AK interactive Pigment Review

Today I was able to sit down and put the AK pigments to the test. I will be demonstrating these pigments to create the ground effects of a diorama. In this review I will be focusing on three pigments; AK-081 Dark Earth, AK-042 European Earth, and AK-041 North Africa Dust.

I will be using celluclay for the base and will add the pigments to it in order to get a nice color that goes all the way through. This will help in the event the ground work gets chipped, it will not expose a bright white color. This technique can also be used with plaster if that is your medium of choice when it comes to groundwork.

The first thing I noticed about these pigments was the very fine grinding. There are no clumps and when rubbed between my fingers it gave a nice smooth covering of color. This is a very good sign that it will be easy to add the pigments to figures and vehicles to blend them into the base.





I mixed the celluclay following the directions, but added a small amount of wood glue to help it adhere to the test plate and so the edges would not warp. To this mixture I added very little pigments, just enough to get a good even color. I applied the mixture to the test board and gave it some texture with an old brush, I then set this aside to dry overnight.

After letting the base dry, I noticed that it left a very convincing earth color, at this point I am very satisfied with the results. To help bring out the texture of the groundwork I will be using the following AK washes; AK-023 Dark Mud, AK-017 Earth Effects, and AK-022 Africa Dust Effects. I allowed the washes to flow evenly over the surface of the ground work; these washes do not require any thinning but you can do so to gain different effects. After I applied the washes, I dried them using a hairdryer.

To finish off the ground work, it needed something to make it look more like, well, dirt. To do this I applied more of the pigments to each of the samples. I used white spirits to secure them to the base. After the white spirits dried I was pretty impressed with the results. This is a great way to create groundwork that has accurate coloring.

While this is not the only use for pigments, I feel it is a great way to finish off the ground work. The product use is low and the results are great. I would highly recommend the use of AK interactive Pigments to anyone.
Each pigment comes in a 35 ml.e bottles and runs at $5.95 each. The washes I used for this article also come in the 35 ml.e bottles and run at $5.95 each.

These pigments along with the other great items form AK interactive can be purchased at the following websites:

AK interactive - USA

AK interactive - outside of the USA


There will be more reviews in the near future, next up will be AK-026 Slimy Grime Dark and AK-027 Slimy Grime Light.

Stay tuned for more and as always, Happy modeling!