You can grab my hand-painted AK 3rd gen swatch here: www.patreon.com/stahlytaleofpainters/shop (and if you want to stock up on AK paints, why not check my affiliate link: geni.us/ak3rdgenpaints)
at the end of the video you suggested watching your army painter fanatics review. Do you think it's still applicable after your comment in a previous video where you mentioned You're having a bubbling issue with the paint line?
Also - your channel is criminally underrated. You’re by far one of the best paint review channels and I love how in-depth you get when discussing the paints - I mean I’m not sure anyone else separates out light and dark metallics to point out that they function differently as you did. They’d just treat them as a single subset with a generic score or assessment.
I've not found a more non-biased reviewer with full integrity and actual good analysis. Stahly deserves a lot more subs for the work, time and money he puts into these reviews. I keep recommending friends to watch him. Every bit helps as I say, not to mention algorithm likes it when we comment so that helps too.
For me I enjoy watching other reviews but Stahly just is much more information dense and useful when trying to make purchasing decisions. I really like how well structured his reviews are and how easy he makes it to compare different paint ranges. He is a big contributor to me starting to branch out from GW paints that I have been using for ages.
One of the features of the AK paint range you didn't mention is the pots which in my opinion are the best on the market. The lids have excellent grips and there is a large depression at the centre of the lid you can put a drop of paint in so you can instantly see the colour from the top.
I wouldn't say the best on the market. I think the dropper tops that you can buy from Pro Acryl, not the twist ones that come pre-installed, are the best. I've had many of the ak paints I've bought just spew paint onto the inside of the lid when shaking no matter how lightly I close them
@@GoufinAround_Yeah that was my experience too. They tend to leak into the cap when shaking a bit too hard. But silver lining, the cap closes so well it will not dry into the cap and I could just scoop it out and paint with the leaked paint even months later. Still, not ideal.
@@GoufinAround_ I've had paint inside the lid on all pots. I haven't tried the alternate lids from Monument Hobbies/Proc Acryl yet. I really don't like their normal lids but their paint is great.
@@clive_maloney the flip top alternate lids for Pro-Acryl are better than their default ones. They’re not perfect but they seem to do a better job of not getting paint all over themselves the way the default ones do. Only downside is that they don’t always look like they fully seal shut. I’ve never had a problem with them drying or clogging, just visually they seem to sometimes relax a mm or 2, as if there’s higher pressure inside the bottle that’s pushing them up a bit. (Hope that makes sense).
ohh, the arranged palette is gold. Take my money. On the subject of mixing. I tend to add glass beads to my bottles, but all of the points about the swatch and difficulty of ordering I agree with. I bought a bunch because the swatch looked different, but in person, they are very minor variations. It is easier to just pick one in the middle and mix from there. Metallics, My opinion is now just get a bright and dull silver and use inks to add whatever color is desired. It will probably take me forever to go through all these bottles I have now.
I love my AK 3rd gen paints. I use them more than any other brand, thought I haven't really used their metallics, as I tend to stick to Vallejo Metal Color and Model Air for those. I always add mixing balls to my paints and use a vortex mixer, so if a paint doesn't include a mixing ball, it doesn't stop me from buying it. I like AK for the same reason I have historically liked Vallejo as well: they are quality paints that work like you expect paint to work without any stupid gimmicks or tricks. The color range and the consistent, well, consistency of the paints are second to none, I believe. Thanks for the review of the 3rd gen subsets I haven't tried, and I'm about to go get the color chart you made, so thanks also for that! I really trust your reviews, so keep it up!
"The paints get darker when drying" is something all acrylics do. I don't think I know any paint range where the end result isn't slightly darker than the wet paint, so this isn't particularly noteworthy. In terms of consistency, I actually prefer to use my AK paints without a wet palette now, as I find they thin down and get watery very quickly when I use one. That's something depending on your environment, however, and if you live in a particularly hot or dry area where your paints will evaporate faster the wet palette will be the better solution.
The chaos of AK's chart is not good, but it also lets them have colors basically nobody else provides. Some of those pastels, for instance, are magic highlights like the traditional ice yellow, but moving to hues underrepresented in most typical minis. Si while I'd not say that AK is the best option for everything, it's always solid, and I ahve a dozen of their colors on the table right now
As someone who uses almost exclusively AK + TTC metallics, you have absolutely, 100% nailed all my issues with it, even the color mismatching. I got like 10 bloody blues before I found the 3-4 i want to use. The color swatches is a god send too, thank you
Switched to AK and love it for brush painting and airbrushing. Very vibrant color. The range allows me to organize the paints in a way that works for my style.
