Great review. I've switched to using almost just these guys. As a tank and armor modeler, I love that I can put these down and then not have to worry about clear-coating before I use enamel weathering products over them. They don't react with harsh weathering products at all!
1:55 I believe the indentation is ment to better seal the dropper, so that the paint will have a longer shelf life. Vallejo bottles don't have them, but some of the empty ones you buy for decanting and personal mixes do.
Thank you for this Vince. This has been a game changer for me. I've been a big fan of these paints since they appeared, but I've consistently struggled to get them to behave through my airbrush. I tried a 1:1 ratio up to a 3:1 ratio, and they always spattered, even at a high pressure. Obviously I wasn't thinning them enough. I've now found my sweetspot at 6:1 and they're perfect. I was about to give up using them through my airbrush entirely prior to seeing this vid. I've always been a big AK fan, and these are great to brush on, but I was petty disappointed with the results I was getting through my airbrush. Now that I can confidently apply them and get consistent results I'd reccomend them to anyone. They're like Tamiya paints but without all the esoteric guesswork that comes with them. Thanks again Vince. I'd been banging my head against a wall for a few weeks with these.
No issue, happy to help. Yes, what I have found with most thick model style paints is that you should thin them in something like a 6:1 to 9:1 ratio depending on the paint in question.
So, I tried 6:1 with the White (plus their thinner) and it was too thin. Went down to 3:1 but still got occasional splattering. Guess I'll try 4:1? I really want to like these ...
Larry the Ogre is the most loved testing model of Vince Venturella. But how can not not love this full figured curvy model? Also thank Vince for the review.
Good review, Vince. I am also impressed with AK products. Unfortunately i still have lots of Vallejo paints to go (17ml bottles, i just started) so when i am buying replacements and new ones, i would go for AK 😊
i bought into these paints in Feb and i LOVE THEM. go on without primer as advertised. great colors. nice and smooth coverage. would get the whole collections if I could find it still. Black priemer is matte and goes on great with a brush or airbrush
Wondered about this myself! (I did a quick google search on why a few weeks ago, but no definite answer.) My guess would be a good mix of production infrastructure and culture. Spain is quite well represented in art history, Picasso, Dali and so on. So it's not impossible that some of this has transferred into mini-painting.
It's true. When I lived in Spain, Warhammer was very mainstream. Everyone was painting and collecting. Now those enthusiasts are making their own businesses.
I bought the NMM gold set a few weeks back and just got round to using it last night. Although the NMM I attempted was terrible, I was amazed by the quality of the paints. The pigment richness was amazing. Even nicely watered down it went on and covered well even in lighter colours. Was really nice to use and went on very easily. Love the bottle design as well. I was suitable impressed, I might even prefer them to Vallejo!
I got three of the yellows in an asset drop box last month and I was very surprised at how smoothly they applied compared to the vallejo yellows I have. Good to know this is mostly consistent in the range
I also bought a few of these to test out and fool around with a bit. I mean, they're just good paints. Cover good, easy to work with, nice and matte. AK really did a good job on this line.
Thanks so much for doing this review. I've been watching a number of reviews on this range, but was waiting to hear what you had to say as I value the amount of hours you put in with them. Sounds like these would be a great replacement for my Vallejo paints as I use them up :-)
Wonder if these paints would still be a recommend from Vince? Gonna go to my hobby store the day after tomorrow and pick some up, they’re a bit cheaper than the other brands there, including Vallejo.
I tested all 5 fluorescent paints. The yellow is a great color, a bit on the greenish side (not as warm as most yellows), great for mixing with other colors to make them pop and somehow has very decent coverage, which really surprised me. The orange is just an insane color, would never use on its own, not even when painting actual neon lights, so a little too bright, but nothing a little mixing doesn't fix (I did and that worked fine), not the greatest coverage, would have thought it would cover better than yellow, but apparently not. The green is very poppy as well, it looks a little like livery green from Vallejo game color, but brighter, interesting color for making a green feel unnatural (poison, warp stone, glowing eyes of an unnatural creature). The magenta comes closer to an actual color and could almost be used on its own, very interesting hue, definitely something Vince would like, would be great for highlighting slaaneshy pink stuff. And then there is the blue, which is totally not a fluorescent paint at all (which kinda makes sense, but hoped for a little more nonetheless), it looks like a lighter version of Vallejo blue ink, so there doesn't seem to be any white in it (so maybe good for glazing over a zenithal highlight?) and in that way a true blue color, pretty disappointing, so please be warned about that one. If anyone has any questions about these 5 paints, let me know. EDIT: also like I mentioned in my previous comment, they do airbrush much better than I thought, which is handy if you are highlighting a larger model with these paints.
@@hoshi314 my current favorite fluorescents are Golden High Flow and Amsterdam Reflex inks, but if you already have fluorescents, than maybe don't invest in new ones. If you wanna tone down the fluorescent look, I would mix them with a orange ink
@@Wijkert i only have mr hobby acrysion but that one is quite horrible to use brush with (normally mr hobby is for like gundams and stuff) so i am looking to change brands for fluo with brush tbh
recently ordered 2 bottles of ultra matte direct from Ak and they sent me a pot of 3rd gen Grimy Grey in free with the varnishes. It was a really good paint, really smooth flow, kept wet well, didnt clog up and get thick on me. Coverage was excellent, the colour Grimy Grey is somewhere between say Ushabti Bone and White, a very light bone colour. It was a lot more smooth and fluid with way better coverage than any paint from vallejo or citadel Ive tried in that sort of colour. Only tried that 1 bottle but next time I need some paints Im gonna be grabbing these rather than reaching for the vallejo as I usually would.
Reporting back. I bought all 5 fluorescent paints and was able to airbrush the yellow one without issue. Cleaning the airbrush was also easy enough. I would say that it's harder to clean the airbrush after priming and easier with regular colors. Also one thing that can help is that most of the time you mix the fluorescents with regular paint/ink to still get the pop, but at the same time lessen the neon like property of the fluorescents (kind of getting the best of both worlds).
I hear a lot of great things from a Vallejo Pale Sand, however the store I went to today never had it. They did have a AK Interactive 3rd gen paint with the same name lol. So I picked it up. Iv never used AK before ! Not sure if they are the same color.
Coming back to this vid, I just wanted to ask about your opinion on the yellow colours in this range? I know they are always a difficult paint, but interested if the formulation is better than most here. Many thanks!
My experience with these paints is that they cover very well so they feel like citadel base paints but in a dropper bottle. They do better with thinning than citadel though imo.
I didn't get a chance to try out the metallics. From what I have seen, they aren't on par with the Vallejo Metal Color, but I will grab more and give it a real test.
I haven't done anything on their varnishes yet, in general, I just use Vallejo Satin as the semi-gloss I need. But mostly, that is just a few drops mixed in with Ultra-Matte varnish to increase protection.
Excellent video, Vince, as usual. May you please share what settings did you use when airbrushing? I get continuous clogging. What thinner? What nozzle diameter? What pressure? Thank you very much and keep up the good work!
The real key is actually in the thinning. I use a mix of 6:1 thinner to paint (and my thinner is 80/20 Thinner/Flow Improver). The PSI is generally 18 and it's a .3 needle, but again, the thinning I mentioned is the real key, never have a clog.
