AK Interactive gets "Real" with their new range of "Real Color" paints in a new formula and bottle with a reference book to match.

AK Interactive has been promising something new this week to be revealed at the Scale Modelling Challenge in Holland. They have revealed a new acrylic lacquer range of 114 paints in highly researched colours with a new reference book to match them. See what AK has come up with in our preview...

AK Interactive's new Real Colour range & new book to suit...

This weekend at the annual Scale Modelling Challenge in Holland the whole extended AK Interactive team was at the launch of their new range - they have teased us with a brand new product all week - and yesterday their new book and acrylic lacquer range of "Real Colour" paints were launched.

AK Interactive's Real Acrylic Lacquer  

The new Real Colors paint range is a big step forward for AK Interactive. AK's "Real Colors" is a state-of-the-art acrylic lacquer paint developed in their laboratories by a team of experts. They plan to bring us a whole new range of acrylic lacquer paints which will be another step in the evolution of their products. It is a project AK Interactive has been quietly thinking about, researching, working and developing for a long, long time. Finally, after all that lengthy, quiet development and testing, and now they are ready for you to enjoy: "Real Colors".

Real Colors bring to you a number of advantages over other brands: Forget the clogging: AK Interactive "real colours" flows smoothly in your airbrush.

Spraying is now a real pleasure and thanks to our new chemical formula, even if you damp the surface too much, the paint stretches and dries with a nice matt finish. These colours can be diluted with our own specific thinner or compatible thinners from other brands and types: acrylic lacquer (non-vinyl), lacquer thinner, alcohol, water...

Holds Firmly All Kind Of Weathering And Extra Effects.

Paint adheres and dries perfectly with a soft matte finish so you can throw on it all the treatments, punishment and weathering you love to make.

Highly Compatible With Other Acrylic Lacquer Brands.

If you ever get marooned on a tropical island by yourself and just your model building kit, you can easily mix Real Colors with the stock of paints from other brands you may have ;)
The AK Interactive brand new paint needed also a brand new bottle.
AK Interactive is pleased to introduce to you our exclusive, practical, new 10ml glass bottle...

Card Image Cap, Colour Label On Top, Easy To Spot What You Need,

Airtight Screw Cap, Paint Always Fresh & Ready.

10ml GLASS BOTTLE, Perfect to store the new formula, highest quality paint. Perfect to store the new, 114 accurate, precise colours.

Real Color Accuracy- The Right Formula.

Now, for the right colour, AK needed the advice and expertise some wise men have acquired on this subject. It was time to call in the experts.

Their knowledge of the matter is second to none. They have researched for years through official, private and industry archives about the inception, development, production and use of military colours. Their work over the original army orders and documents has been reflected in many definitive books and articles. All these have contributed not just in bringing for modellers a wealth of new and reliable information but helped also dispelling a lot of myths.

AK Interactive were lucky to have the combined effort by these experts, which along with the study of preserved equipment and the laboratory work, make together the most detailed and meticulous study carried out by a paint brand to get our accurate, Real Colors.


THE EXPERTS
Born in 1956 in Nüremberg, Germany. Studied precision instrument engineering and since 1988 is at the wheel of the family business Farben-Kiroff-Technik in Fürth/Bavaria.

He’s both an expert technician and a big fan of the research and study of colours, and a devoted aviation historian. Along the years he has authored some real classic references like the two volumes devoted to the Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings 1933-1945, famous amongst modellers for the informative text, the number of previously unknown photographs and the useful colour paint chip cards. He has also written a good number of articles and publications. Actually, aviation and historic museums (like the German Technical Museum Berlin, the Luftwaffe Museum Gatow, the Luftfahrtmuseum Laatzen, etc.) and a number of European private restorers are making good use of his knowledge to reproduce the original colours.




Born in 1963 at Wroclaw, Poland. Work at the Wroclawís University of Economics in Macroeconomics Department as a professor. His specialization is international marketing and cultural considerations of international business.

Since 1991 is the owner of ACE Publication publishing office and information agency. He has co-operated with many Polish and foreign publishers like Caraktere SARL from France, Hobby Japan and Shinkigensha from Japan, and Magnum-X and Stratus/MMP Books from Poland. Has written over 50 books, both on armor (like T-34-85 1944-1945 camouflage & markings, IS tanks camouflage and makings, Panzerwaffe aces camouflage & markings) and aircraft (like Il28 Beagle, MiG-21bis, Fokker D.XXI, MiG-29 Fulcrum camouflage and markings, Su-27 Flanker family camouflage & markings, MiG-29 close-up photo book, Macchi C.202 Folgore, Fiat Cr 42 Falco) and over 200 articles published in Poland and around the world.



