AK Interactive offers a wide variety of items for the modeler, from paint and weathering sets and books, to model kits. The website is easy to navigate and offers a button to provide an “English” translation. Another button offers a currency exchange calculate from Euros (the posted pricing) to US dollars.

AK is on Facebook and has a You-Tube presence. To quote the AK You-Tube link, “AK's Official Youtube Channel (will) show Advanced Techniques, Tutorials, Tips & Tricks and many more things. Currently working on it :-)”

AK provided IPMS-USA their Aircraft Landing Gear Weathering Set, AK 2030, to review and I was pleased to take on this review. The AK 2030 set contains 3 bottles of “wash and weathering” liquids.

AK says this about their AK Landing Gear Weathering Set. “This weathering set belongs to our new Air Series line. This specific set focuses on the weathering of aircraft landing gear. This set has been specially formulated by our art department to achieve maximum realism on your models. These products can be dissolved with our white spirit if needed. This set includes three colors:AK2029 Landing Gear Wash, AK2031 Landing Gear Dust, and AK2032 Grease Shafts and Bearings.”

In order to test this product I pulled the landing gear struts from a Cyber Hobby Bf-109 kit. This kit, in 32nd scale, has some exellent detail on the gear struts and made for a good test surface. I began by painting the gear struts with an RLM 2 paint, the Model Master enamel RLM 2 to be precise. About 30 minutes after airbrushing the Model Master gray I began to prepare the AK Shafts and Bearings mix. AK suggests that the bottles be given a good shake prior to use, so I set up my Robart Paint Shaker and let it rattle away for about 2 minutes.

I did not thin the wash but did swipe the loaded brush across a tissue to reduce the amount of wash I was about to apply. The wash went on easily and smoothly and flowed into any gaps, or along any “step” lines on the strut.

I found that applying a very small amount and then letting it dry a bit gave a more satisfactory result than loading the brush and applying a large amount of wash.

The brush was cleaned frequently and the wash bottle was closed and shaken each time the brush was cleaned. Cleaning the brush so frequently and shaking the wash mixture as often as I did was most likely overkill.

I believe the results speak for themselves. The images provided along with this review show “un-washed” gear strut next to a strut with AK “Grease” (AK2032) and AK “Landing Gear Wash”, AK2029.

The whole process took less than 10 minutes, including the “shake” and “clean up” time, and I am very happy with the results.

I am an AK Fan!

This product allowed a mediocre modeler to achieve results that look “advanced”. The product is easy to use, easy to apply, and looks great. This product is highly recommended for its economical price, ease of use, and for the results it provides.

Thanks to AK Interactive for the opportunity to review this excellent weathering set.