Just ordered red, blue, yellow, off-white, and gold to try. I want to see if I have chalky issues with the white, and I haven't found any golds that I really like
If you absolutely had to rank these against traditional mini paints like Scale75f&g and Pro Acryl how would they stack up? These are much easier to get than either of those and I love all the ones I've tried - except their clears (red and smoke at least) are super glossy which I don't like. I think they don't have a real equivalent to the Pro Acryl transparents, so that's something. My impression is that overall pro acry/ak 3rd is the way to go for typical mini paints, warcolour/scalecolor for gels, and VMC for metals?
They are very similar to Pro Acryl, I would basically place the two of those in the same category and quality. Either would serve well for a variety of uses.
Hi Vince, now that you had time to experiment more with this line I would like to know what your favorite paints are. I am especially interested in purple tones (your specialty), because that is what my paint collection is missing the most.
I was very tempted but i recently got 3 full ranges, so i think I'll hold off for now. That being said, I am happy with the 3 mediums I tried from this range.
Yeah, sometimes we have the issue of assuming that more products makes us better painters, sometimes it’s more mature to master the tools we have then get more of them.
I tested them now too and I started to migrate to them, currently I use Vallejo, Army Painter and Citadel. In the future I likely will go with AK 3rd Gen and Citadel only (Citadel for their Contrast Paints only). I think AK is best in class today. Superior for Airbrush AND brush painting. Pigmentation is better, flow is better and they maintain it over a longer period. Also less shaking needed but I use a Four E'S shaker anyway :) oh and in the 3Gen the German Dunkelgelb variations were corrected to the real colors ...
Have you ever thought of doing a product review for Liquitex Acrylic Gouache? Marco from NJM used these for a sketch-style tutorial on a Fyreslayer using the CMY system. I'd be interested to know what you think of these paints. As always, thanks for a great video!
Same for me with Gold. I use and like Vallejo colors, Army Painter washes, and GW effects paints. I haven't found one single gold range I like with any of them.
Hi Vince. What is your opinion on the blue range ? I've tested 5-6 of them (imperial blue, ultramarine blue and deep blue among them) and the coverage is very bad over a black primer with a brush. The consistency of the blue paints seems like a gel. Perhaps I got a bad batch. The rest of them however, reds, greens, and some pale blues are really good. Thank you for doing this review.
I will admit I've only tried a few of the blues (I love my Scale 75 blues too much), but I will say I wouldn't really have run that test anyway, I don't ever paint over black primer, I always zenithal, so something with transparency is actually valuable to me.
Vince, thanks for the review; I just ordered the Night Creatures Flesh set to paint the face on my Abaddon model. Question: if you were forced to choose one line of paints to take into a bunker that you might never leave, which brand would you choose? Which brand would you say has the most consistently high quality of Acrylic paints? Edit* I bought the Pro-Acryl line, thinking it would be the only paint I need but I've found glazing to be horrible with it. I've tried glaze medium and such but no matter what I use, it goes all gritty and nasty as soon I thin the paint beyond a roughly 1:1 mix of paint and thinning medium, whether its water or dedicated mediums. I'm not sure why it's doing this but I'm not glazing with it any more because of this issue.
Interesting, I haven't had much issue glazing with them, they have a new glaze and wash medium that is formulated for just that and it's good. That being said, one line of paints but I have the whole line? Maybe AK 3rd Gen honestly. They are pretty consistent quality, but honestly, there are so many strengths to so many ranges, I always use a great mix.
Thank you Vince, I live in Spain and in here this colors are dirty cheap, also free shipping, but I was concerned about the quality: now I have no doubt!
Was literally just looking at these and ammo by mig. Apparently these guys are very good for effects and weathering paint. Mig used to own a part of the company as I understand t but had a falling out and made his own. Has a line of washable acrylics that have some interesting efdects. Either way thanks for this. I'm already getting their matte varnish
I've never heard anything good about the mig paints, plenty of problems though. AK already make some of the best products available for scale modelling, so they get my vote.
Hi Vince, I was wondering if you could say how closely AK colors mirror their VMC counter parts. I'm a long time user of VMC but have gotten a taste for more matte paints recently and was curious if say dark sea blue from VMC and dark sea blue from AK are close enough to say you can just replace one wit hthe other? Pro Acryl has become my new love and was thinking of replacing my VMC as they run out with AK to have a more consistent finish to my paints. Thank you for your time
I've heavily bought into Warcolours and painting mostly with feathering, glazing, undershading and love them (all thanks to you and your reviews and videos!). I need a heavy opacity paint to pair with them - would you go with AK 3rd gen or ProAcryl?
Honestly, either. Whatever you can get easier. They are very similar paint lines and I couldn't choose between them. Both would serve you very well for the function.
Dear Vince, I'm currently trying "all" the paint ranges a bit, I never tryed before and I really enjoyed P3 Paints. They feel and behave somewhat different from my Citadel, Scale, Vallejo etc paints and I had really fun, painting some fun little miniatures with a small selection of like 20 paints of them. I guess, you have also used them before, but I didn't found a video of yours about them, so I'd ask you for your opinion on them. :)
Yes, I haven't really had much of a chance to use them. They are really nice paints though, the pots as opposed to dropper bottle kept me away, but Sam Lenz stands behind them and uses them all the time.
Hey Vince, any chance you'd review the Abteilung502 range of oil paints from AK Interactive? They're apparently made specifically for models, and they seem a lot cheaper than high quality artist oils.
Not try tha Ak oil,but Mussini Schmincke,OldHolland,Blockx,Leroux,Rublev,Michael Harding give great result,especially Lead White (Block &Rublev N°2)wich dry pretty fast..
It sounds like you like AK's fluorescents about as much as the Warcolours. For me Ak interactive paints are easier to come by, than Warcolours paints (same price per pot, but extra shipping and longer delivery time). Also, I would like to airbrush them. On the other hand, intensity is high on my list. Would you recommend buying these over the Warcolours? Ps I know I asked a similar question on another vid, it's just hard to figure this one out and hope answering these questions is not too much of a bother.
Honestly, it's close, but the Warcolours still edges it out for me, but it's a close replacement. The Warcolours is just a little more bright and intense.
Thanks for the review Vince? been curious about those since they've announced it but couldn't get my hands on these with the Covid situation... Have you tried the Ink/Metallic/Intense part of the line?
Not tried the inks, but I have the complete Metallic and Intense line. Metallics are great, somewhere in between Vallejo Metal colours and Scale 75 Metals & Alchemy for the shine, and a range of colours that is impressive. The best metallic red I have ever seen, better than Vallejo Model Air Signal red. For the Intense, they have an impressive coverage, 2 coats with the yellow over a neutral grey primer and you couldn't see the grey below.
I haven't gotten a chance to try the other special items yet, like the inks or the metallics, but I will give both a chance and probably do a separate review.
Vince, what thinner do you use when airbrushing these? Do you use the original AK thinner they recommend for these, or do you go for the cheaper Vallejo (or even water)? Do you also add Vallejo Flow Improver? If so, how much? I'm just asking because many people said they had issues with tip-dry whenever they airbrushed these AK 3rd gen colors. Thank you kindly.
