Hataka US Army Helicopter Paint Set First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of First Look | September 2015 | Manufacturer | Hataka |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | US Army Helicopter | Product Number | AS19 |
| Pros | Ready for airbrush and paint brush right out of the bottle | Cons | See text |
| Skill Level | Basic | MSRP (USD) | $24.99 |
First Look
Hataka from Poland continues to release a rapidly expanding line of color-matched acrylic paints to fill the voids in color coverage for scale modelers. In this set, we have six new colors that replicate the camouflage colors used by US Army Aviation from Vietnam to present.
This set contains six 17ml bottles of paint with a set of colors which include:
- A041 Night Black FS 37038
- A065 Olive Drab (FS 34087)
- A066 Insignia Yellow FS 13538
- A067 US Army Helicopter Drab FS 34031
- A068 US Army Desert Sand
- A069 Woodland Desert Sage FS 34201
There are three factors to consider when chosing your paints: color accuracy, paint performance, and price. How do these colors look against the Federal Standard 595 color standards?
| Color | FS 595 Color | Hataka Color |
|---|---|---|
| FS 37038 | ||
| FS 34087 | ||
| FS 13538 | ||
| FS 34031 | ||
| FS 30277 | ||
| FS 34201 |
You can see here that the Hataka colors have the right hue though their shades are a bit darker across the board. While many paint companies provide 'scale shading' in their colors, these are starting a bit darker though I find paints tend to fade a bit after weathering, so these should drop back into standard when you've finished the model.
As previously tested, Hataka paints go on smoothly and without any problem and responds well to the homemade thinner which is similar to Tamiya acrylic thinner. The Hataka acrylics respond just as well with the Tamiya thinner and even using Windex to clean the airbrush.
My sincere thanks to Hataka Hobby for this review sample!