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AK Spray Paints

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  • AK Spray Paints

    A question for the group; who has successfully used AK acrylic paints in their airbrushes?

    I ask because it seems the paint clots up easily when I try to thin it. I recently bought their proprietary thinner and it was no better than others. If you use AK's, what did you thin it with? I haven't encountered the same problem with Tamiya and Vallejo paints.
    Twenty six tanks, and not done yet!

  • #2
    I bought some AK a while back and I binned them after trying to use them twice. Clotting, tip-drying and getting that nasty dry sand rash... not worth it. Vallejo Air or bust!
    Sherman M4A3 105mm Houwitser / Sherman Firefly IC *under construction* / Panzer IV *awaiting side-grade from TK7.0S to TK6.0S* / Stug III / King Tiger / KV-1 *awaiting upgrade to TK6.0S* / Tiger I / T34-85 / Leopard 2A6 *waiting upgrade to TK7.0*... No, I do not have a problem....

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    • #3
      My approach......I went to Home Depot and got myself a gallon of their lacquer thinner to mix with all of my acrylic paints before airbrushing my tanks. Save $.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by SoCalBobS View Post
        A question for the group; who has successfully used AK acrylic paints in their airbrushes?

        I ask because it seems the paint clots up easily when I try to thin it. I recently bought their proprietary thinner and it was no better than others. If you use AK's, what did you thin it with? I haven't encountered the same problem with Tamiya and Vallejo paints.
        Bob have you tried rubbing alcohol to thin it. I use it when thinning acrylics. That or distilled water.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Rubicon99 View Post

          Bob have you tried rubbing alcohol to thin it. I use it when thinning acrylics. That or distilled water.
          I'll have to try the alcohol. Hadn't tried it because those other brands didn't need it. Hope it works, I've accumulated a bunch of their paints.
          Twenty six tanks, and not done yet!

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          • #6
            Originally posted by DavidN View Post
            My approach......I went to Home Depot and got myself a gallon of their lacquer thinner to mix with all of my acrylic paints before airbrushing my tanks. Save $.
            But have you used it with AK paints?
            Twenty six tanks, and not done yet!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by SoCalBobS View Post

              But have you used it with AK paints?
              Sorry I have not. Is it AK acrylic lacquer paint? Maybe you should approach it with distill water as Rubicon stated. For me, I read somewhere awhile back, that when dealing with thick acrylic paint, lacquer thinner is one of the solution. I read that it is best to add three drop of lacquer thinner into the airbrush cup before pouring the mixed paint into it. I have been doing that. I mix the lacquer thinner with the Tamiya acrylic thinner into the Tamiya paint.

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              • #8
                Gotta admit I bought some AK paint when we had a shortage of tamiya paint, and it was rubbish, even went on YouTube to see how to use it and still spent the next hour cleaning the airbrush

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                • #9
                  I have sprayed several colors of AK paints with Alcohol to thin them and had good results.
                  I use Alcohol to thin Model master acrylic , Tamiya and AK. The AK I had to thin a little more than Tamiya. Some people like to add windex rather than straight alcohol as the amonia and soap mix with the alcohol really thins the acrylic and slows the drying time for a very fine smooth finish. I havent tried the windex. The alcohol thinning worked fine for me. I didnt follow through with the AK as the colors werent what I was looking for but, I would not be oppsoed to trying the windex method

                  I have used lacquer thinner to thin model master enamels and the old Floquil enamels.

                  David, why would you add lacquer thinner in acrylics? They are not lacquer based. They are basically water based with other binders. Dont you have problems with separation of pigment and carrier etc?
                  RC tank parts and accessories I make
                  www.RichardSJohnson.net/id28.html

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                  • #10
                    I was having problem with the Tamiya acrylic paint in airbrushing. I used the .2mm needle often and the paint kept clogging at the tip even with 1:1 mix of Tamiya acrylic thinner. It dried too fast. Then I read about using the Tamiya lacquer thinner to mix with Tamiya paint. I tried and it worked better for me as the clogging problem subsided. Then it appeared that I had so many tanks to paint and the cost of the Tamiya lacquer thinner was quite high for me to use. I took a chance and bought a 1 gallon regular lacquer thinner and tried to mix it with the Tamiya acrylic paint to air brush. I put 1/4 lacquer thinner, 1/4 Tamiya acrylic thinner and 1/2 Tamiya paint color. It still had the same good result. So I have painted and spray washed over 30 tanks using the same method since. Here is the link someone in Australia did the test on both thinners with Tamiya acrylic paint:

                    https://www.airbrushmodeler.com/thinning-tamiya-acrylic-with-lacquer-thinner/

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                    • #11
                      David, I also switched from using the acrylic thinner to lacquer thinner with better results, well, that and fine-tuning on pressure, though I have yet to use other than Tami's. I also tested with distilled water with acceptable results, but that's all with Tami paints, again.

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                      • #12
                        Wow I am surprised the laquer thinner worked. Usually the paints separate and gold up.
                        I just use regular alcohol from Walgreens and it works great with Tamiya.
                        RC tank parts and accessories I make
                        www.RichardSJohnson.net/id28.html

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by RichJohnson View Post
                          Wow I am surprised the laquer thinner worked. Usually the paints separate and gold up.
                          I just use regular alcohol from Walgreens and it works great with Tamiya.
                          Tamiya is specifically formulated in such a way that you can dump in laquer thinner and "convert" it from a water based acrylic into a laquer based. just keep in mind cant go backward lol.

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