I recently switched to mainkly spraying ATOM after using Vallejo and AK for years. My experience with ATOM have been absolutely amazing. They selflevel better than the other two, they spray better than the other two in every regard (tipdry, smoothness and atomization, using a H&S Ultra 2024 with ~20-25 PSI, paint thinned about 50:50), and unlike any other acrylic they dry to the same saturation and tone both sprayed and brushed. (they brush great also). For me, they are the best true acrylics and they have impressed me greatly. Yes, some of the colors doesn't dry to a complete flat finish, but since when is that a problem? I don't know anyone who does not put a varnish on anyway :) I recommend anyone to watch Panzermeister36's review of the ATOM paints.
Thank you for this excellent demonstration, very informative on these 3 fairly similar paintings. I mainly use acrylic lacquers such as Tamiya and Gunze but would like to move towards “real” acrylics. I wonder if the 3 paints in your test can be polished with a cloth to obtain a final satin finish.
Thank you for your review of the Spanish Big 3 of paints. I use all three and find they all have their plusses and minuses. I have recently started using Atom paints and I find them very good. They are a different formulation and have to be used somewhat differently than previous Ammo paints. They have to be shaken more than previous Ammo acrylics because they tend to separate more when they sit. Second you used a bit too much thinner and I find that the Atom specific thinner works better than the regular Ammo thinner. They also should be applied differently than standard Ammo acrylics. Thin coats work better. They self level much better than other paints I have used and I you accidentally "flood" the surface it won't be a disaster, just don't use heavy coats and the results will be better. I agree that I don't like the new bottles very much. You have to hold them vertically to dispense paint and it makes it hard to count drops. If you hold them horizontally as most of us are used to, the paint runs down the flat area around the hole and gets messy, but they do brush paint fantastically, which I can't say of the other two.
Yes the Atom paints are fantastic to handbrush. Unique coverage for acrylic paints. I have just ordered the Atom thinner and im looking forward to test it. Thanks for the feedback!
Rusty I want to thank you for these videos. I use enamels for paint but also thinking about going to acrylics,so these videos like yours and Manns model moments help in deciding of going to this medium.also I see that the Vallejo is a thinner paint cause of some of the black base was showing through in the edges on the video.
Thank you for your review. I already use Vallejo Model Air and AK Gen3, and I do prefer the latter. Unfortunately I’m not able to airbrush German WW2 camouflage with these acrylics. For German WW2 camouflage I still use my Mr.hobby lacquers. I'm not sure if I will test Atom because I find that there are not enough FS/RLM/BSC colours in their range.
I really think Atom are made for high covering easy brush painting figures. Not primary for fine airbrush works. A lot of people swear on Mr.Hobby RLM colours, heard only good things about it. Thanks for the feedback!
How about a Hataka vs Lifecolour vs AK 3rd Gen or Model Air (as a control sample) now? My 'thinner' mix for acrylic is 70% flow improver + 30% thinner and then add 10% retarder to that. I'm using AK 3G. I have used Atom for detail brush painting and they are excellent. I'd like to try through the airbrush but I build almost exclusively RAF aircraft, so I'm waiting for an appropriate colour set to come out
I have Hataka ordered and ready😃. Atom are okey with the airbrush but in my opinion they are not made for it and AK 3rd Gen or Model Air are better options Thanks for the feedback!
@@RustyscaleShow I've just bought the Atom Early WWII RAF set and it's really disappointing - not the paint itself, but the colour match. They have produced a Sky colour but the brown and green are from other sets and are way off. Bizarrely, they've also included a 'Duck Egg Green' which is of little use, rather than a cockpit green. Even a black would have been better.
