by James Wooldridge
Modified: Dec 02, 2024
Mastering Realism: The Art of AK Weathering Pencils
Transform Your Scale Models with Stunning Weathering Effects
Weathering is the soul of any scale model, breathing life into the carefully crafted details and telling a story of time, terrain, and battle. Enter AK Weathering Pencils—a revolutionary tool for modellers seeking precision, control, and creativity. Whether you’re aiming to capture the grimy streaks of battle-worn armour, the subtle rust of neglected machinery, or the dusty residues of an arduous journey, these pencils offer an intuitive and effective way to elevate your weathering techniques. Let’s dive into how these simple yet powerful tools can transform your models into masterpieces that feel as real as their full-scale counterparts.
What Are They?
AK Interactive Weathering Pencils are 37 Special non-toxic water pencil colors. Weathering Pencils can be described as a type of grease paint in pencil, specifically designed for creating modelling effects.
The specialized composition is formulated from a water-soluble, non-acrylic, semi-grease-based wax composite formed into highly pigmented colour and metallic cores encased in wood.
Weathering Pencils are easy to use and clean, ideal for those who want to introduce themselves to modelling and for more advanced modellers who can discover the unique properties that create different effects.
The Weathering Pencil 37 Colors represent the most common hues, including metallics, used in modelling.
How-To Use Weathering Pencils
Dry Applications:
- Deep Chipping
- Surface Chipping
- Rubs/Scratches
- Highlight Edges
- Brushed Metal
- Panelling/Wooden Boards
AK Weathering Pencils work similarly to Artist Color Pencils to add scratches and chips to model surfaces. Dry pencil can be modified using a paintbrush or cotton swab etc to soften and blend marks.
Unlike permanent artistic pencils, AK Weathering Pencils are additive and subtractive. The Weathering Pencil marks can be removed using a normal eraser.
💡 When using an eraser, best results are achieved using a white, non-abrasive technical drawing Staedtler Mars Plastic 526 50 or Mars Plastic 528 Eraser with Holder.
💡 ProTips
- Apply over a matte surface to obtain the best results.
- For greater colour intensity, gently heat the pencil tip with a hairdryer.
- Oil paint and enamel washes made with mineral spirits, white spirits, or odourless thinner can be applied directly over dry Weathering Pencil effects.
💡 ProTip: To increase dry pencil colour intensity on the workpiece, gently warm the tip with a hairdryer.
Wet Applications
- Streaking EffectsRust Effects
- Smoke & Grease Effects
- Lighting & Shading Surfaces
- Dust and Mud Accumulation
- Colour Transitions
AK Weathering Pencils are water-soluble and dissolve in water for immediate use. The pencil lead dipped in water can be applied to create different effects. A paintbrush can also manipulate the wet weathering pencil medium to create sophisticated effects.
If you don’t like the results, remove the wet medium, use a damp paintbrush, or wipe it off with a damp paper towel. Once dry, the pencil lead can be removed using an eraser.
Have you changed your mind and want to modify the effect? The dry weathering pencil reactivates with water, provided it has not been sealed with Varnish.
💡 ProTips
- For optimal water solubility and performance, use Distilled Water.
- Oil paint and enamel washes made with mineral spirits, white spirits, or odourless thinner can be applied directly over dry Weathering Pencil effects.
- ⚠️ Remember, seal with a lacquer (non-water-based acrylic) varnish before applying water-soluble acrylics over the Weathering Pencil effects.
- ? Important: Soaking the weathering pencil in water renders the pencil unusable because the wood swells. Wet the lead tip only by dipping it into the water briefly.
Advanced Weathering Pencil Use
Paint Palette
Weathering Pencil lead readily dissolves in a paint dish for paintbrush use. It is easily applied like paint and maintains this suburb modelling medium’s highly workable additive and subtractive benefits.
Wet Palette
Using the wet pencil lead tip, gently apply medium to the wet palette membrane for continued use with a paintbrush. The weathering pencil performs like acrylic paint but with added advantages.
Create unique colour combinations with different weathering pencil dab pools. Perfect for creating blends and shadows.