I've honestly replaced pro acryl with ak almost entirely. I'm also using the new vallejo model color and two thin coats. Between those 3 ranges, I am fully set
Ever since I got Deep Orange from AK about few weeks ago,it has been the only orange I use for my 40k Ryza army I borrowed a similar shade from Warpaints fanatic and I still had to say that I had much better results with the AK and what might you have seen with the yellow, the orange from AK had much better coverage than the fanatic one, alongside consistency
Ak is my favourite paint range. One of the things i really like is the bottles if a paint is seperating you can turn them upside down due to the bottle cap, then when your ready to use shake as usuall and your good to go. The finish is great only a few paints i’ve used tend to go glossy but that is partly due to the way u use them. The ones prone to gloss i hv found are wine red, dirty red and prussian blue. I find this is solved with stippling plus i use a dry pallette which may cause issue. Overall they are just great paints imo and issues like seperation are fairly easily solved compared to scale, the matte satin finish is great compared to the more glossy finish from many other paints.
I encountered thinning problems with AK, while glazing it dries with "watercolour effect", so you see opaque border of semi transparent layer. It can be fixed with glaze medium, but it makes paint satin, so further glazing is a big pain because you don't see transitions of color because of sheen. Because of that, I partly changed my AK paints to new Vallejo GC, they mostly act similar to AK, smooth coverage, nice matt finish, rich colors, but thinning like a dream even with extreme amounts of water.
You could just use some matte medium. You described what sounds like you breaking the paint through dilution, but use glaze medium to solve it when all you need to do is add more acrylic medium. The glaze medium is likely just a mix of acrylic medium and retarder + possibly flow improver. If you like the properties of the glaze medium mix then just add in some matte medium or even varnish to your mix. But you could just use more acrylic medium and skip glaze medium entirely if your only desire is to stop the paint breaking.
I’m assuming Ak being military modeling oriented a lot of the near duplicate colors is due to trying to being historically accurate to German Mid-Morning May 8th 1941 Afrika Korps Sand and German Late Evening May 8th 1941 Afrika Korps Sand. I know it’s a bit gimmicky, but the bottle design is my favorite part of AK 3rd Gen. More for just how solid and easy the cap is to loosen or tighten than for the ability to add a drop of color to the lid. Vallejo Game Color remains my current new fave (well, P3 will always be my fave but VGC is at least available in stores). Will you be doing a review of the new Vallejo Model Color or Model Air? Even for non historical gamers I’m curious if there will be some useful colors in those ranges.
Bravo sir 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 thank you for your hard work. This video was awesome and i agree with you score and same concerns. I think for newer painters that want to test this range they should get the color sets like the leather set or ork sets and so on. They have at-least some color triads and for me at first it made it easy to choose. Got all the paint sets and i used their charts al the time. The leather and wood set are amazing.
Thanks for all this work, as always very detailed. You didn't mention one of the most important aspects which is the price and AK is one of the best money spent to quality ratio around and here in Europe they are more easily available than Pro Acryl. Do new painters need the whole range, absolutely not but they need to have some of their best paints like their intense black (almost always out of stock in my lgs sinc3 it's so good), their white is also quite good (Pro Acryl is better for coverage but can get chalky) and then it's just a matter of taste. I have yet to be disappointed by AK, they work straight out of the pot after a small shake whereas my Pro Acryl paints tend to develop a gel like clog in the nozzle that is cumbersome to dissolve
Thanks for the video. I use AK 3rd gen too, they are highly recommanded bay several pro painter I watch. I'm no pro painter myself, but the AK 3rd gen is incredibly consistent, that's the most solid sell point for me. I've add mixing balls in all my bottles so no issues with separation, and i've also have a Vortex mixer, so even the paint I let for a few time come as new. I've add only one issue with the AK 3rd range and it's by using it on the airbrush, BUT, I previously use them with Vellejo thinner, and I've add the issue of some "milk skin" wich obviously ending up by Clog . I recently buy the AK thinner and problmem is completely solved. As many will tell, AK3rd gen is not the best if you compared it colour by colour with other brands, but the overall consticency oh them make them the best to use as you won't issue any bad surprises with any of the paints in this range.
The point you made about the colour chart and the confusing number of similar colours is exactly right. I love these paints, but I have bought many colours that end up unused.
I really like the AK 3rd gen paints I've used -- they may be my favourite paint line, aside from the confusing mass of very similar colours. For some reason there's something about the consistency that just works for me.
Good stuff! Thanks for all your hard work, doing that paint chart for this range is pretty massive. Looking forward to the new Model Color range review!
To be fair to them pastel colors are there own genre in painting. So having them seperate makes sense on a painting front. Painting models it dosnt really matter but actual painting pastel is a style used. So seperating those colors makes sense.
AK 3rd G range have been copied almost entirely from Vallejo Model Color range, but with less coverage but more resistance to touch, play etc . So imo I think AK's are good paints and more resistant, and they are more suitable for airbrush. If you want paints for normal brush that cover better with a single coat or two, you can try Model Color originals or GW base range
Wish you pointed that bubble stuff with Vallejo out sooner (its not that big a thing but its sure a thing). But AK 3rd are my second favorite paint option so I was really interested to see your review
You know now that you pointed out you are correct about the AK metallics needing to be mixed. but in reality I shake all my paints with my mechanical mixer before I paint with them anyways.
