John1 Posted October 21 Posted October 21 Anyone have any experience working with this stuff? I'm struggling a bit. First off - I'm using AK's "New Generation" Acrylic Thinner (AK11500). My first test run using it showed me that this paint needs to be heavily thinned. I'm using a 2:1 ratio of thinner to paint. I'm used to Modelmaster's stuff where at best it was 1:1. Even when heavily thinned, I'm getting some spattering. I tried reducing pressure, increasing pressure, shooting further away, closer in, etc. Higher pressure, applied at a high volume from further away seems to yield the best results but I still see a bit of spattering. There is no way that I'll be able to do close in, detail work with this stuff. Any tips would be much appreciated!
Dave Williams Posted October 21 Posted October 21 I’ve found that it sprays fine for general area coverage, but I also had a lot of problems with close in work and being able to thin it correctly for freehand mottling and camo painting. Even using their flow improver (retarder), it was splattering a little more than I wanted, and would soon get clogged and stop spraying. I’ve swapped to ATOM paints by Ammo of Mig for spraying freehand or close in. It’s a shame as AK 3G has a lot more colors and better color accuracy IMHO. Also, I’ve found that periodically you need to disassemble your airbrush periodically with the AK paints. No matter how much thinner/ cleaner I run through after spraying, there is buildup inside the nozzle over time, so pull the needle and clean out the nozzle. scvrobeson and John1 2
John1 Posted October 22 Author Posted October 22 (edited) What ratio of paint to thinner are you using Dave? I'd just toss the crap out and go with another brand but I can't find anyone else (Amazon, Sprue Brothers and my local shop) who offers ADC Grey (FS16473). It's almost as if the thinner is compatible with the paint.... Edited October 22 by John1
Dave Williams Posted October 22 Posted October 22 I’m not really sure. Probably about 1:1 or slightly more. I thin until it seems right, and don’t really keep track. I’ve been airbrushing long enough to get a feel for what the consistency should be. I usually throw in a couple of drops of their flow improver, which is also a bit of a thinner. I have my compressor set at around 16-18 psi, and adjust the MAC valve on my airbrush or air line to further fine tune the spray.
Cheetah11 Posted October 28 Posted October 28 On 10/21/2025 at 8:21 PM, John1 said: Anyone have any experience working with this stuff? I'm struggling a bit. First off - I'm using AK's "New Generation" Acrylic Thinner (AK11500). My first test run using it showed me that this paint needs to be heavily thinned. I'm using a 2:1 ratio of thinner to paint. I'm used to Modelmaster's stuff where at best it was 1:1. Even when heavily thinned, I'm getting some spattering. I tried reducing pressure, increasing pressure, shooting further away, closer in, etc. Higher pressure, applied at a high volume from further away seems to yield the best results but I still see a bit of spattering. There is no way that I'll be able to do close in, detail work with this stuff. Any tips would be much appreciated! HI John, I only use enamels for fine work such as mottling as almost all the acrylics, even the lacquer ones seem to splutter to a smaller or greater degree. Hope it helps. My Model Master and Xtracolor gives a much finer spray , so my stash of these are worth gold. Nick
John1 Posted October 28 Author Posted October 28 5 minutes ago, Cheetah11 said: HI John, I only use enamels for fine work such as mottling as almost all the acrylics, even the lacquer ones seem to splutter to a smaller or greater degree. Hope it helps. My Model Master and Xtracolor gives a much finer spray , so my stash of these are worth gold. Nick Yeah, I'm so missing Model Master, IMO, their stuff was the best. Cheetah11 1
nmayhew Posted October 28 Posted October 28 My only tip is use MRP and all of these issues go away… Unless you have unsolvable ventilation problems, I just don’t get why folks make things more difficult than they need to be… IainM 1
LSP_Kevin Posted October 28 Posted October 28 4 hours ago, nmayhew said: My only tip is use MRP and all of these issues go away… Unless you have unsolvable ventilation problems, I just don’t get why folks make things more difficult than they need to be… For one thing, MRP is not readily available in all localities. Very difficult to get here in Australia, for example. Luckily, we have the eminently viable SMS range as an alternative (which I mostly prefer, to be honest). Kev
denders Posted October 28 Posted October 28 7 hours ago, nmayhew said: My only tip is use MRP and all of these issues go away… Unless you have unsolvable ventilation problems, I just don’t get why folks make things more difficult than they need to be… I've been thinking the same thing, I just didn't say it. And I've never used the AK acrylics. John, if you were using Model Master paint, enamel, right. Are you ventilating and using a respirator? MRP is lacquer, it needs ventilation and a respirator to be safe. I like the MRP because I can shake it up, pour it into the airbrush cup, paint, and pour the remainder back in the bottle. It comes already thinned. I've seen other comments that some folks prefer to thin the paint themselves. It is thinned a lot, but it allows for thin layers of paint, especially if you want very thinned paint if you use pre-shading and that sort of thing. SB has MRP. There's that place in Northern Virginia that I asked about, Carpet Monster Hobbies, shows MRP in stock. I don't know anything about them, that's why I was asking. There was some other shop that I saw listed MRP paints, but I got the impression that they don't stock