As you add to your collection, would you recommend SWITCHING from Vallejo to these? Say I needed a new red... Vallejo or AK? That is not replacing Vallejo, but just buying these moving forward?
Great review,love them too,work brush & airbrush with Vallejo model,Citadel,AK 3gen.. Do you try Garage Kits Colors,Badger FreakFlex paints and Kimera colors,nice to see some tests from them !👍❤😊
I wonder if Pro Acryl edges this out for being in bigger bottles (22 instead of 17) since they're similar paints (plus the free mixing ball in pro acryl bottles). I wonder which is more pigmented in the budget pigment range that isn't Scale 75?
hello again. have you tried the yellow label range of "intense" paints, I think there's 11 of them from the 3rd generation set. And i read that the AK paints hold up well to enamel thinners; would enamel thinner eat up unvarnished vallejo model paint? thanks for replying
I like what I see of these paints just wondering if they make 3rd generation in gloss I build mostly cars trucks motor cycles also to prime or not prime
Hi Vince, another great video. I've always had issues with acrylic paints not keeping their vibrancy when they dry. From what I hear these keep their vibrancy when they dry unlike other brands of acrylic paint. Is that your experience with these paints?
Well, wet paints are always going to dull a little, as the light makes them appear more vibrant when they go matte. That being said, these are quite vibrant.
i realized with vallejo after leaving a few paint drops/blobs on a dinner plate that it reflects light . the scale75 and the Ak 2nd gen paints dried flat matt as flat as can be.
@@VinceVenturella what about citadel. the mephiston air i have looks flat like the scale 75 but deathward green theres a hit of a sheen to it. i think i ruined my sandro dust by using vallejo thinner medium in it. the paints fine i just think i gave that one more of a sheen. but in general what are citadel's advertised as?
@@VinceVenturella ya you're right. i had a mephiston red AIR and a mephiston base. i opened the BASE today to compare it to the AIR, and the BASE has a shine to it whereas the AIR is pretty flat. so strange. i wasn't gonna open it but for comparisons sake i did. i got the AIR paint because its thinned and its good for painting. When they say "hey you can't use AIR to paint with a brush"....thats a bunch of baloney, works just fine. just doesn't need any thinning.
@@VinceVenturella i also realized once the vallejo paints are thinned out with water, the shine goes away and they look like scale75 once it been painted. only difference is if it dries as a paint drop/blob on a ceramic tile or plate. i also used vallejo thinner medium with the scale 75 and it took longer to fully cure but it also dried flt matte. i was just playing around with the different brands.
THey are quite different. Scale being gel and more transparent means it's much more suited to gentle layering and glazing techniques. This is much more opaque, so you need to be aware of that when thinning and how to get the effects you want.
Hey Vince! I'm wondering, have you ever had any trouble with these having poor coverage? I'm running into an issue where diluting them to the point of smooth flow in the airbrush they have extremely poor coverage and go on very wet with a real risk of spidering out of control every time. However if I thin them less they just sputter alot and have poor flow with negligible gain in coverage. Could this be helped by less pressure? I'm generally running at roughly ~25ish psi which works perfectly fine for just about anything else. In addition to this, I used some on a model (primed with vallejo primer) and when I got to enamels and cleaning paint peeled off in random spots, though strangely it wasn't even spots that had the most aggressive cleaning and was only a few small areas. Is this a paint issue or a primer issue or something else entirely? I really want to like these paints, they have a good variety and are relatively easy for me to get, just so far I've had alot of trouble and I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong at this point. Thanks!
I haven't had the issue, but that is a little high PSI, I generally run 18-20, it's hard to diagnose without actually watching, but what color are you working with?
@@VinceVenturella I'll try lowering the PSI in my next run and see if that helps. Colours include lighter ones like buff, IDF sand yellow and graphite grey, but also darker US olive drab and russian green. All of them had the same issue and something I noticed in my last bout but forgot to add was they seem to have alot of issue drying on the tip. Overall it just feels like I'm doing something wrong since I hear alot of good things about these paints I'm just not really sure what it is since I do the same thing with them as I do with all my other paint brands. Thanks again!
Hi Vince, what are using for a thinner for airbrushing the AK paints? I have read feedback from others that they can't seem to get the right thinner to make them spray well.
Yeah, I find them very similar to the Pro Acryl line honestly, it can be useful for covering some of the colors that might not be present in that line.
How would you rate their "mattness"? Very matt (e.g. Kimera/Scale75/Pro Acryl), matt (e.g. Vallejo model color) or slightly satin (e.g. Vallejo game color/Citadel)?
@@VinceVenturella Interesting and compared to Kimera/Scale75/Pro Acryl they airbrush beautifully as well. I can't say the same about the other 3. I mean they airbrush, but definitely no as smoothly as AK 3rd gen does.
I have to say I love them. Got them a few months ago, seemingly right after they came out. The ice and pale yellow are amongst the best yellows I've seen (though I also don't have seen many) and the best part is, that they are stocked at one of the few sources around here, where I can get colors other than citadel and vallejo.
Thanks for this video, just what I was looking for, I was curious to have an opinion from someone in the fantasy/Sci-Fi to balance those from the military modelers. Also I wanted to have more informations on how they glaze and how they mix with other range like Vallejo. How would you compare the metallics to the Vallejo Metal Color? I have some VMC and like you I think they are the best water based metallic so far.
Thanks for the confirmation, that was what I supposed. I'm very happy with the VMC, though I'd rather have some more warm gold or brass instead of the many aluminium variants. Sure you can use ink or glaze to enrich the gold.
@@VinceVenturella thank Vince, if ever got a chance to get your hand on Mr Hobby Aquerous acrylic and Ammo Mig paint, i would love to hear your opinion about it to use on miniture hand paint. It way more available here , compare to the brand you often use in your show
How do you thin this range of color in the air brush? I’m having spotty issue coming out of the airbrush that other paint brand does not give me thanks
I assumed these were a replacement for their scale modeling airbrush acrylics (“3rd gen”) but I guess they’re a different line altogether. So they have their “acrylics” (model air equiv) and “acrylics 3rd gen” (model color equiv). Confusing. Anyone who wants to try them should go direct to their EU store. Their USA retailer markup is insane and is probably why they have a reputation for being overpriced. Every Black Friday they give 25% off storewide. These guys can be had for $2 per bottle on sale, or about 2.70 normal price, no tax and free shipping on a large enough order. I placed an irresponsibly large order last year abs will probably again this year to try these out.
The free shipping kicks in for Americans at 180 euro (currently about $199 USD). Not bad if someone wants to get a good half of their range, but have you ever bought from them without the free shipping, and if so, how much was it? I'm not seeing any information on shipping costs in general like I can find at some other store fronts.
Good tips, mine were from michigan toy soldier and they were about $4 US retail, but they had a 20% off sale, so they were closer to $3 which I thought was fair.
Zak Hoskins depends on weight honestly. I’ve bought a couple models that were only available from a European site and the shipping just for those two was close to 8 dollars. So don’t expect it to be cheap especially now with Covid affecting trade. Only imported stuff allowed in the U.S. at the moment( last I checked anyways) is by sea.
