I've been trying out AK's 3rd gen paints and varnishes.
And I am very unhappy with their products to say the least.

Their paints are tip drying like crazy regardless how much I thin them and how much retarder I add. I even noticed that it clumps up and clogs the tip of the airbrush.

Same goes for their 3rd gen varnish as well. Constant tip dry. And when drying it creates a rubbery layer which will come up with the masking tape when for example when you have canopy masked on a plane. And with this rubbery layer up came all the weathering and everything. It completely destroyed my work. It peeled off like skin.

So this is more of a rant/word of advice rather than a tip or a trick.

Unless you know some magic formula that makes these 3rd gen products work, stay far away from them.

Maybe there are two tips I can give after these painful experiences.

- If something works, stick with it. No need to try out something new every time.
- If you want to experiment do it on something you can afford to lose. And even if the results are satisfactory, it might not turn out the same way next time.

Interesting. I've only tried 3 or 4 of them, thinned with water, through my basic airbrush (.5mm tip) and had no problems. I worked with them quite awhile.

I have been hearing hit and miss all over the model community. A friend did a review with Gen3 sent to him directly from AK, they airbrushed well for him. I bought some when it arrived at the LHS, and it was awful to airbrush.

It does look like AK may have done a bait and switch. Not sure, but he bought some from the store, and did find it was different from what was sent directly from AK.

It is decent for brushing, but I won't be airbrushing it again.

Not so much a quality question but it is on topic for AK 3rd gen;

What's with the color names? I spent too long trying to get a match for 4BO and wound up giving up on it. A bit of a shame they didn't give the clearest names to them.

Afterthought: Does anyone have a color conversion chart for them? I tried googling but didn't really find anything of use.

Hi Calum,

Go to AKs site, find a color, click on that color and go
to the second image click on that.

This will take to an equivalence chart cross referencing
that particular color to all known equivalences from
various model paint manufacturers including a RAL reference
if their is one.
Here is the example for their German Grey

https://ak-interactive.com/product/german-grey-standard/

Cheers,

Thanks Joe!

I have no idea how I didn't see that!

So would it be correct to assume that the 3rd Gen paints are more for general hobbyists rather than specifically for scale modeling?

Well I think they are aimed at scale modelers since they do
cross reference with other major brands.
My understanding is that when they were announced, AK stated
that the formulation was different from their other paints.
Cheers,