Born in 1940 in Northampton, UK. Worked briefly in aviation and coach-building, was a member of the Royal Observer Corps, teaching aircraft recognition and nuclear blast/fallout monitoring, and was emergency driver/technician for 30+ years until retirement as an Operational First Line Manager.

Mike has a lifelong interest in military aircraft and vehicle camouflage & colours. He has written and self-published four most useful booklets on WW2 British military colours: the concise text and notes, the line drawings showing the camouflage schemes and patterns, along with colour chips and paint mixes, have become a handy reference and a must for British Army modellers. He also produces a range of 1/76 decal sheets and builds aircraft and military vehicle models whilst researching accurate colour mixes for WW2 RAF aircraft and from other nations. Has also co-authored five books on pre-WW 2 USAAC, USN/USMC, pre-WW RAF and F.A.A. and training aircraft.




Born in 1952, Steven J. Zaloga is a recognized American historian, defence consultant, and author on military technology. He has received a bachelor's degree cum laude in History from Union College and a masters degree at Columbia University. He has worked as an analyst in the aerospace industry for over two decades, covering missile systems and the international arms trade, has served with the Institute for Defense Analyses (a federal think tank) and presently is a senior analyst at the Teal Group.

He has researched and published many books and articles dealing with modern military technology and warfare, especially the US Army in World War II as well as Russia and the former Soviet Union. He is also a noted scale armour modeller, member of the AMPS (Armor Modeling and Preservation Society) and a frequent and very active contributor to several modelling websites.

Analyzing The Original Colors

For the study of preserved equipment to get the best idea of the original colours, AK trusted in recognized and independent laboratories. Usually, these pieces have suffered from weather and exposure, but some fairly protected parts show clearly how these colours looked when new. These match the original colour chips, sometimes differing just a little due to the variety of paint components used.

The composition of the colour can be found out using current technology with a + -1% error, depending on the pigments used, the specific colours and the state of conservation. The technique used to discover the originally used pigments is based on the colour curve in the visible spectrum band. The perception of the colour depends on the type of illuminant or light that affects the object, and the human eye that observes the object.

Various factors can alter the perception of colour, so a spectrophotometer is used to apply the light (daylight, incandescent and fluorescent) in the same way every time to collect a consistent, objective colour curve. That colour curve would be of a determined colour, with a determined illuminant and composed of several pigments. The researchers had to find out the pigments and their combination to get a colour curve which matches the curve generated by the original sample. A database maintains the characteristics of each original pigment and its specific curve, so a program can match and select the right ones for the colour curve to be the same under all three illuminants. It could be possible to reach a certain colour along different paths and pigment mixtures. But only one of them is the one that will reproduce, exactly, the original mixture of pigments with the exact same curve under all of the illuminants. That’s the Real Color.

AK Interactive has claimed that the combined effort by these experts, the study of preserved equipment and the laboratory work, has made the most detailed and meticulous study carried out by a paint brand to get their new "Real Colors".

The new AK Interactive "Real Colour" acrylic lacquer paint range:

THE BOOK: "Real Colours of WWII"
To round-up the Real Colors presentation to the modelling community, AK devised a special book to match them. It is a limited edition, accurately printed book devoted to the original colours of WWII, authored by experts Jürgen Kiroff, Przemyslaw Skulski, Mike Starmer & Steven Zaloga.

A real travel through the research of official, private and industry archives about the development and use of colours on German, Russian USA and British AFVs. 200 pages full of text, colour photographs, camouflage schemes, profiles, general camouflage rules and more. A must-have book for modellers who like to know more about the real thing and THE definitive guide for WWII AFV Colors.
Book Contents

German colours & camouflage.
• RAL system & colour cards. OKH regulations • Pre-war • Early war • Russia • Africa • The Tricolor system • The beginning of the end • The end • Dunkelgelb and Rotbraun colour comparison • Original colour parts and analysis • WWII colour photographs • Three main types of camouflages are discussed and shown in detail:


British camouflage.
The colour standards • Pre-war, B.E.F. & Home Forces • New colours & changes • U.S. supplied vehicles • Middle East Colors: The Caunter Scheme. Other areas • Caunter cancelled • October 1942 & post-Alamein • Tunisia, Sicily & Italy colours • Change of colour • The Far East •

U.S. Army camouflage
Olive Drab • Camouflage paints. • Camouflage manuals • Field camouflage • Camouflage in the Pacific •

Soviet camouflage.
Camouflage of the Red Army vehicles • Description of paints • Original colour parts • WWII colour photographs •

The sample colour chips that appear in the book are highly controlled and calibrated in the most precise way, under the current parameters of printing and technology, to provide the modeller with the most accurate colour chips available. The tolerance of colours in the book is +/- 4%.

These new sets and book will be available from the AK Interactive website next week we believe, so keep an eye out on the AK Interactive website for more forthcoming news.