Just thinning with water, if you watch this video, you will see my techniques - ruclips.net/video/TbCtUYFwFWQ/видео.html This one is on glazing in general - ruclips.net/video/N88NtHNmz1Q/видео.html
@@VinceVenturella Legend, thank you so much. I had bad experience thinning with water before but the AK paints look like they will take water nicely. Love your videos!
I've been using them for the last month and a half. I like them, but i don't like their 'washes'. I used their flesh wash, and it was extremely glossy. I know that you kind of what that, as it works with a reduced surface tension feature in mind, but meh. I think its just me.
I didn't try any of the washes, so I can't speak to that, but I will have to give them a look and see the results. Good to know that might be a challenge.
Makes sense. When GSW took down all the reviews of Vallejos Colourshift paints, they claimed they had a (tm) on the word "colourshift," however you choose to spell it. Any Joe with a Google machine could find a million other brands using that term for products with an iridescent finish, but there you go. Oh, and btw I challenged GSW about the gargantuan size of their metallic flakes. You can guess their response.
Still think we need a stripping video. Larry/Bob the Bullbelly got to be heavy with all them coats of acrylic. As always.....informative. oh, no imaginary people around this video
@@VinceVenturella fair enough, I do appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions 😂. Might just get the brass colour then (can't mix it myself), I imagine they are at least better than gw metalics. Thanks!
I didn't see any issue, but I haven't had them for more than a month and I have a paint shaker, lab mixer I always hit my paints with before I get out of the bottle, so I didn't see any issue.
@@VinceVenturella Exactly. It suddenly struck me as a potentially fun exercise. I tend to avoid real fluro in my own work because those colours fade extremely rapidly and I live in a high-UV light country.
In general, you'll still want to thin them, unless you're doing some heavy wet blending or painting in that style where you're working with a moist brush only.
hey i know vallejo has huge consistency issues with their colors. for example olive green today will be a different hue in another bottle from another batch 6 months down the road. Ive personally experienced this as have other from whaat i read on the internet like this example here reddit.com/r/minipainting/comments/9rujdi/can_i_have_some_goddamn_consistency_vallejo/ How are the AK Interactive 3rd gen paints?
@@VinceVenturella this isn't my paint but i have a similar issue as this gentleman......... reddit.com/r/minipainting/comments/9rujdi/can_i_have_some_goddamn_consistency_vallejo/
Rumour is that before all the paint Vince has put on him, Larry the Ogre was actually an Elf 😁
Eventually we will get him up to Tyrant or even Gargant size. ;)
@@VinceVenturella yep Larry of Rhodes. Hope that's not wasted
I heard Halfling.
@@ryannorman7703 Epic scale halfling?
Great review. I've switched to using almost just these guys. As a tank and armor modeler, I love that I can put these down and then not have to worry about clear-coating before I use enamel weathering products over them. They don't react with harsh weathering products at all!
Yeah, the durability is a real strength. Something you don't always see.
I guess it is kinda off topic but do anyone know of a good site to stream new tv shows online?
@Kingsley Milan Flixportal
@Shiloh Kristian Thanks, I went there and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :D I appreciate it !!
@Kingsley Milan no problem xD
1:55 I believe the indentation is ment to better seal the dropper, so that the paint will have a longer shelf life. Vallejo bottles don't have them, but some of the empty ones you buy for decanting and personal mixes do.
Makes sense.
Thank you for this Vince. This has been a game changer for me. I've been a big fan of these paints since they appeared, but I've consistently struggled to get them to behave through my airbrush.
I tried a 1:1 ratio up to a 3:1 ratio, and they always spattered, even at a high pressure. Obviously I wasn't thinning them enough. I've now found my sweetspot at 6:1 and they're perfect.
I was about to give up using them through my airbrush entirely prior to seeing this vid. I've always been a big AK fan, and these are great to brush on, but I was petty disappointed with the results I was getting through my airbrush. Now that I can confidently apply them and get consistent results I'd reccomend them to anyone. They're like Tamiya paints but without all the esoteric guesswork that comes with them.
Thanks again Vince. I'd been banging my head against a wall for a few weeks with these.
No issue, happy to help. Yes, what I have found with most thick model style paints is that you should thin them in something like a 6:1 to 9:1 ratio depending on the paint in question.
So, I tried 6:1 with the White (plus their thinner) and it was too thin. Went down to 3:1 but still got occasional splattering. Guess I'll try 4:1? I really want to like these ...
Oh man, thats where I'm going wrong too!
Larry the Ogre is the most loved testing model of Vince Venturella. But how can not not love this full figured curvy model?
Also thank Vince for the review.
He's too wonderful not to love. :) Glad you enjoyed the review.
Good review, Vince. I am also impressed with AK products. Unfortunately i still have lots of Vallejo paints to go (17ml bottles, i just started) so when i am buying replacements and new ones, i would go for AK 😊
i bought into these paints in Feb and i LOVE THEM. go on without primer as advertised. great colors. nice and smooth coverage. would get the whole collections if I could find it still. Black priemer is matte and goes on great with a brush or airbrush
Yeah, I've really been enjoying them, definitely a solid paint line.
Been waiting for this! I have been switching over to these slowly and they are SO GOOD
They are! I've really been enjoying them.
Thanks, Vince. I really appreciate your reviewing style.
My pleasure! Happy to help as always. :)
What is with Spain that there are so many of these paint companies? Vallejo, Scale75, AK Interactive and Greenstuff World at least come from Spain.
Wondered about this myself!
(I did a quick google search on why a few weeks ago, but no definite answer.)
My guess would be a good mix of production infrastructure and culture. Spain is quite well represented in art history, Picasso, Dali and so on. So it's not impossible that some of this has transferred into mini-painting.
Spaint is HUGE in both the mini painting annd model painting scene so I guess the market calls for it.
Spain has a disproportionate amount of miniature sculptors, miniature companies, and competitive miniature painters.
Spain is trying to courner the market on miniature paints!
It's true. When I lived in Spain, Warhammer was very mainstream. Everyone was painting and collecting. Now those enthusiasts are making their own businesses.
I bought the NMM gold set a few weeks back and just got round to using it last night. Although the NMM I attempted was terrible, I was amazed by the quality of the paints. The pigment richness was amazing. Even nicely watered down it went on and covered well even in lighter colours. Was really nice to use and went on very easily. Love the bottle design as well. I was suitable impressed, I might even prefer them to Vallejo!
Yep, they are really great paints. :)
I got three of the yellows in an asset drop box last month and I was very surprised at how smoothly they applied compared to the vallejo yellows I have. Good to know this is mostly consistent in the range
Yep, that's been my epxerience with all the colors I've tried.
I also bought a few of these to test out and fool around with a bit. I mean, they're just good paints. Cover good, easy to work with, nice and matte. AK really did a good job on this line.
Totally agree, I quite like them and I'll probably get a few more.
Thanks so much for doing this review. I've been watching a number of reviews on this range, but was waiting to hear what you had to say as I value the amount of hours you put in with them. Sounds like these would be a great replacement for my Vallejo paints as I use them up :-)
Glad it was helpful! And yes, I ordered some more after this review and I guess that is really the truest review I can give.
Thanks Vince. Hopefully you gonna finish that ogre one day ;)
One day he'll be finished, then...I'll just keep going anyway. ;)
Wonder if these paints would still be a recommend from Vince?
