AK REAL COLORS MARKERS ....are they cheating or smart ?

[PanzerWomble]

These have popped up recently from AK  this summer 

I've not been adverse to using fine Sharpies and a ruler for applying walkway lines etc in the past as opposed to using decals ...so I guess I was part of the way already to this product . 

There's a full range, I only bought the semi gloss / rubber black for doing wheels quickly . 

And yes......

I should .....

as proper modeller ......

• get out the 0000 Riggers brush .......
• or the Tamiya tape and knife........
• or fire up the vinyl cutter .....
• or use a plastic circle stencil

..and I've done all of those . ...however

 

This cheap paint marker pen made a very quick and easy job of these aircraft wheels ..so guess I'll be buying them again .

Will be interested to see if they dry up quick or keep on trucking over time but at £3.90  / (half a pint of beer in the UK these days)  I won't loose any sleep over that .

Laterz 

PW 

 

Below took me less time than to take the picture, write my witty blurb and post it  ..

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks like a very good product to me.  Whatever it takes to get the job done is what I say.  Not sure there is any need to be a "purist" when building models.

[belugawhaleman]

Not cheating. I have some sort of chrome silver paint marker

that works great for painting headlights...

I have others I plan to use.

[BlrwestSiR]

I have some but hadn't thought of using them for tires. That's a great idea. Although I have red and white for dials and buttons mostly so those would make oddly coloured tires. 

[DocRob]

I´m a bit dogmatic when it comes to tires. I mostly substitute them for resin ones, if available and I airbrush them with multiple shades of near black from my trusty Lifecolor set. I usually cut my own masks, but that might be a fetish thing with me. I just believe, a black tire never looks the same black all over, so no alternative for me.

Cheers Rob

[PanzerWomble]

Just now, DocRob said:

I´m a bit dogmatic when it comes to tires. I mostly substitute them for resin ones, if available and I airbrush them with multiple shades of near black from my trusty Lifecolor set. I usually cut my own masks, but that might be a fetish thing with me. I just believe, a black tire never looks the same black all over, so no alternative for me.

Cheers Rob

Agreed- the tread on the road is often a different colour , mud in treads etc etc, nothing of course to stop you using this as a base as it gets in at the rims easily , and then going at them with a brush afterwards ....which is also my take on these. 

So anyway ....... tell us more about your 'Mask Fetish', Rob .....pix or it didn;t happen 😳

[DocRob]

Well, no pictures of my masking fetish, sadly, but some exemplary wheels, which were painted in multiple shades of black for my MIG-31 build.



Cheers Rob

[Bomber_County]

I have the AK chrome pen and that is amazing……..

[CANicoll]

I don't have any of the AK pens but I do have a few chrome and black pens.  The Chrome Molotov pen was handy to do some quick touch-up on my recent F-4 SEA build.  I could easily see doing the tires with the black pen and following up with shading, etc.  I wonder if these pens will even get to the point where we could 'draw' instead of 'paint' parts like seats, cockpit IPs, landing gear bit, etc.

Thanks for posting!  Always good to see what others are trying out and what their experiences are.

[FullArmor]

Got one decktan AK marker to test. I will report back when tested.

[belugawhaleman]

I originally bought a set of fine point black markers to paint the French

Camouflage that has black lines bordering the different colors but haven't

tried them for that yet. I have silver and gold and some other colors. I haven't seen the AK pens but will certainly give them a look.

[HubertB]

Definitely for SMall pARTs

Hubert

[MikeCharlie]

Back when I was first learning to drive, my instructor taught me to use whatever clues I could see to interpret what the other traffic was doing, saying "there is no such thing as cheating".  Same applies here.

I bought a set after seeing them demonstrated at Telford last year.  Absolute game-changer!  Pre AK markers, the process was out with the Tamiya or Mr Hobby Aqueous (I standardised my paint stock long ago to stick with what I know works); stirring it sufficiently; adding a small quantity to a pallette, along with some X22 and thinner; stirring that; and selecteding a brush; then, after doing what I needed to do, cleaning the brush and the pallette.  With an AK marker, it's: select marker; cap off; use it; cap back on.  

Apart from the occasional frustreation that the colour you want is not included in the set, what's not to like?

[FullArmor]

Rubber black is must buy at least👍

[Winnie]

I got the set, and they've already been a great help. Really good when you just want a quick color rather than setting up brushes, painting, cleaning etc.

 

Gets 5 stars from me!

[RalphSarc]

I have several of the colors and Rubber Black and Aluminum are my go to pens. Super easy especially for cheating on road wheels, lol!!

[Count0]

Expensive, limited in reach compared to a brush, IMO. Not worth the cost. I like AK in general, but a lot of their products are just gimmicks to get your money. Again, my Opinion.

 I do love their weathering pencils though.

[RalphSarc]

AK was having a rare Amazon sale on their three piece Wheel and Tool marker sets along with free Prime shipping so had to jump on them!!