Yes hello I am a user interacting with a video in order to tell our friendly algorithmic overlords that this is indeed a channel worth recommending to more people. Look at the level of excitement I'm expressing! Yes, you indeed saw an exclamation point! Ooh, and one more - Isn't that just exactly what lets you know this video generates copious amounts of engagement? You bet your least significant bit it is!
Have the full main set and colour punch ones. Main issues for me is having to add my own mixing balls to each and not being able to find darker/lighter colours easily based on number or colour chart. I think given these are over 3 years old now the newer paint sets have sorted out those issues so these are looking a little old. However because I have added mixing balls and you have provided a colour chart looks like those issues are fixed now 😂 Still have favourites from other sets like model color deck tan and mephiston red.
AK has now become my main paint range, absolutely love the paints. I'm more experienced, so color charts like wargames fanatics isn''t something I'm interested in at all, but I see how this can be useful for beginners. I rarely use metallic paints since because I prefer nmm, but I agree, the ak metallics are quite bad, they cover extremely poorly and separate like crazy. However, if you manage to actually paint them on the models they look very good. Also, I rather not mixing balls to be included, 80%-90% of paints in the range do not separate easily, so I prefer the paints just to be a bit cheaper. And its easy to add them yourself to the paints as you need them.
For me the number 1 stat of a paint is availability. Somewhat rural living means stocklist is important all 3 of my local game stores carry the army painter, so fanatics it is for me. I did try some ak and really liked em though.
I discovered AK 3rd gen paints last year after using pro acryl for over a year but never really liked the bottles which are harder to fit in my carrying case and the newer ones are stiffer requiring more manual pressure and found them to be excellent for all the major techniques I use including wet blending and glazing but I stopped buying them when the army painter fanatics line was announced because of better availability in the United States where army painter products are found at virtually every game store and restocked well. I found the coverage of the gold quite poor compared to the APF and the colors as disorganized as Stahly stated although I will say they have a better selection of dark colors than APF. Also had several tips crack on me which is a first after a decade of painting. Btw stahly’s paint charts are invaluable if you can’t see the paints in person and even then still superior because you’re not viewing the color through the frosted plastic!
They're so hard to get a hold of for me in the US and Pro Acryl is available at the nearest game store to me so I've given up on AK unfortunately. The 3rd gen AK paints are truly one of the best paint ranges around at the moment. From my experience, the top 3 ranges atm are AK, Pro Acryl and Two Thin Coats. Everyone else is a B tier or lower while those 3 are all A tier. I really hope the new Vallejo Model color range can bring itself on par because they seem to be much easier to get in the US
Two points: AK dries really matt doesn't it? I not sure you mentioned, but that's what I hear most folks like about them. All acrylics darken and desaturates a little when dry. I think some varnish helps with that. Anyway thanks for reviewing!
I think my greatest issue with 3rd gen paints is how they are perfect out of bottle, but the moment they hit the wet pallete, it is a race against time for me before they become too thin or covers poorly. If I dont place them on a wet pallete, they become dry and gummy quick. edit: Also like you said, it is hard to see the colour from the bottle, even more online. The new Vallejo bottles are weird with the red ring but highly transparent and it makes me want to get more.
That's why you have this little hole at the top - you put drop of paint there and see how the colour really looks. It's superior to Vallejo's transparent bottles as liquid paint looks different when it dries.
Awesome review. I think you are the first reviewer I have seen to mention something that bothers me a lot : paints darkening by a lot when dry! I have that with pro acryl, scale 75 and some ak. I think it's the matte finish but not sure if it s that as I haven't heard such complaints from 2 thin coats paints and they are matte.
This is really confusing for me. I love AK and they are my main range and I've been a big advocate for them. I didn't understand why there aren't more people speaking up for them. .......but everything you've said in this review is correct. It's actually made me realise that maybe the paints aren't so great like a 9.0-9.5 (as in my head) but maybe they just work well for me and my style of painting.
I've been watching your paint reviews since you put up a review of Two Thin Coats, as I had backed it early... Appreciate all your hard work, that swatch you made for these AK paints is amazing! Keep up the great work!
I agree with @MasterShake9000, your page is, 'criminally underrated'. Stahly you are one of the best paint reviewers on the internet. Keep up the great work.
I love the AK range, but I wish they had an equivalent for Zandri Dust😅 I’m tired of using Zandri Dust from GW for my necron’s base paint, and I wish Vallejo or AK had an equivalent
@Stahly -- IMHO, there is no one range that can do it all. I would love to see a video where you have a hybrid range with the best choices across brands.
@@stahly_taleofpaintersdude I bought the Ak color swatches from you and my god I have used this so many times I can’t thank you enough will definitely get a few more of these and hope to see more from you.
