AK’s new Glow Fluorescent paints impress, but are for specific needs
Fluorescent paints are an area of the hobby I haven’t spent too much time in, and I was lucky enough to be sent the new line of Glow Precision Fluors from AK Interactive. Will these introduce me to a whole new level of glowing projects? Let’s dive in.
Glowing material is a huge part of the miniature hobby, especially if you’re a wargaming enthusiast. Plasma swords, engines, lightsabers, crystals, runes, mysterious energies- these are all elements we see on tables day in and day out. A simple YouTube search pulls up tons of tutorials, and there are many ways to render a super bright color.
Fluorescent paint is core to this. Made from ultrabright pigments, fluorescents are paint that usually glow under UV light, or sometimes can “charge” through light exposure, resulting in a glow afterwards. Fluorescents have a lot of uses in our hobby. As previously mentioned, anything that glows will certainly do so with this paint. But you can also use it to modify other paints, to help create a boost.
These bottles are bright and very nicely designed!
These enamels from AK are more for specific applications, like adding a burst of brightness to a weapon or engine, than they are meant for painting.
Each 30ml glass bottle carries a fluor, in White, Red, Orange, Light Orange, Yellow, and Green, and each bottle uses a thin brush applicator, something we noted in our Panel Liner review.
Give each bottle a good shake. This is pigment suspended in oil, so it separates all the time. But a good shake will help. Also, when applying this product, there are a few rules you should follow:If placing on acrylics, make sure to varnish your acrylics. Sometimes, the materials in enamels can lift or melt acrylic paint. Also, enamels take time to dry, so apply a layer, wait, and see how it works. Something great about enamels is that you can come back through with white spirit, wipe away, and really customize the final appearance.
Immediately glowing impact.
You can’t mix enamel and acrylic, so prep wisely. Take a chance at rendering your plasma coils with all enamels. Or use this paint to highlight specific areas, such as the ones I’ve taken photos of. I found this paint to work perfectly as a “boost” to areas I had previously painted brightly, such as the hair on the Noise Marine. I also like how the paint flows. On some older models, the green and light green helped create some fun glowing elements on the bots, and on my massive Reaper model, it made the eyes more menacing and added some element of magic to various skulls.
I really liked how this made an old base of a GW model really pop. I think I’ll be personally using this material whenever I want a glowing element on a base and easily for quick exhausts and weapon glow.
On the positive side, these are bright. It’s hard to describe how bright these really are, as the camera just can’t catch it. I’ll put out a YouTube video displaying how bright these paints are, so keep an eye out for that.
On the negative side, I wish there were more colors. Blue not being a color is shocking considering the amount of blue plasma coils out there. But maybe that’ll be for Wave 2 (if there’s a Wave 2)…toss in a purple, a greenish-blue, and maybe an ice yellow?
The Glow Fluors look awesome on these Sentinels for Marvel Crisis Protocol!
I’d recommend these as a more advanced paint, especially if you want to see immediate results.
You can get these now at AK Interactive or from your local paint store.
AK Interactive’s Glow Fluorescent paints are an excellent way to boost the brightness of your glows; just be sure to know how to work with enamels.
This review is based on a retail copy provided by the publisher.
Randy is an award winning mini painter, since 2015, and has learned a lot in his time! Come with him as he continues to push his craft forward, always down to try new techniques, tools, and paints!
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