

• a model to practice on
• rust colored paints (I used these) 
• rust colored pigments (I used this one and this one)
• chipping fluid (I used this) 
• a non-rust colored paint
• some rustcolored, enamel or oil paints (I used this)
• white spirits or odorless thinner

To start with, you need to prime your model and paint it in a nice rust color. You can use different browns, oranges and red to create a nice natural effect. For inspiration you can take a look at pictures of rust to get a good reference of what your going for. Accept for paints you can also use pigments this step to get a nice textured look. Don't put too much effort into it, its gonna get covered up.

Once you are happy with the result, kind of like the picture above, give it a thin coat of gloss or satin varnish. This will protect your progress up to now. When the varnish is dry, spray several thin layers of chipping fluid (or if you can't get this, you can try and use hairspray) and give it like 5 minutes to dry. Then you can paint the model in the color you want to. If you use very thin layers you can use multiple colors to achieve some sort of color modulation or camouflage.

Once the paint is dry to touch get an old brush and some lukewarm water. Dip the brush in the water and stab at the model where you want to chip the paint. make sure to hit the edges as those are the most likely to be damaged.

Don't over do the effect. Chipping is only one stage of weathering so try to pace yourself. For destroyed or abandoned vehicles you can go overboard if you want to, but that is a whole different way of painting and weathering. Once you are satisfied with the amount of chipping you can spray a thin layer of gloss or satin varnish to protect your work and to make sure the chipping fluid won't ruin the effect you achieved so far.

Last but certainly not least, is the streaking and staining.
For this I used pigments and streaking effects but you can also use oil paints instead. Start with streaking. Make little streaks from chips leading down or from places where water would run down. If you are using oil paints you make little dots. You can use different colors  to create a bit of variation. Then take a medium sized, flat, synthetic brush and dampen it using white spirits or (h)odorless thinner. (Game of Thrones joke there, sorry) and drag the lines or dots out and fade them out towards the end. The varnish you sprayed on the model at the end of the previous step protects your paint against the thinner, which can strip your model clean of paint.
Once your streaks are done and dry we can proceed to the pigments. There are several ways to use these but what I did was to make a wash by adding some pigments to water, applying it to the model and later cleaning it with water. That way it will sit nicely in the recesses and it will give a nice effect.

Here you see the finished product. The different colors in the rust give the impression of old and new rust and the overall look has a nice aged finish. 

I hope this step-by-step has helped you in any way. There are many ways to do this so feel free to experiment but this gives you a nice impression of how I achieve this effect.

As always, thank you for reading.