I think the Atom paint broke down because you overthinned it the first time and then made it worse by diluting it again to 50 percent. From what I could find on the Mig site they recommend 30 percent thinner to paint ratio for airbrushing. I think this is one of the acyclic paints that is meant to be sprayed with a thicker consistency then milk. Mission Models paints is another brand that comes to mind that is the same. Not a fan of the Atom bottle design, but according to the video from Mig I watched you are supposed to tip them completely vertical and then the drops will come out of the bottle in a controlled fashion. They specifically mention not to tip the bottle and then try and get the paint out at an angle, which is what you did and I think most of us do when handling these types of paints. I don't have an Atom bottle to try this with, but might be worth experimenting with. Unfortunately I cant find the video to link here for you, but the demo was by Mig Jimenez himself and was at some model show. He was also spraying the paints with no thinner and did make a point you don't need a lot of thinner for these paints. Perhaps you might be able to find the video on UA-cam. Anyway, you might want to repeat your experiment with 30 percent thinner and perhaps no thinner at all and a higher airbrush pressure and see if you still get the spotty finish with the Ammo paint. I would be curious if with less thinner that still remains a problem for you. Thanks for putting up the video. Always interesting to see other modellers experience with paints. Cheers, Dan
Okey so 30 percent thinner is recommended. This would suggest to use a bigger sized needle and more air pressure than i usually use. But i couldnt work the way i want under these conditions. So this is another proof, Atom paints are best applied by brush in thicker consistency. I will try to use the bottle as suggested by Mig and see if it works better👌🏼 Thanks for the feedback!
thank you for your video and dedication. I still can not understand or find any advantage acrylics have over lacquers besides the toxicity, which should be managed correctly with ventilation. Everything is difficult, takes more time or insufficient to compare with lacquers. I'm a long time fan of Mr.Color and now discovered MRP paints. I will not change even if Mig is a great guy.
I changed from laquer to acrylic paints mainly because they're (almost) non-toxic and dont smell that strong. My kids often jump into my hobbyroom to check out what im doing and i always had to send them out, if i was working with laquers (usually not without having to argue with them). But basically i do love laquer paints as well. Thanks for the feedback!
@@RP-ck8ymyou paint too. fast and paint too thick. Once you paint slowly and keep every layer thin, there will be no bubbles. That's your problem more than the paints.
I don't think you mixed the Atom paint sufficiently, hence the pigment spotting. Atom is by far superior, Vallejo is far too fragile and susceptible to finger marks and damage in it's initial coat without any varnish. It's clear to me you set out to favour Vallejo. Regarding control of paint flow from the Atom bottle, they advise holding the bottle vertical before squeezing bottle. Finally, I much prefer Atom thinned with Mr Thinner levelling thinner which has a great grab ability when dry.
Well no matter how long i mix any Ammo acrylic paint in general, the pigments are separating a bit. Its always happening. Maybe with levelling thinner its different. I will try👍🏻
I remember when I was an airbrush noob I assumed as the paint was for an airbrush it was already thinned and just used it straight from the bottle. You can imagine what happened next 😢
Really like Vallejo paints but found Tamiya masking tape can pull the paint off, even after using Mr Surfacer primer and leaving them 48 hours to dry, so moved on to Tamiya acrylics which are lovely to use. Its just a shame Tamiya don't do more colours.
Vallejo is the best, years of experience, the brand really made their own products on factory and historical accuracy is a reference, no "scale effect" or other tricks, just FS, BS, RAL, RLM...
The psi was at 18 and i did spray all the paints in the same manner, the other paints didnt react in the same way. Every paint needs another handling, but for testing the conditions should be equal for every contestant. I start to believe Ammo paints are the divas of acrylic paints😄 Thanks for the feedback!
@@RustyscaleShow understood but!! Always a but! Hahahaa. In my experience - no water based acrylics should be sprayed like that.. Building up light coats is the the proper way. Even Mig Jimenez teaches that in all his videos. So in my humble opinion, and I’m not expert by any means, I’m just speaking from my own experience and learning from others who are much better than me - like yourself, for you to get accurate results, the paints should be sprayed in the way the manufacturer has recommended. I’m not knocking you at all. I promise. You have a great channel. Just something I saw in your video that maybe might have skewed the results - slightly. Trust me, I know my opinion doesn’t mean squat. I’m a nobody so just an observation on my part!
Ah really? Thats interesting, but between these acrylics the price difference is at a small level. And these bottles last quite a while (in the scale i use them though)
@@RustyscaleShow I own a hobby shop and sell the Vallejo for $4 Canadian(.23 cents per ml, and with the new 18ml bottles, brings it down to .22 cents per ml). If I had the AK in the shop they would be $5.75(.34 cents per ml), and the Atom paints would be $6.75(.34cents per ml) All 3 come from Spain, so any import taxes, duties, etc, etc, added to them, would be the same. The Atom paints intrigue me, but really don't look like they offer much, if any advantage over Vallejo
I know you didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of whether the colors are accurate, but I think it's at least noting that the Atom looks green, which is completely wrong. It almost looks like a match for the IJN green that draws so much contention. The Vallejo looks gray. The only one that really looks like a light blue is the AK (middle one?). Of course, it's hard to tell via a video seen on a phone screen.