Hi! For example I've buy you sheet with all the al colour and I'm about to buy some color, The ak brick red, kn the website is like a brownish red, but in your color sheet its more like a deep dark red, why there are so much difference? Thank you mate
Probably because they created the graphics on the website by eye. Also, these charts are not very accurate because a flat colour patch cannot capture the depth of an acrylic paint in real life. My charts are professional reproductions, hand-painted and created on calibrated cameras and monitors.
@@stahly_taleofpainters your work is amazing man, I was really close to order and without your sheet I was in panic for choosing the wrong colour Best investment
Sometimes people don’t watch channels if they find voices or accents annoying. Covering half your face can sow subconscious trust issues too. With so many channel options available, people can afford to be picky. Don’t shoot the messenger everyone, I’m just sharing information. I’m a noob so I find videos like this very helpful.
How do they hold up on the wet palette over time compared to pro acryl? Pro acryl separates so fast for me and I prefer Vallejo, which is really hard to get where I live, because it doesn't break after an hour or so.
Pro Acryl aren't truly manufactured with wet palletes in mind, CEO of Monument Hobbies hates wet pallettes. AK are better with them cerainly, you'll have longer working time.
There's a small model train shop just down the road from me that loves them some AK. They were my introduction to the colour range and I haven't been let down by them yet. Only got a handful of colours so far, but they're nice to use and the collection will definitely grow as more of my Citadel pots run dry. My friends and I haven't had any issues airbrushing AK colours so far. A buddy of mine who's a far better painter than I'll ever be even has a lot of praise for how they thin down and behave through the airbrush.
Very odd that the colour punch of "purer" pigments only has 1 blue? No cyan or pthalo or prussian or ultramarine or cobalt as their own colours? Same with yellow, seems like only lemon yellow and not ochre or cadmium.
![[Full Guide] How To Airbrush Water-Based Acrylics and Primers | Vallejo | AMMO Mig | AK 3.Gen. | ICM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FHBNsehs1mc/mqdefault.jpg)
You can grab my hand-painted AK 3rd gen swatch here: www.patreon.com/stahlytaleofpainters/shop (and if you want to stock up on AK paints, why not check my affiliate link: geni.us/ak3rdgenpaints)
at the end of the video you suggested watching your army painter fanatics review. Do you think it's still applicable after your comment in a previous video where you mentioned You're having a bubbling issue with the paint line?
FYI - The closing parenthesis breaks your affiliate link!
I bought the ak swatch. Do you have one for pro acryl?
@@Slaneshhhh Not yet, but will follow in the next two months!
Also - your channel is criminally underrated. You’re by far one of the best paint review channels and I love how in-depth you get when discussing the paints - I mean I’m not sure anyone else separates out light and dark metallics to point out that they function differently as you did. They’d just treat them as a single subset with a generic score or assessment.
I've not found a more non-biased reviewer with full integrity and actual good analysis. Stahly deserves a lot more subs for the work, time and money he puts into these reviews. I keep recommending friends to watch him. Every bit helps as I say, not to mention algorithm likes it when we comment so that helps too.
For me I enjoy watching other reviews but Stahly just is much more information dense and useful when trying to make purchasing decisions. I really like how well structured his reviews are and how easy he makes it to compare different paint ranges. He is a big contributor to me starting to branch out from GW paints that I have been using for ages.
So kind, thanks a lot!
I agree!
I just wish he would stop with the garbage click bait
One of the features of the AK paint range you didn't mention is the pots which in my opinion are the best on the market. The lids have excellent grips and there is a large depression at the centre of the lid you can put a drop of paint in so you can instantly see the colour from the top.
I wouldn't say the best on the market. I think the dropper tops that you can buy from Pro Acryl, not the twist ones that come pre-installed, are the best. I've had many of the ak paints I've bought just spew paint onto the inside of the lid when shaking no matter how lightly I close them
@@GoufinAround_Yeah that was my experience too. They tend to leak into the cap when shaking a bit too hard. But silver lining, the cap closes so well it will not dry into the cap and I could just scoop it out and paint with the leaked paint even months later. Still, not ideal.
Until the very top part pops off and your cap becomes completely useless 😅
@@GoufinAround_ I've had paint inside the lid on all pots. I haven't tried the alternate lids from Monument Hobbies/Proc Acryl yet. I really don't like their normal lids but their paint is great.
@@clive_maloney the flip top alternate lids for Pro-Acryl are better than their default ones. They’re not perfect but they seem to do a better job of not getting paint all over themselves the way the default ones do.
Only downside is that they don’t always look like they fully seal shut. I’ve never had a problem with them drying or clogging, just visually they seem to sometimes relax a mm or 2, as if there’s higher pressure inside the bottle that’s pushing them up a bit. (Hope that makes sense).