Gonna go to my hobby store the day after tomorrow and pick some up, they’re a bit cheaper than the other brands there, including Vallejo.
Yep, they are great. :)
Thank you for the very thorough review Vince! I'll definitely give these a try.
My pleasure! Glad I could help.
I tested all 5 fluorescent paints. The yellow is a great color, a bit on the greenish side (not as warm as most yellows), great for mixing with other colors to make them pop and somehow has very decent coverage, which really surprised me. The orange is just an insane color, would never use on its own, not even when painting actual neon lights, so a little too bright, but nothing a little mixing doesn't fix (I did and that worked fine), not the greatest coverage, would have thought it would cover better than yellow, but apparently not. The green is very poppy as well, it looks a little like livery green from Vallejo game color, but brighter, interesting color for making a green feel unnatural (poison, warp stone, glowing eyes of an unnatural creature). The magenta comes closer to an actual color and could almost be used on its own, very interesting hue, definitely something Vince would like, would be great for highlighting slaaneshy pink stuff. And then there is the blue, which is totally not a fluorescent paint at all (which kinda makes sense, but hoped for a little more nonetheless), it looks like a lighter version of Vallejo blue ink, so there doesn't seem to be any white in it (so maybe good for glazing over a zenithal highlight?) and in that way a true blue color, pretty disappointing, so please be warned about that one. If anyone has any questions about these 5 paints, let me know.
EDIT: also like I mentioned in my previous comment, they do airbrush much better than I thought, which is handy if you are highlighting a larger model with these paints.
Awesome feedback, thank you, this is wonderful as I hadn't tried all of them. :)
what would you mix the orange with should you want to say do necron orange lights?
@@hoshi314 my current favorite fluorescents are Golden High Flow and Amsterdam Reflex inks, but if you already have fluorescents, than maybe don't invest in new ones. If you wanna tone down the fluorescent look, I would mix them with a orange ink
@@Wijkert i only have mr hobby acrysion but that one is quite horrible to use brush with (normally mr hobby is for like gundams and stuff) so i am looking to change brands for fluo with brush tbh
recently ordered 2 bottles of ultra matte direct from Ak and they sent me a pot of 3rd gen Grimy Grey in free with the varnishes. It was a really good paint, really smooth flow, kept wet well, didnt clog up and get thick on me. Coverage was excellent, the colour Grimy Grey is somewhere between say Ushabti Bone and White, a very light bone colour. It was a lot more smooth and fluid with way better coverage than any paint from vallejo or citadel Ive tried in that sort of colour. Only tried that 1 bottle but next time I need some paints Im gonna be grabbing these rather than reaching for the vallejo as I usually would.
Sounds like it matches my own experiences exactly.
Reporting back. I bought all 5 fluorescent paints and was able to airbrush the yellow one without issue. Cleaning the airbrush was also easy enough. I would say that it's harder to clean the airbrush after priming and easier with regular colors. Also one thing that can help is that most of the time you mix the fluorescents with regular paint/ink to still get the pop, but at the same time lessen the neon like property of the fluorescents (kind of getting the best of both worlds).
Awesome! Good to know and I will give that a try. :)
I hear a lot of great things from a Vallejo Pale Sand, however the store I went to today never had it. They did have a AK Interactive 3rd gen paint with the same name lol. So I picked it up. Iv never used AK before ! Not sure if they are the same color.
Basically the same color, I actually like the AK better. :)
Always enjoy the return of the bellow fellow.
He couldn't stay away forever. :)
Coming back to this vid, I just wanted to ask about your opinion on the yellow colours in this range? I know they are always a difficult paint, but interested if the formulation is better than most here. Many thanks!
I like the yellows I've tried, they all impressed me, but I haven't tried everything in the range together.
thanks, I'm trying out an imperial fist scheme with AK paints, so i'll go ahead and get some yellows from them @@VinceVenturella
Good to know, I was thinking abut picking these up but I have the afore mentioned equivalents.
Yeah, nothing necessary, though if you are looking for specific colors for expansion, they can be a great option.
larry is one colourful dude :). thanks for the review.
There is always more paint to put on Larry. ;)
My experience with these paints is that they cover very well so they feel like citadel base paints but in a dropper bottle. They do better with thinning than citadel though imo.
I really do like them quite a bit.
The top is very well thought out. Better grip when that top on tight. Happy to see anything that saves my pack teeth more cash for models lol
Yes, I have found that to be a nice feature.
Thanks Vince! How do their metallics compare to the top-of-the-line Vallejo Metal Colors?
Same question, was wondering if you tried any of the metallics? Thanks for the review.
I didn't get a chance to try out the metallics. From what I have seen, they aren't on par with the Vallejo Metal Color, but I will grab more and give it a real test.
@@VinceVenturella Thanks!
QUESTION : do you have a video on the 3rd gen varnishes?
Or how about this. What semi-gloss would you recommend?
I haven't done anything on their varnishes yet, in general, I just use Vallejo Satin as the semi-gloss I need. But mostly, that is just a few drops mixed in with Ultra-Matte varnish to increase protection.
Excellent video, Vince, as usual. May you please share what settings did you use when airbrushing? I get continuous clogging. What thinner? What nozzle diameter? What pressure? Thank you very much and keep up the good work!
The real key is actually in the thinning. I use a mix of 6:1 thinner to paint (and my thinner is 80/20 Thinner/Flow Improver). The PSI is generally 18 and it's a .3 needle, but again, the thinning I mentioned is the real key, never have a clog.
@@VinceVenturella Thank you very much. What brand of thinner and flow improver do you use? Vallejo's?
@@DidacBN Yep, vallejo for both.
@@VinceVenturella Thank you!
Just ordered red, blue, yellow, off-white, and gold to try. I want to see if I have chalky issues with the white, and I haven't found any golds that I really like
I will say I am still really liking the colors, when it comes to white, my go-to is still Kimera white, it's really wonderful.
@@VinceVenturella I will check out that Kimera White. I have been using Windsor Newton Titanium White. THANK YOU
If you absolutely had to rank these against traditional mini paints like Scale75f&g and Pro Acryl how would they stack up? These are much easier to get than either of those and I love all the ones I've tried - except their clears (red and smoke at least) are super glossy which I don't like. I think they don't have a real equivalent to the Pro Acryl transparents, so that's something. My impression is that overall pro acry/ak 3rd is the way to go for typical mini paints, warcolour/scalecolor for gels, and VMC for metals?
They are very similar to Pro Acryl, I would basically place the two of those in the same category and quality. Either would serve well for a variety of uses.
Bold move literally making a copy of Deck Tan. One of my absolute favourite paint from VMC
Well, to be fair, most of their line has exact copies of the VMC range names. :)
Hi Vince, now that you had time to experiment more with this line I would like to know what your favorite paints are. I am especially interested in purple tones (your specialty), because that is what my paint collection is missing the most.
I haven't hit many i don't like, but I enjoy the Violet Red and Pastel Violet, both have had several uses for me.
I was very tempted but i recently got 3 full ranges, so i think I'll hold off for now.
That being said, I am happy with the 3 mediums I tried from this range.
