Gaianotes Ma.K. Paint Color set
Allegiance: Lacquer-based paints!

4 jars of specially formulated Maschinen Krieger paints in production from Gaianotes, available from HobbyLink Japan.

I am pleased to offer a review of the Maschinen Krieger Paint Color Set from Gaianotes. First offered as a 25th Anniversary set at Wonderfestival, it pleased the Ma.K. community to learn that these paints would be offered again! These do not disappoint. Packaged in a card stock box with Ma.K.-centric and Gaianotes labels, the jars themselves are wonderful. Glass with plastic screw caps, and a plastic inner cap that ensures the paint is kept well sealed (and that the threads of the lids do not become stuck with paint - a welcome design change to the usual paint bottles I encounter. The jar labels themselves also have great Ma.K. art!

The four jars are labeled with the color name and suggested application - handy for newer Ma.K. fans! These are: Silent Gray (Luna Pawn, etc), Jedeite Gray (AFS Mk1 and Mk2), Monkey Rose (Luna Pawn, Fireball SG, etc), and Antiflash White (Luna Pawn etc). These colors are "official" in that Kow Yokoyama has described them as apropos to the aesthetics of his models and art. All four of these are the solid foundations of most of the models in the Maschinen Krieger universe, but especially fascinating to me are the green and white colors. The green color has been described by some of us in the community as the "universal green", as it can blend well in a variety of environments, and therefore lends itself to camouflage. Modern military thinking follows the same idea, with camo schemes taking on more neutral shaded hues. The white is not "white" either, but tinged with yellow, for an almost antique look. On one of the occasions that I had the opportunity to speak to Yokoyama-san directly, he spoke about color choices, and used the yellow-white as an example. Using a pure white hue would pull you out of the established aesthetics of the universe, and there is very little in nature that appears "pure white" anyway. Be mindful of these kinds of things when you paint your models!

The elusive Ma.K. green (above) and the famous red coloring seen on his Fireball SG illustration (below).

Here is the Monkey Rose, unmodified from the jar. I used Mr. Color thinner to clean up from these, by the way! Also note in the photo below the well behind the red - it is a mix of Jedeite Gray and Silent Gray. The colors mix extremely well, and you need very little on your palette - these colors go a long way!! $10 for a set of four jars is an excellent value!

Here are the colors in action. This is one coat, with the gray mix from above, Jedeite gray directly from the jar, and the Monkey Rose. Monkey Rose was painted over top of the camouflage layer, which dried to the touch within 30 minutes. Opacity is very high! A second coat and these are bright and even, if that is the look desired.

Not bad for one hour with just the Gaianotes paint set, yes? I am well on my way to having a terrific AFS MkI suit!

Thanks to HobbyLink Japan for the review sample!

Maschinen Krieger © Kow Yokoyama