Yet again, only paint reviews worth anything. I've been hoping you would make this video. Ty, you are a hero.
Be interesting to see you compare AK to Vallejos new Model and Game color ranges when they become available to.
ohh, the arranged palette is gold. Take my money.
On the subject of mixing. I tend to add glass beads to my bottles, but all of the points about the swatch and difficulty of ordering I agree with. I bought a bunch because the swatch looked different, but in person, they are very minor variations. It is easier to just pick one in the middle and mix from there.
Metallics, My opinion is now just get a bright and dull silver and use inks to add whatever color is desired. It will probably take me forever to go through all these bottles I have now.
I love my AK 3rd gen paints. I use them more than any other brand, thought I haven't really used their metallics, as I tend to stick to Vallejo Metal Color and Model Air for those. I always add mixing balls to my paints and use a vortex mixer, so if a paint doesn't include a mixing ball, it doesn't stop me from buying it. I like AK for the same reason I have historically liked Vallejo as well: they are quality paints that work like you expect paint to work without any stupid gimmicks or tricks. The color range and the consistent, well, consistency of the paints are second to none, I believe. Thanks for the review of the 3rd gen subsets I haven't tried, and I'm about to go get the color chart you made, so thanks also for that! I really trust your reviews, so keep it up!
I can't describe how I am thankful for this video ❤
Stellar work. That new Model Color review can't come fast enough.
"The paints get darker when drying" is something all acrylics do. I don't think I know any paint range where the end result isn't slightly darker than the wet paint, so this isn't particularly noteworthy.
In terms of consistency, I actually prefer to use my AK paints without a wet palette now, as I find they thin down and get watery very quickly when I use one. That's something depending on your environment, however, and if you live in a particularly hot or dry area where your paints will evaporate faster the wet palette will be the better solution.
Yeah I found some paints/paint brands tend to get darker than others :)
The chaos of AK's chart is not good, but it also lets them have colors basically nobody else provides. Some of those pastels, for instance, are magic highlights like the traditional ice yellow, but moving to hues underrepresented in most typical minis.
Si while I'd not say that AK is the best option for everything, it's always solid, and I ahve a dozen of their colors on the table right now
A full chart of the pro acryl line would be pretty cool
Love these videos! Thanks for the work dude!
As someone who uses almost exclusively AK + TTC metallics, you have absolutely, 100% nailed all my issues with it, even the color mismatching. I got like 10 bloody blues before I found the 3-4 i want to use. The color swatches is a god send too, thank you
Fantastic review my dude! Your charts are 10/10. They have been EXTREMELY useful!
AK burnt tin and old gold are legendary
Switched to AK and love it for brush painting and airbrushing. Very vibrant color. The range allows me to organize the paints in a way that works for my style.
Nice to hear they go well on the airbrush, how do you thin them?
I've honestly replaced pro acryl with ak almost entirely. I'm also using the new vallejo model color and two thin coats. Between those 3 ranges, I am fully set
Crushed it again with your review. Thanks for putting the effort in to reorganise the paint range swatches.
Seriously thank you for the reviews. You are definitely helping me make wise choices regarding my paint purchases.
Happy to help!
Ever since I got Deep Orange from AK about few weeks ago,it has been the only orange I use for my 40k Ryza army
I borrowed a similar shade from Warpaints fanatic and I still had to say that I had much better results with the AK and what might you have seen with the yellow, the orange from AK had much better coverage than the fanatic one, alongside consistency
I love my AK paints. Thy have been super consistent. I also like that they have boxes with paints for specific purposes, like Non Metalic Metal gold.
AK 3rd gen is the best paint on the market, they also have the best bottles/pots.
Ak is my favourite paint range. One of the things i really like is the bottles if a paint is seperating you can turn them upside down due to the bottle cap, then when your ready to use shake as usuall and your good to go. The finish is great only a few paints i’ve used tend to go glossy but that is partly due to the way u use them. The ones prone to gloss i hv found are wine red, dirty red and prussian blue. I find this is solved with stippling plus i use a dry pallette which may cause issue. Overall they are just great paints imo and issues like seperation are fairly easily solved compared to scale, the matte satin finish is great compared to the more glossy finish from many other paints.
I encountered thinning problems with AK, while glazing it dries with "watercolour effect", so you see opaque border of semi transparent layer. It can be fixed with glaze medium, but it makes paint satin, so further glazing is a big pain because you don't see transitions of color because of sheen. Because of that, I partly changed my AK paints to new Vallejo GC, they mostly act similar to AK, smooth coverage, nice matt finish, rich colors, but thinning like a dream even with extreme amounts of water.
You could just use some matte medium. You described what sounds like you breaking the paint through dilution, but use glaze medium to solve it when all you need to do is add more acrylic medium. The glaze medium is likely just a mix of acrylic medium and retarder + possibly flow improver.