Yeah, sometimes we have the issue of assuming that more products makes us better painters, sometimes it’s more mature to master the tools we have then get more of them.
Yes, it's definitely not necessary, they are great if you are looking for paints, but they aren't necessarily needed.
I tested them now too and I started to migrate to them, currently I use Vallejo, Army Painter and Citadel. In the future I likely will go with AK 3rd Gen and Citadel only (Citadel for their Contrast Paints only). I think AK is best in class today. Superior for Airbrush AND brush painting. Pigmentation is better, flow is better and they maintain it over a longer period. Also less shaking needed but I use a Four E'S shaker anyway :) oh and in the 3Gen the German Dunkelgelb variations were corrected to the real colors ...
Yeah, I've really enjoyed them for sure.
Have you ever thought of doing a product review for Liquitex Acrylic Gouache? Marco from NJM used these for a sketch-style tutorial on a Fyreslayer using the CMY system. I'd be interested to know what you think of these paints. As always, thanks for a great video!
Yeah, I have a lot of paints I would like to eventually get to, Marco uses them to great effect, they seem worth a try for sure.
Burnt Red is my fav. love it for red demon skin! 3rd gen Brass is real good too
I'll have to try the burnt red, I always love a good deep red.
Great to see test Ogre back again, i was beginning to worry he'd been thrown in a maw pot
Never, Larry will always survive.
Hey Vince, did you get the chance to test the metalic ones?
anyway thanks for the review
I did not pick up any of the metallic line yet, I will eventually give them a try as well.
@@VinceVenturellaoh ok thanks you for the information i'm still looking for the perfect gold paint for fantasy miniatures
Same for me with Gold. I use and like Vallejo colors, Army Painter washes, and GW effects paints. I haven't found one single gold range I like with any of them.
Hi Vince. What is your opinion on the blue range ? I've tested 5-6 of them (imperial blue, ultramarine blue and deep blue among them) and the coverage is very bad over a black primer with a brush. The consistency of the blue paints seems like a gel. Perhaps I got a bad batch. The rest of them however, reds, greens, and some pale blues are really good. Thank you for doing this review.
I will admit I've only tried a few of the blues (I love my Scale 75 blues too much), but I will say I wouldn't really have run that test anyway, I don't ever paint over black primer, I always zenithal, so something with transparency is actually valuable to me.
Vince, thanks for the review; I just ordered the Night Creatures Flesh set to paint the face on my Abaddon model.
Question: if you were forced to choose one line of paints to take into a bunker that you might never leave, which brand would you choose?
Which brand would you say has the most consistently high quality of Acrylic paints?
Edit* I bought the Pro-Acryl line, thinking it would be the only paint I need but I've found glazing to be horrible with it. I've tried glaze medium and such but no matter what I use, it goes all gritty and nasty as soon I thin the paint beyond a roughly 1:1 mix of paint and thinning medium, whether its water or dedicated mediums. I'm not sure why it's doing this but I'm not glazing with it any more because of this issue.
Interesting, I haven't had much issue glazing with them, they have a new glaze and wash medium that is formulated for just that and it's good.
That being said, one line of paints but I have the whole line? Maybe AK 3rd Gen honestly. They are pretty consistent quality, but honestly, there are so many strengths to so many ranges, I always use a great mix.
Thank you Vince, I live in Spain and in here this colors are dirty cheap, also free shipping, but I was concerned about the quality: now I have no doubt!
You don’t even need to be in Spain to get them dirt cheap! The free shipping threshold is much higher to the usa though.
Glad I could help. :)
Was literally just looking at these and ammo by mig. Apparently these guys are very good for effects and weathering paint. Mig used to own a part of the company as I understand t but had a falling out and made his own. Has a line of washable acrylics that have some interesting efdects.
Either way thanks for this. I'm already getting their matte varnish
Thank you, always happy to help. :)
I've never heard anything good about the mig paints, plenty of problems though.
AK already make some of the best products available for scale modelling, so they get my vote.
Hi Vince, I was wondering if you could say how closely AK colors mirror their VMC counter parts. I'm a long time user of VMC but have gotten a taste for more matte paints recently and was curious if say dark sea blue from VMC and dark sea blue from AK are close enough to say you can just replace one wit hthe other? Pro Acryl has become my new love and was thinking of replacing my VMC as they run out with AK to have a more consistent finish to my paints. Thank you for your time
Pretty closely, they are a little more vibrant in some cases, but close enough.
@@VinceVenturella I appreciate the reply. vibrancy is a bonus for me.
I've heavily bought into Warcolours and painting mostly with feathering, glazing, undershading and love them (all thanks to you and your reviews and videos!). I need a heavy opacity paint to pair with them - would you go with AK 3rd gen or ProAcryl?
Honestly, either. Whatever you can get easier. They are very similar paint lines and I couldn't choose between them. Both would serve you very well for the function.
Dear Vince, I'm currently trying "all" the paint ranges a bit, I never tryed before and I really enjoyed P3 Paints. They feel and behave somewhat different from my Citadel, Scale, Vallejo etc paints and I had really fun, painting some fun little miniatures with a small selection of like 20 paints of them. I guess, you have also used them before, but I didn't found a video of yours about them, so I'd ask you for your opinion on them. :)
Yes, I haven't really had much of a chance to use them. They are really nice paints though, the pots as opposed to dropper bottle kept me away, but Sam Lenz stands behind them and uses them all the time.
Hey Vince, any chance you'd review the Abteilung502 range of oil paints from AK Interactive? They're apparently made specifically for models, and they seem a lot cheaper than high quality artist oils.
I am going to get around to reviewing them, I need to find a good source, I was going to pick them up at Adepticon but... you know.
Not try tha Ak oil,but Mussini Schmincke,OldHolland,Blockx,Leroux,Rublev,Michael Harding give great result,especially Lead White (Block &Rublev N°2)wich dry pretty fast..
Best oils I've ever tried. Switched to Abteilung and purchased the whole range. Perfect to work with or without enamel thinner.
Great review. Would it be fair to say that if one does not have a particular color and options are between Vallejo and AK: AK is the way to go?
Honestly, they are both about the same. :)
@@VinceVenturella what I was hoping to hear, thanks!
It sounds like you like AK's fluorescents about as much as the Warcolours. For me Ak interactive paints are easier to come by, than Warcolours paints (same price per pot, but extra shipping and longer delivery time). Also, I would like to airbrush them. On the other hand, intensity is high on my list. Would you recommend buying these over the Warcolours?
Ps I know I asked a similar question on another vid, it's just hard to figure this one out and hope answering these questions is not too much of a bother.
Honestly, it's close, but the Warcolours still edges it out for me, but it's a close replacement. The Warcolours is just a little more bright and intense.
Thanks for the review Vince? been curious about those since they've announced it but couldn't get my hands on these with the Covid situation...
Have you tried the Ink/Metallic/Intense part of the line?
Not tried the inks, but I have the complete Metallic and Intense line. Metallics are great, somewhere in between Vallejo Metal colours and Scale 75 Metals & Alchemy for the shine, and a range of colours that is impressive. The best metallic red I have ever seen, better than Vallejo Model Air Signal red. For the Intense, they have an impressive coverage, 2 coats with the yellow over a neutral grey primer and you couldn't see the grey below.
