In the pot, Natural Steel reads as a neutral metallic silver, light and muted. It builds a smooth gradient with Metallic Blue underneath and Aluminium on the highlights, all in the AK Interactive line. Natural Steel is a little less common: the closest same-finish match, The Army Painter Broadsword Silver, reaches 85 percent, and 2 other brands carry a strong same-finish alternative. Any substitute is a mixing base rather than a drop-in, so tune it on the model.
Natural Steel equivalents and near misses
Fair warning: nothing matches AK Interactive Natural Steel cleanly. The options below are the least bad, and every one of them drifts.
Closest The Army Painter equivalent: The Army Painter Broadsword Silver, close, with a hint of drift side by side (delta E 3.0).
From Tamiya: Tamiya Flat Aluminum 2, a near match with visible drift up close (delta E 3.9).
Humbrol's closest color: Humbrol Metalcote Matt Aluminium, a usable stand-in rather than a twin (delta E 4.6).
Nearest in the Vallejo catalog: Vallejo Silver, workable at tabletop distance, not up close (delta E 5.0).
Check it on a spare model first, because The Army Painter Broadsword Silver sits slightly cooler than the original and the difference grows over large flat panels.
How to read the score
90+Close
80sUsable
<70Mix
The Army Painter
Tamiya
Humbrol
Vallejo
Two Thin Coats
Citadel
Revell
Monument Pro Acryl
P3 Paints
Green Stuff World
About this color
Color profile
Highlight and shade ladder
Match difficulty
Found in 2 other brands with a same-finish match.
Where painters use it
Frequently asked
What is the closest equivalent to AK Interactive Natural Steel?
The closest same-finish match is The Army Painter Broadsword Silver at 85% color similarity.
What finish is Natural Steel?
Natural Steel is a metallic paint with a silver tone and a reflective finish. Because the shine comes from metal flake, a flat paint can match the color and still be wrong for the job, which is why cross-finish matches here are references rather than swaps.
What do I highlight and shade Natural Steel with?
Highlight Natural Steel toward Aluminium and shade it down into Metallic Blue, both AK Interactive paints in the same finish family.