If you like the properties of the glaze medium mix then just add in some matte medium or even varnish to your mix. But you could just use more acrylic medium and skip glaze medium entirely if your only desire is to stop the paint breaking.
I’m assuming Ak being military modeling oriented a lot of the near duplicate colors is due to trying to being historically accurate to German Mid-Morning May 8th 1941 Afrika Korps Sand and German Late Evening May 8th 1941 Afrika Korps Sand.
I know it’s a bit gimmicky, but the bottle design is my favorite part of AK 3rd Gen. More for just how solid and easy the cap is to loosen or tighten than for the ability to add a drop of color to the lid.
Vallejo Game Color remains my current new fave (well, P3 will always be my fave but VGC is at least available in stores).
Will you be doing a review of the new Vallejo Model Color or Model Air? Even for non historical gamers I’m curious if there will be some useful colors in those ranges.
Yes, Model Color next!
Bravo sir 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 thank you for your hard work. This video was awesome and i agree with you score and same concerns. I think for newer painters that want to test this range they should get the color sets like the leather set or ork sets and so on. They have at-least some color triads and for me at first it made it easy to choose. Got all the paint sets and i used their charts al the time. The leather and wood set are amazing.
Thanks for all this work, as always very detailed.
You didn't mention one of the most important aspects which is the price and AK is one of the best money spent to quality ratio around and here in Europe they are more easily available than Pro Acryl.
Do new painters need the whole range, absolutely not but they need to have some of their best paints like their intense black (almost always out of stock in my lgs sinc3 it's so good), their white is also quite good (Pro Acryl is better for coverage but can get chalky) and then it's just a matter of taste.
I have yet to be disappointed by AK, they work straight out of the pot after a small shake whereas my Pro Acryl paints tend to develop a gel like clog in the nozzle that is cumbersome to dissolve
Thorough and concise. You always give such a focused review thanks.
I primarily use vallejo and ak paints i especially like their whites
Thanks for the video.
I use AK 3rd gen too, they are highly recommanded bay several pro painter I watch.
I'm no pro painter myself, but the AK 3rd gen is incredibly consistent, that's the most solid sell point for me.
I've add mixing balls in all my bottles so no issues with separation, and i've also have a Vortex mixer, so even the paint I let for a few time come as new.
I've add only one issue with the AK 3rd range and it's by using it on the airbrush, BUT, I previously use them with Vellejo thinner, and I've add the issue of some "milk skin" wich obviously ending up by Clog .
I recently buy the AK thinner and problmem is completely solved.
As many will tell, AK3rd gen is not the best if you compared it colour by colour with other brands, but the overall consticency oh them make them the best to use as you won't issue any bad surprises with any of the paints in this range.
The point you made about the colour chart and the confusing number of similar colours is exactly right. I love these paints, but I have bought many colours that end up unused.
Glad it was helpful!
Always a good day when there is a new Stahly video
I really like the AK 3rd gen paints I've used -- they may be my favourite paint line, aside from the confusing mass of very similar colours. For some reason there's something about the consistency that just works for me.
Another excellent review! Thanks a lot Stahly, you're one of the best paint reviewers for sure.
Wow, thanks!
Good stuff! Thanks for all your hard work, doing that paint chart for this range is pretty massive. Looking forward to the new Model Color range review!
To be fair to them pastel colors are there own genre in painting. So having them seperate makes sense on a painting front. Painting models it dosnt really matter but actual painting pastel is a style used. So seperating those colors makes sense.
AK 3rd G range have been copied almost entirely from Vallejo Model Color range, but with less coverage but more resistance to touch, play etc .
So imo I think AK's are good paints and more resistant, and they are more suitable for airbrush.
If you want paints for normal brush that cover better with a single coat or two, you can try Model Color originals or GW base range
Wish you pointed that bubble stuff with Vallejo out sooner (its not that big a thing but its sure a thing). But AK 3rd are my second favorite paint option so I was really interested to see your review
Apologies I missed that, will take an extra good luck at the bubbling issue when I review the new Model Color!
Great and accurate review! great work! I have used ak for 4 years :D
As always, best paint range review on UA-cam, thanks
Great content, methodical analyses with distinctions and nuances made explicit within a digestible time frame.
You know now that you pointed out you are correct about the AK metallics needing to be mixed. but in reality I shake all my paints with my mechanical mixer before I paint with them anyways.
Great video thankyou for creating swatches, I ordered an AK green that was nowhere near the colour it looked online
Please make in depth review entire pro acryl range. I would also appreciate photos of all paints on plate ❤
Yes hello I am a user interacting with a video in order to tell our friendly algorithmic overlords that this is indeed a channel worth recommending to more people. Look at the level of excitement I'm expressing! Yes, you indeed saw an exclamation point! Ooh, and one more - Isn't that just exactly what lets you know this video generates copious amounts of engagement? You bet your least significant bit it is!
Have the full main set and colour punch ones. Main issues for me is having to add my own mixing balls to each and not being able to find darker/lighter colours easily based on number or colour chart.