I haven't gotten a chance to try the other special items yet, like the inks or the metallics, but I will give both a chance and probably do a separate review.
@@VinceVenturella Please do!
Vince, what thinner do you use when airbrushing these? Do you use the original AK thinner they recommend for these, or do you go for the cheaper Vallejo (or even water)? Do you also add Vallejo Flow Improver? If so, how much? I'm just asking because many people said they had issues with tip-dry whenever they airbrushed these AK 3rd gen colors. Thank you kindly.
My standard ratio of the 80% vallejo thinner/20% vallejo flow improver.
@@VinceVenturella Thank you kindly, Vince.
As you add to your collection, would you recommend SWITCHING from Vallejo to these? Say I needed a new red... Vallejo or AK? That is not replacing Vallejo, but just buying these moving forward?
I like them a great deal, I would generally add more of these over Vallejo, but I would put them on par with Pro Acryl.
Vince Venturella What about thinner mediums? Vallejo, AK, something else?
@@ryannorman7703 I actually generally use warcolours mediums, but I have never seen any real difference in the mediums, they all work.
Great review,love them too,work brush & airbrush with Vallejo model,Citadel,AK 3gen..
Do you try Garage Kits Colors,Badger FreakFlex paints and Kimera colors,nice to see some tests from them !👍❤😊
I have reviewed Kimera colors, you can find that in the same playlist as this one. Happily, I really like them. Haven't used the others really.
I wonder if Pro Acryl edges this out for being in bigger bottles (22 instead of 17) since they're similar paints (plus the free mixing ball in pro acryl bottles). I wonder which is more pigmented in the budget pigment range that isn't Scale 75?
Honestly I love both.
hello again. have you tried the yellow label range of "intense" paints, I think there's 11 of them from the 3rd generation set. And i read that the AK paints hold up well to enamel thinners; would enamel thinner eat up unvarnished vallejo model paint? thanks for replying
I haven't tried them yet, I really want to give that range a try as well.
I like what I see of these paints just wondering if they make 3rd generation in gloss I build mostly cars trucks motor cycles also to prime or not prime
Most of these are forcibly matte, so you'd have to mix in gloss varnish or something similar.
Hi Vince, another great video. I've always had issues with acrylic paints not keeping their vibrancy when they dry. From what I hear these keep their vibrancy when they dry unlike other brands of acrylic paint. Is that your experience with these paints?
Well, wet paints are always going to dull a little, as the light makes them appear more vibrant when they go matte. That being said, these are quite vibrant.
Is there a possibility that you could do a review of foundry paints and their system?
I'll take a look into it.
i realized with vallejo after leaving a few paint drops/blobs on a dinner plate that it reflects light . the scale75 and the Ak 2nd gen paints dried flat matt as flat as can be.
Yep, the Vallejo is a little more satin than these for sure.
@@VinceVenturella what about citadel. the mephiston air i have looks flat like the scale 75 but deathward green theres a hit of a sheen to it. i think i ruined my sandro dust by using vallejo thinner medium in it. the paints fine i just think i gave that one more of a sheen. but in general what are citadel's advertised as?
@@MF-kv8cn That will be the case. With most paints, because of the mixture and the pigment, there will be vastly different finishes sadly. :)
@@VinceVenturella ya you're right. i had a mephiston red AIR and a mephiston base. i opened the BASE today to compare it to the AIR, and the BASE has a shine to it whereas the AIR is pretty flat. so strange. i wasn't gonna open it but for comparisons sake i did. i got the AIR paint because its thinned and its good for painting. When they say "hey you can't use AIR to paint with a brush"....thats a bunch of baloney, works just fine. just doesn't need any thinning.
@@VinceVenturella i also realized once the vallejo paints are thinned out with water, the shine goes away and they look like scale75 once it been painted. only difference is if it dries as a paint drop/blob on a ceramic tile or plate. i also used vallejo thinner medium with the scale 75 and it took longer to fully cure but it also dried flt matte. i was just playing around with the different brands.
Always great having a video starring Larry!
How would you compare these colors to Scale 75?
THey are quite different. Scale being gel and more transparent means it's much more suited to gentle layering and glazing techniques. This is much more opaque, so you need to be aware of that when thinning and how to get the effects you want.
Hey Vince!
I'm wondering, have you ever had any trouble with these having poor coverage? I'm running into an issue where diluting them to the point of smooth flow in the airbrush they have extremely poor coverage and go on very wet with a real risk of spidering out of control every time. However if I thin them less they just sputter alot and have poor flow with negligible gain in coverage.
Could this be helped by less pressure? I'm generally running at roughly ~25ish psi which works perfectly fine for just about anything else.
In addition to this, I used some on a model (primed with vallejo primer) and when I got to enamels and cleaning paint peeled off in random spots, though strangely it wasn't even spots that had the most aggressive cleaning and was only a few small areas. Is this a paint issue or a primer issue or something else entirely?
I really want to like these paints, they have a good variety and are relatively easy for me to get, just so far I've had alot of trouble and I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong at this point.
Thanks!
I haven't had the issue, but that is a little high PSI, I generally run 18-20, it's hard to diagnose without actually watching, but what color are you working with?
@@VinceVenturella I'll try lowering the PSI in my next run and see if that helps.
Colours include lighter ones like buff, IDF sand yellow and graphite grey, but also darker US olive drab and russian green. All of them had the same issue and something I noticed in my last bout but forgot to add was they seem to have alot of issue drying on the tip.
Overall it just feels like I'm doing something wrong since I hear alot of good things about these paints I'm just not really sure what it is since I do the same thing with them as I do with all my other paint brands.
Thanks again!
2:35 you mentioned high pigmentation. Would you say similar or higher than Vallejo model color?
Seems higher
Hi Vince, what are using for a thinner for airbrushing the AK paints? I have read feedback from others that they can't seem to get the right thinner to make them spray well.
I use my standard mix, 80/20 Vallejo Thinner/Vallejo Flow Improver. No issues with going through the airbrush.
Would you rather recommend AK or Pro Acryl?
Yes. I use both regularly and interchangably, I love both of them. :)
Nice, fair..I like my pro acryl..but will try some
Yeah, I find them very similar to the Pro Acryl line honestly, it can be useful for covering some of the colors that might not be present in that line.
How would you rate their "mattness"? Very matt (e.g. Kimera/Scale75/Pro Acryl), matt (e.g. Vallejo model color) or slightly satin (e.g. Vallejo game color/Citadel)?
Very Matt (on average, obviously there can be some very slight variation amongst colors)
@@VinceVenturella Interesting and compared to Kimera/Scale75/Pro Acryl they airbrush beautifully as well. I can't say the same about the other 3. I mean they airbrush, but definitely no as smoothly as AK 3rd gen does.
Thanks, Vince you just saved me money.
Happy to help. :)
Would you still choose vallejo? Or Ak all the way since their colors are so similar
Honestly, I use both now pretty interchangably.
I have to say I love them. Got them a few months ago, seemingly right after they came out. The ice and pale yellow are amongst the best yellows I've seen (though I also don't have seen many) and the best part is, that they are stocked at one of the few sources around here, where I can get colors other than citadel and vallejo.
