Introduction

HTK-AS31 Paint Set – Early WW2 German AFV/Panel Lightning Set. This review is for the Hataka Hobby paint set HTK-AS31, which includes two types of paint sets, one for early war Polizei/SS vehicles, as well as one for Panzer Dunkelgrau painted vehicles. These two paint sets are basically a base color, shadow color, and flash color, which are used in the same way as the so called modulation technique. Colors come pre-mixed, and are of good shades right from the bottle. The package rear include a simple “how to use” instructions section.
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Review

Being a long time Vallejo, AK and Ammo paints user, I thought the same would true with Hataka for airbrush application, I was wrong! The paint is a thick, creamy liquid that can easily be diluted with Hataka thinner or water. As this was a first time use test, I diluted the paint with water, and the paint sprayed beautifully. The paint dried fairly quickly on the test scrap plastic, the application of all three colors was performed in less than one hour, but the test subject is another story.

The model to be used as recipient of all of the paint work is a Dragon Models Panzer II. This model was selected in order to do a quick trial run. The kit was coated in rattle can primer – enamel type – and left to dry for one day.
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The first color applied was the Panzer Dunkelgrau Base; the paint was diluted with water, and sprayed with an Iwata Eclipse HP-C at 10psi, the paint sprayed beautifully, and completely covered the underlying primer coat. It is a really nice dark grey tone, excellent a base coat for the lighter shaded coats.
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The next color is the Panzer Dunkelgrau Shadow; I used the same paint preparation, as well as the same pressure. This was lightly applied, in a random, cloudy patterns, taking care of not to touch up the regularly shaded areas, nor where panels meet.
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The final coat is the Panzer Dunkelgrau Flash; once again the same paint preparation and pressure was used. This was also lightly applied, in a random cloudy pattern. In my case, I concentrated mostly in the center of panels and hatches for this application.
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Conclusion

All in all, for being a first time Hataka Hobby paint user, I found them to be a great paint product, right up there with the main players in the market. The colors were beautifully applied, coverage was great, and the paint looked nice and tight, dead flat when dry.

A clear sealing coat was added with Future, in order to apply decals, the colors darkened slightly, but when the flat clear was applied, the brightness popped right back, and the filters and washes were applied.

End results for the painted tank – without the weathering – as follows.
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My last word on this product…EXCELLENT!