I think given these are over 3 years old now the newer paint sets have sorted out those issues so these are looking a little old.
However because I have added mixing balls and you have provided a colour chart looks like those issues are fixed now 😂
Still have favourites from other sets like model color deck tan and mephiston red.
AK has now become my main paint range, absolutely love the paints. I'm more experienced, so color charts like wargames fanatics isn''t something I'm interested in at all, but I see how this can be useful for beginners. I rarely use metallic paints since because I prefer nmm, but I agree, the ak metallics are quite bad, they cover extremely poorly and separate like crazy. However, if you manage to actually paint them on the models they look very good. Also, I rather not mixing balls to be included, 80%-90% of paints in the range do not separate easily, so I prefer the paints just to be a bit cheaper. And its easy to add them yourself to the paints as you need them.
For me the number 1 stat of a paint is availability. Somewhat rural living means stocklist is important all 3 of my local game stores carry the army painter, so fanatics it is for me. I did try some ak and really liked em though.
Love your reviews! Keep them coming
Great review as usual: looking forward to the new Model Colour review. Also, the (newish) AMMO Atom paints might be good review choice.
I discovered AK 3rd gen paints last year after using pro acryl for over a year but never really liked the bottles which are harder to fit in my carrying case and the newer ones are stiffer requiring more manual pressure and found them to be excellent for all the major techniques I use including wet blending and glazing but I stopped buying them when the army painter fanatics line was announced because of better availability in the United States where army painter products are found at virtually every game store and restocked well. I found the coverage of the gold quite poor compared to the APF and the colors as disorganized as Stahly stated although I will say they have a better selection of dark colors than APF. Also had several tips crack on me which is a first after a decade of painting. Btw stahly’s paint charts are invaluable if you can’t see the paints in person and even then still superior because you’re not viewing the color through the frosted plastic!
They're so hard to get a hold of for me in the US and Pro Acryl is available at the nearest game store to me so I've given up on AK unfortunately. The 3rd gen AK paints are truly one of the best paint ranges around at the moment. From my experience, the top 3 ranges atm are AK, Pro Acryl and Two Thin Coats. Everyone else is a B tier or lower while those 3 are all A tier. I really hope the new Vallejo Model color range can bring itself on par because they seem to be much easier to get in the US
Two points:
AK dries really matt doesn't it? I not sure you mentioned, but that's what I hear most folks like about them.
All acrylics darken and desaturates a little when dry. I think some varnish helps with that.
Anyway thanks for reviewing!
I have large paints collection (different brends). Only metallics ~100 paints.
AK 3gen my favorite ❤️
I think my greatest issue with 3rd gen paints is how they are perfect out of bottle, but the moment they hit the wet pallete, it is a race against time for me before they become too thin or covers poorly. If I dont place them on a wet pallete, they become dry and gummy quick.
edit: Also like you said, it is hard to see the colour from the bottle, even more online. The new Vallejo bottles are weird with the red ring but highly transparent and it makes me want to get more.
That's why you have this little hole at the top - you put drop of paint there and see how the colour really looks. It's superior to Vallejo's transparent bottles as liquid paint looks different when it dries.
Hell yeahhhhhhh, thanks Stahly!
Awesome review. I think you are the first reviewer I have seen to mention something that bothers me a lot : paints darkening by a lot when dry! I have that with pro acryl, scale 75 and some ak. I think it's the matte finish but not sure if it s that as I haven't heard such complaints from 2 thin coats paints and they are matte.
Slowly Growing but steady. Really cool
This is really confusing for me. I love AK and they are my main range and I've been a big advocate for them. I didn't understand why there aren't more people speaking up for them.
.......but everything you've said in this review is correct. It's actually made me realise that maybe the paints aren't so great like a 9.0-9.5 (as in my head) but maybe they just work well for me and my style of painting.
The best thing bout AK is easy to get in my country and good alternative to citidel
I had the exact same issue with my ak third gen gold even when using my massage gun to shake it it still was very separated
I have the full range, and i love it, but its always the first thing i do is adding agitarors
Has anyone compared AK’s Golden Armor spray with Citadel’s first gen Retributor Armour spray?
I like the 3rd gen AK paints. As for Mettalics? I use enamels or lacquers.
I wish I had one of your reviews for the GSW maxx formula range
Looking forward to the new model color review - will be interesting if it has the same bubbles problem as the new game color
Will test this!
Fantastic work man!
I've been watching your paint reviews since you put up a review of Two Thin Coats, as I had backed it early...
Appreciate all your hard work, that swatch you made for these AK paints is amazing!
Keep up the great work!
Top tier paint review as always!
Great video as always, could you review the new green stuff world maxx formula paints? thanks.
Possibly!
One issue ak interactive 3rd is they can gum up if you use a lacquer thinner to clean your airbrush without a flush with water or brand thinner.