The weathering pencil medium remains workable on a wet palette for extended periods, days, and maybe weeks.
Check out our large selection of paint and wet palettes here.
How to Sharpen
Slowly rotate the weathering pencil while gently sharpening it to avoid breaking the lead. A single-hole wedge sharpener is recommended for coloured pencils.
Always use a sharp blade and replace the sharpener or blade when dull. Replacement blades are available depending on the sharpener brand.
💡 ProTip
Separate lead from wood shavings for use in your paint palette or wet palette. Perfect for brushwork.
Getting Started with AK Weathering Pencils for Modeling
Familiarize yourself with the Weathering Pencils using test pieces to learn how to utilize their exceptional properties.
Weathering pencils work best on a matte finish due to surface texture. Remember, Weathering Pencils is a water-soluble product that performs best when used with distilled water.
Synthetic and Sable Paintbrushes work well with weathering pencils. A Weathering Pencil is perfect for Kolinski Sable fine-detail brushes.
Whether you are new to this amazing hobby of modelling or figure painting, Weathering Pencils are indispensable for creating effects, dry or wet.
An exciting new world of possibilities awaits for weathering and detail effects.
Order yours from our selection of Weathering Pencil Sets, Single Weathering Pencils, or Deluxe Sets.
Real-World Examples
White Winter Camouflage on Armour
White Weathering Pencil is used from a wet palette to create a white blend of unevenly applied winter camouflage by the crew of an SMK Soviet Heavy Dual Turret Tank.
Armor Markings and Unit Identification
Cyrillic Numerals were painted on this KV-8 Flame Thrower Tank (KB-8 M1942 огнеметный танк—Ognemetniy Tank) using dissolved White Weathering Pencil lead in a paint dish. An Abteilung 502 Marta Kolinsky № 2 is used. REAL COLORS 4BO is the tank’s base color.
Creating Different Rust Effects Using a Brush or Pencil Directly: 1/35 200L Fuel Drums
Examples (left to right)
- Rust Colors wet blended using a brush with distilled water.
- Rust Colors wet blended using pencils dipped in distilled water.
- Mineral Spirits/White Spirits and Odorless Thinner are applied directly over Weathering Pencils. Enamel/Oil Wash resistant.
Weathering Pencils are great to work with; they’re easy to use and are both additive and subtractive mediums. An advanced modeller magic wand. Enamel Washes and Oils can be used directly over Weathering Pencils.
💡 ProTip
- ⚠️ Remember: Before applying water-soluble acrylics over Weathering Pencil effects, seal with a non-acrylic Varnish. REAL COLORS VARNISH (Lacquer) is perfect for this application.
- ❗Always test on an inconspicuous location to determine compatibility before application.
Hard Water vs Distilled Water | The Better Choice
Examples (left to right)
- Tap Water (L) vs Distilled Water (R). Distilled Water outperforms tap water.
- Distilled Water is a superior solvent. That’s the reason why it’s used in labs.
- Weathering Pencils instantly dissolve in Distilled Water.
Does It Make A Difference?
The short answer is yes, distilled water makes a massive difference in the ease of use and outcome.
I use distilled water for my water-based acrylic paint and wondered if there is a difference between distilled water and tap water when working with Weathering Pencils.
The test involves using regular tap and distilled water, dipping the two separate pencils twice in their designated water sample, and then applying the pencils to the styrene.
Without question, distilled water outperformed tap water in every aspect, from dissolving the pigment to coverage and application.
For many scientific reasons, tap water, whether untreated, treated, softened, filtered, reverse osmosis, or ozonated, is not comparable to Distilled Water.
Use distilled water with weathering pencils and water-based acrylic paints for the best results. Your sable brushes will rinse clean and remain soft, free of mineral buildup.
💡ProTip
- Use Distilled Water for perfect wet performance.
- Tap water varies significantly from location to location.
- For scientific reasons, Distilled Water is the best solvent for weathering pencils and water-soluble acrylic paints.