Yeah, I totally agree on the yellows. The Ice Yellow is really creamy and nice, exactly what I was looking for.
How do these compare to monument pro acrylic? Which do you prefer?
THey are pretty comparable honestly, I am using both of them interchangably (and together) on most projects.
What about the metalics? I've seen some pictures and it really looks chunky with almost visible pigment flakes.
I don't like the metallics honestly.
Thanks for this video, just what I was looking for, I was curious to have an opinion from someone in the fantasy/Sci-Fi to balance those from the military modelers. Also I wanted to have more informations on how they glaze and how they mix with other range like Vallejo.
How would you compare the metallics to the Vallejo Metal Color? I have some VMC and like you I think they are the best water based metallic so far.
No comparison, I like the matte paints of AK 3rd gen, but their metallics don't hold a candle to Vallejo Metal Color
Thanks for the confirmation, that was what I supposed. I'm very happy with the VMC, though I'd rather have some more warm gold or brass instead of the many aluminium variants. Sure you can use ink or glaze to enrich the gold.
what did you think about mix it with other water base acrylic or acrylic ink Vince?
They mix just fine, no issue.
@@VinceVenturella thank Vince, if ever got a chance to get your hand on Mr Hobby Aquerous acrylic and Ammo Mig paint, i would love to hear your opinion about it to use on miniture hand paint. It way more available here , compare to the brand you often use in your show
How do you thin this range of color in the air brush? I’m having spotty issue coming out of the airbrush that other paint brand does not give me thanks
I thin it about 5 or 6 drops of thinner to 1 drop of paint with my standard mix of 80/20 thinner/flow improver.
@@VinceVenturella thanks let me give that a try
Yay! Larry's back!
He can't stay away for too long. :)
I assumed these were a replacement for their scale modeling airbrush acrylics (“3rd gen”) but I guess they’re a different line altogether. So they have their “acrylics” (model air equiv) and “acrylics 3rd gen” (model color equiv). Confusing.
Anyone who wants to try them should go direct to their EU store. Their USA retailer markup is insane and is probably why they have a reputation for being overpriced. Every Black Friday they give 25% off storewide. These guys can be had for $2 per bottle on sale, or about 2.70 normal price, no tax and free shipping on a large enough order.
I placed an irresponsibly large order last year abs will probably again this year to try these out.
The free shipping kicks in for Americans at 180 euro (currently about $199 USD). Not bad if someone wants to get a good half of their range, but have you ever bought from them without the free shipping, and if so, how much was it? I'm not seeing any information on shipping costs in general like I can find at some other store fronts.
Good tips, mine were from michigan toy soldier and they were about $4 US retail, but they had a 20% off sale, so they were closer to $3 which I thought was fair.
Zak Hoskins depends on weight honestly. I’ve bought a couple models that were only available from a European site and the shipping just for those two was close to 8 dollars. So don’t expect it to be cheap especially now with Covid affecting trade. Only imported stuff allowed in the U.S. at the moment( last I checked anyways) is by sea.
Hey Vince. How exactly did you get them to a glaze? I have been trying many things and they always come out as thick goo
Just thinning with water, if you watch this video, you will see my techniques - ruclips.net/video/TbCtUYFwFWQ/видео.html
This one is on glazing in general - ruclips.net/video/N88NtHNmz1Q/видео.html
@@VinceVenturella Legend, thank you so much. I had bad experience thinning with water before but the AK paints look like they will take water nicely. Love your videos!
I've been using them for the last month and a half. I like them, but i don't like their 'washes'. I used their flesh wash, and it was extremely glossy. I know that you kind of what that, as it works with a reduced surface tension feature in mind, but meh. I think its just me.
I didn't try any of the washes, so I can't speak to that, but I will have to give them a look and see the results. Good to know that might be a challenge.
Thanks Vince!
Happy to help as always. :)
What are you thinning the AK paint with? Just flow improver?
Water or flow improver.
@@VinceVenturelladoes it matter what brand of flow improver I use?
Do these have the same paint separation problem as Vallejo?
Not really seen any problems with the ones I have.
Do you think these are better than proacryl overall?
I think they are pretty equal honestly. I use both pretty interchangably.
I wonder if Vallejo have hit back at their copying of paint names?
Mikey R don’t think you can copyright generic paint colour names, that’s why Citadel has Abaddon Black and every other company just calls it Black
Yes, I believe they are basically just color names for the most part, so there isn't really much to be done.
Makes sense. When GSW took down all the reviews of Vallejos Colourshift paints, they claimed they had a (tm) on the word "colourshift," however you choose to spell it. Any Joe with a Google machine could find a million other brands using that term for products with an iridescent finish, but there you go.
Oh, and btw I challenged GSW about the gargantuan size of their metallic flakes. You can guess their response.
They are vastly superior to vallejo, more robust, better medium, better model, thins better and honestly a joy to work with.
Do you have any idea about the metallics from the range?
Didn't really like them, but then, nothing compares to Vallejo Metal Color.
@@VinceVenturella thanks Vince
Still think we need a stripping video. Larry/Bob the Bullbelly got to be heavy with all them coats of acrylic. As always.....informative. oh, no imaginary people around this video
Yeah, we should do some stippling with Larry, it's only appropriate.
@@VinceVenturella yep,just look at him. He's hollering for it. Keep up the work
What are your thoughts on their metallic range?
They’re okay. I wish I had more thoughts, but they get an okay at best, 5.5 out of 10.
@@VinceVenturella fair enough, I do appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions 😂. Might just get the brass colour then (can't mix it myself), I imagine they are at least better than gw metalics. Thanks!
Useful as always!
Glad it was helpful!
How about metallics? Stick to VMC?
I didn't get a chance to try the metallics, but I don't believe they would be on par with Vallejo Metal Color.
Lol i was just thinking about buying these, i hope they're good.
I've really enjoyed them, they are certainly rewarding to use for sure.
how about the claim that they do about no need of agitator ball?
I didn't see any issue, but I haven't had them for more than a month and I have a paint shaker, lab mixer I always hit my paints with before I get out of the bottle, so I didn't see any issue.
Here’s a painting style challenge: painting non-fluorescent fluorescents. For the sake of lightfastness.
You mean painting specifically extreme bright versions of the color without fluorescent paints.
@@VinceVenturella Exactly. It suddenly struck me as a potentially fun exercise. I tend to avoid real fluro in my own work because those colours fade extremely rapidly and I live in a high-UV light country.
The answer is always 42.
Somehow, this is always true.
Do you find the colors need water added them or are they good out of the bottle?
In general, you'll still want to thin them, unless you're doing some heavy wet blending or painting in that style where you're working with a moist brush only.
hey i know vallejo has huge consistency issues with their colors. for example olive green today will be a different hue in another bottle from another batch 6 months down the road. Ive personally experienced this as have other from whaat i read on the internet like this example here reddit.com/r/minipainting/comments/9rujdi/can_i_have_some_goddamn_consistency_vallejo/
How are the AK Interactive 3rd gen paints?
Well, I haven't done any research, but I haven't noticed any inconsistency.
@@VinceVenturella this isn't my paint but i have a similar issue as this gentleman......... reddit.com/r/minipainting/comments/9rujdi/can_i_have_some_goddamn_consistency_vallejo/