Awesome review brother…. Always straight to the point no B.S…… Would you ever think of doing a review on Cuttlefish Colors?
Not planned in the coming few months but I want to get to more niche paint ranges eventually!
Thank you
the problem of AK is as you said, good luck navigating the colors you want without outside help
I agree with @MasterShake9000, your page is, 'criminally underrated'. Stahly you are one of the best paint reviewers on the internet. Keep up the great work.
I’ve heard AKs pastel are the best for mixing highlights
Thank you for your awesome video! Which paint from de acrylic range you thing they're must have?
privateer press formula p3 paints next
I love the AK range, but I wish they had an equivalent for Zandri Dust😅 I’m tired of using Zandri Dust from GW for my necron’s base paint, and I wish Vallejo or AK had an equivalent
Vallejo Game Color Khaki 72.061 perhaps?
Have you done a complete review of Pro Acryl? I see stuff for a few signature ranges but not the whole thing.
Yes, I have a video about the Signature Series that also covers the whole range :)
@Stahly -- IMHO, there is no one range that can do it all. I would love to see a video where you have a hybrid range with the best choices across brands.
Yeah I want to do that, not sure yet how to translate it to a video, but will do eventually!
Looks like Duncan's and Vallejo paints win overall.
But how do they go through the airbrush? Being light textured I would imagine the would work nicely when properly thinned right?
They do, I covered this briefly in the video
@@stahly_taleofpainters I missed that, will watch again XD. Ahhh ok, so its ok when properly thinned and vallejo thinner is ok, perfect then!!
I love your channel and videos. Keep up the good work. I was wondering if you had an opinion on Reaper Master series paints?
Hi cool vid glad I found your channel what black primer did you use please
Yes you put my comment in the video! I feel validated!!!
I did :D
@@stahly_taleofpaintersdude I bought the Ak color swatches from you and my god I have used this so many times I can’t thank you enough will definitely get a few more of these and hope to see more from you.
Hi! For example I've buy you sheet with all the al colour and I'm about to buy some color,
The ak brick red, kn the website is like a brownish red, but in your color sheet its more like a deep dark red, why there are so much difference? Thank you mate
Probably because they created the graphics on the website by eye. Also, these charts are not very accurate because a flat colour patch cannot capture the depth of an acrylic paint in real life. My charts are professional reproductions, hand-painted and created on calibrated cameras and monitors.
@@stahly_taleofpainters your work is amazing man, I was really close to order and without your sheet I was in panic for choosing the wrong colour
Best investment
Do you anticipate doing a swatch for ProAcryl soon?
Yes, just waiting for the new Signature Series and Adepticon sets, new Vallejo Model Color will come first but then it's Pro Acryl!
Great review!
Sometimes people don’t watch channels if they find voices or accents annoying. Covering half your face can sow subconscious trust issues too. With so many channel options available, people can afford to be picky. Don’t shoot the messenger everyone, I’m just sharing information. I’m a noob so I find videos like this very helpful.
I need a color similar to mephiston red. Do you have a color recommendation?
Best match I found is Viscera Red from the TT Combat range
How do they hold up on the wet palette over time compared to pro acryl? Pro acryl separates so fast for me and I prefer Vallejo, which is really hard to get where I live, because it doesn't break after an hour or so.
Pro Acryl aren't truly manufactured with wet palletes in mind, CEO of Monument Hobbies hates wet pallettes. AK are better with them cerainly, you'll have longer working time.
I think they separate on a wet palette, more than V and C.
I feel they're doing good on wet palettes, new Vallejo Game Color separate quite quickly on wet palettes.
Hey Stahly, are you going to test the new version of Vallejo Model Color ?
Yes, will be my next video!
There's a small model train shop just down the road from me that loves them some AK. They were my introduction to the colour range and I haven't been let down by them yet. Only got a handful of colours so far, but they're nice to use and the collection will definitely grow as more of my Citadel pots run dry.
My friends and I haven't had any issues airbrushing AK colours so far. A buddy of mine who's a far better painter than I'll ever be even has a lot of praise for how they thin down and behave through the airbrush.
Your work is sent from heavens!
Really helped me save money and get an awesome experience so far.
Very odd that the colour punch of "purer" pigments only has 1 blue? No cyan or pthalo or prussian or ultramarine or cobalt as their own colours? Same with yellow, seems like only lemon yellow and not ochre or cadmium.
Ultramarine and Imperial Blue from the orange label are very pure and rich blues (for some reason they aren't yellow label Intense paints)
@@stahly_taleofpainters thank you! Will check them out. Any recommendations for a pure-ish green like sap or thalo? Other than Kimera.
11:15 are you a god?! thankss
Colour punch review? Immediate click. Been looking at these for the past few days.
thanks
I was looking for a review of these 2 days ago and could find nothing useful. You need to gtfo of my head.
Awesome video, thanks a lot.