it. You'll have to wait for them to order it from MRP, or whatever. I've also used Kevin's suggestion of SMS paint. It is not as thinned as MRP, but I still use it straight from the bottle and when I'm done, pour the remainder back in the bottle. I've also used AK Real Color paints which are lacquer too. I've not used them a lot because it's not easily poured back in the bottle. It's one of those dropper bottles. What AK that I have used, I've poured it into a bottle from Amazon, thinned it with their High Compatibility thinner. That way I can pour it into the airbrush cup, paint, and pour it back in that bottle. MRP - Sprue Brothers (MO) - Sprue Brothers Models LLC Home Page SMS - USA Gundam Store (FL) - USAGS - Gundam Models, Gunpla Models, Star Wars Nendoroids Kotobukiya – USA Gundam Store AK Real Color - Megahobby (NJ) - MegaHobby.com - The USA's Largest Online Hobby Shop I clean up all this with hardware store lacquer thinner. nmayhew 1
nmayhew Posted October 29 Posted October 29 13 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said: For one thing, MRP is not readily available in all localities. Very difficult to get here in Australia, for example. Luckily, we have the eminently viable SMS range as an alternative (which I mostly prefer, to be honest). Kev he's in USA, MRP is available there but yes SMS and MRP are 'brothers in the same family' afaiac - slightly different, and maybe one has a preference, so if you are using either you then you 'get it', and the only looking back is wondering why you didn't change sooner
John1 Posted October 30 Author Posted October 30 On 10/28/2025 at 7:45 PM, denders said: I've been thinking the same thing, I just didn't say it. And I've never used the AK acrylics. John, if you were using Model Master paint, enamel, right. Are you ventilating and using a respirator? MRP is lacquer, it needs ventilation and a respirator to be safe. I like the MRP because I can shake it up, pour it into the airbrush cup, paint, and pour the remainder back in the bottle. It comes already thinned. I've seen other comments that some folks prefer to thin the paint themselves. It is thinned a lot, but it allows for thin layers of paint, especially if you want very thinned paint if you use pre-shading and that sort of thing. SB has MRP. There's that place in Northern Virginia that I asked about, Carpet Monster Hobbies, shows MRP in stock. I don't know anything about them, that's why I was asking. There was some other shop that I saw listed MRP paints, but I got the impression that they don't stock it. You'll have to wait for them to order it from MRP, or whatever. I've also used Kevin's suggestion of SMS paint. It is not as thinned as MRP, but I still use it straight from the bottle and when I'm done, pour the remainder back in the bottle. I've also used AK Real Color paints which are lacquer too. I've not used them a lot because it's not easily poured back in the bottle. It's one of those dropper bottles. What AK that I have used, I've poured it into a bottle from Amazon, thinned it with their High Compatibility thinner. That way I can pour it into the airbrush cup, paint, and pour it back in that bottle. MRP - Sprue Brothers (MO) - Sprue Brothers Models LLC Home Page SMS - USA Gundam Store (FL) - USAGS - Gundam Models, Gunpla Models, Star Wars Nendoroids Kotobukiya – USA Gundam Store AK Real Color - Megahobby (NJ) - MegaHobby.com - The USA's Largest Online Hobby Shop I clean up all this with hardware store lacquer thinner. Very helpful, thank you. My issue is that I haven’t found any brand that offers FS16473 (ADC Grey) except AK. I’ll check out the other suppliers you listed. Have no problem using enamels, have a respirator. The crazy thing is that their Real Colors line sprayed wonderfully. No idea why AK decided to to scrap that product line and offer up this “new and improved” garbage.
nmayhew Posted October 30 Posted October 30 4 minutes ago, John1 said: Very helpful, thank you. My issue is that I haven’t found any brand that offers FS16473 (ADC Grey) except AK. I’ll check out the other suppliers you listed. Have no problem using enamels, have a respirator. The crazy thing is that their Real Colors line sprayed wonderfully. No idea why AK decided to to scrap that product line and offer up this “new and improved” garbage. MRP have 50+ different greys - surely there's got to be one that's close enough to what you require? Especially given colours change depending on the colour of the primer, and even if you assume 100% opacity, there is also any weathering that will alter things...
John1 Posted October 30 Author Posted October 30 5 minutes ago, nmayhew said: MRP have 50+ different greys - surely there's got to be one that's close enough to what you require? Especially given colours change depending on the colour of the primer, and even if you assume 100% opacity, there is also any weathering that will alter things... One would think. ADC Grey has a bit of an unusual blueish tint. It’s not optimum to try to eyeball the color on a website but if the AK “Flow Enhancer” that just arrived doesn’t improve things, that’s the way I may have to go. nmayhew 1
denders Posted October 30 Posted October 30 (edited) The 3rd gen acrylic and the Real Color lines are different. I’m pretty sure that I saw ADC Grey in the RC line when you first posted this thread. Edit: It is RC890. Edited October 30 by denders
John1 Posted October 30 Author Posted October 30 55 minutes ago, denders said: The 3rd gen acrylic and the Real Color lines are different. I’m pretty sure that I saw ADC Grey in the RC line when you first posted this thread. Edit: It is RC890. Correct but showing as OOS or discontinued from the vendors I looked at.
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