Issues airbrushing AK Interactive 3rd generation

Armor/AFV Painting & Weathering
1

Hello,

Has anyone had any luck airbrushing AK Interactive’s 3rd generation acrylics? I tried airbrushing them and had a lot of tip dry and some paint spattering. I thinned them using their thinner. Also, I was using a Paasche H airbrush when painting.

Any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong and also what ratio I should use for thinning this paint?

Thanks

2

Hi,

I have a large number of AK 3rd generation acrylics and an Iwata HP-CS (I usually use it at 18 psi).

My tips for spraying these AK paints:

  • I add a steel paint mixing ball to every bottle,
  • I shake them very well (I use a vortex mixer) and sometimes shake them even after I have diluted them (in a mixing bottle),
  • if a large and even painted surface is required I filter the diluted paint using a very fine sieve (125 microns) because based on my experince dried bits of paint may be present even if you shake it well (and the airbrush gets clogged up easily and it may “spit”),
  • the best seems to me Createx 4012 reducer (besides I find it a lot more cost effective than their own thinner),
  • dilution ratio is usually between 1:5 and 1:6 (paint to thinner) but it depends on individual colours as well if it looks thinner you add less thinner if it looks thicker you add a bit more (even the same colour may have to be thinned a bit differently if you buy another bottle).

I am very far from being a professional modeller but I hope this helps those who would like to use these paints.

3

Using a retarder (5%) is a good way to avoid problems when airbrushing…

4

I bought the thinner that is specifically mentioned on the bottles. If not you tend to have issues with them. I had a ton of issues with the new primer and that was the only solution that worked.