Advanced Weathering Pencil Airbrush Techniques
Before commencing the camouflage, AK 3rd Gen Primer, Base Colour, was tested for durability against REAL COLORS Lacquer. Once cured, all is well, surviving the scratch test. Both have nice hard finishes. Weathering Pencils were worked on the painted surface and were sprayed with 3G Acrylic Matt and AK Ultra Matte Varnish. The paints are up to the task.
The surface colours and varnish are tough enough to withstand any weathering process, removing and reapplying to get the desired look, even if they have dried. The Weathering Pencil colour layers will reactivate with water until sealed with a varnish. There is no concern about affecting the substrate.
Use an airbrush with a minimum 0.35 needle size.
The Weathering Pencil airbrushes reasonably well. The white pencil produces a whitewash effect looking the part.
Once the Weathering Pencil layer is allowed to dry, a soft eraser (white STAEDTLER Mars Plastic Eraser) creates gradual wear and scrape marks; season to taste. A pencil eraser of the same soft material provides greater control.
With a careful airbrush/brushwork/eraser approach, sophisticated advanced weathering, wear, scratches, scrub, and chipping techniques are possible.
💡 ProTip
Carefully inspect pencil sharpener shavings to remove wood flakes. Examine the dissolved pencil lead for wooden particles floating on the surface, remove them with tweezers, etc. Distilled water achieves complete solubility. Airbrush cleans with distilled water.
Advanced WEATHERING PENCIL Applications
Examples (left to right)
- Weathering Pencil Streaking Test
- Weathering Pencil Airbrush Test
- Weathering Pencil Brush Reactivation Test
- White Eraser Abrasion
- Abrasion Test Macro View
WEATHERING PENCILS FULL SETS
AK Interactive Weathering Pencils Deluxe Edition Box AKI 10047
AK Interactive Weathering Pencil Full Range with Cloth Case 10048
WEATHERING PENCILS SPECIAL SETS
Basic Colors Shading and Demotion Pencil Set AKI 10045
This set contains the main basic colours to be able to mix them and almost get any shading effect and weathering effects. All colours can be used in many different base colours to get different effects. The set includes an aluminum colour, perfect for aircraft and soft-skinned vehicles. Remember to apply it on matte surfaces for the best results.
Black and White Shading and Effects Pencil Set AKI 10039
With this set, you can easily shade and highlight your models, giving them more contrast and volume. It has also been developed for winter camouflage and dark effects. It is a must-have. Remember to apply it to matte surfaces for best results.
Chipping and Aging Effects Set Pencil AKI 10042
With this set, you can achieve deep and surface chipping. Depending on your base colour, you can use a lighter colour and then the chipping colour. This set is perfect for wood chipping. Remember to apply it to matte surfaces for the best results.
Dirt and Marks Pencil Set AKI 10044
With this set, you can add effects like dust, grease, and many kinds of dirt, as well as paint marks, to your model. The pencils are ideal for combining with other products to achieve many desired effects and techniques. Remember to apply them to matte surfaces for the best results.
Green and Brown Shading and Effects Pencil Set AKI 10040
With this set, you can create moss streaking effects to mud effects or the treatment of most parts of vehicles in these tones creating chromatic variations and effects, depending on the base color you are working with. Remember to apply it on matte surfaces for the best results.
Grey and Blue Shading and Effects Pencil Set AKI 10043
With this set, you can enhance your model with proper shading for a grey or blue base like planes, Sci-fi, etc. Remember to apply it on matte surfaces for the best results.
Metallic Effects Pencil Set AKI 10046
With this special set of metallics, you can create incredible effects. Imagine painting the machine guns, aluminum seen after chipping, and bronze or copper effects. It can be used on any figure and almost all metals. Remember to apply it on matte surfaces for the best results.
Rust and Streaking Effects Pencil Set AKI 10041
With this set, you can achieve any rust effect on any model. Mix the different tones to achieve more chromatic richness to produce more realism. Perfect to use wet, allowing the modeller infinite combinations. Remember to apply it on matte surfaces for the best results.
James Wooldridge is a local modeller.
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