I agree . The atom looks like rlm 78 and neither of the others looked light blue enough . I've recently bought 20 ak gen 3 paints and i will be buying more . Love em , easy ,even compared to tamiya and you get 7ml more .. result .
Yes i thought the same thing tbh, it seemed to me the Atom version of RLM 65 looks more like RLM 76, which is also light blue but has a greenish tone to it. But its a highly contested colour tone anyway. I also think the AK, in the middle, matches best to my eyes. Thanks for the feedback!
@@RustyscaleShow I will go out on a limb and be fairly confident that RLM 65, or any other paint, whether Allied, or Axis, during WW2, likely had a variety of hues, depending upon who manufactured the paint, the base they used, etc. For example, I owned a SUV, and my brother wanted to repaint a panel. He took the paint code to get the paint mixed: the same paint code had four different hues, depending upon which manufacturer made the paint for FORD. The only way to get the true match was to take the gas cap off, and they scanned the paint, from the inside cap color to get the correct hue. So, even in this day and age of technology, chemistry and science, other than prime colors, there can be a variety of hues for the same color. Great video, BTW.
You def overthinned the Atom. They also have Atom thinner, what you used was not Atom. I thin my Arom with DIY thinner and it works awesome. Better than Atom thinner. 🤣
Yes, i didnt have the Atom thinner, just the regular Ammo acrylic thinner. But as you and other mentioned, there is even better thinner for the Atom line than the Ammo one. Thanks for the feedback!
A very superficial test; you didn't check the durability of the paints (e.g., the masking tape test) or how the paint behaves during sanding. Moreover, it's worth watching videos from paint manufacturers first, where they clearly show how to handle their paints. You do seem to favor Vallejo, but their Model Air series is poor and has weak adhesion.
As mentioned in the video, if i do a test i want to push the boundaries a bit to see how products can perform under rough conditions. Not only how they do react to perfect treatment.
@@RustyscaleShow But there were no harsh conditions here... You should have applied a layer of undiluted paint directly onto bare plastic, plus tested how the paint behaves with overspray - that would have shown something. As it stands, this test only told me that each paint has a different shade.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I recently switched to mainkly spraying ATOM after using Vallejo and AK for years. My experience with ATOM have been absolutely amazing. They selflevel better than the other two, they spray better than the other two in every regard (tipdry, smoothness and atomization, using a H&S Ultra 2024 with ~20-25 PSI, paint thinned about 50:50), and unlike any other acrylic they dry to the same saturation and tone both sprayed and brushed. (they brush great also). For me, they are the best true acrylics and they have impressed me greatly. Yes, some of the colors doesn't dry to a complete flat finish, but since when is that a problem? I don't know anyone who does not put a varnish on anyway :)
I recommend anyone to watch Panzermeister36's review of the ATOM paints.
Thank you for this excellent demonstration, very informative on these 3 fairly similar paintings. I mainly use acrylic lacquers such as Tamiya and Gunze but would like to move towards “real” acrylics. I wonder if the 3 paints in your test can be polished with a cloth to obtain a final satin finish.
This is why I love the RLM, RAL & FS codes. It allows you to match colour to text descriptions regardless of the brand's own naming convention.
Yes i wish they had these codes for all the ww2 colours, it makes things a lot easier
Thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for your review of the Spanish Big 3 of paints. I use all three and find they all have their plusses and minuses. I have recently started using Atom paints and I find them very good. They are a different formulation and have to be used somewhat differently than previous Ammo paints. They have to be shaken more than previous Ammo acrylics because they tend to separate more when they sit. Second you used a bit too much thinner and I find that the Atom specific thinner works better than the regular Ammo thinner. They also should be applied differently than standard Ammo acrylics. Thin coats work better. They self level much better than other paints I have used and I you accidentally "flood" the surface it won't be a disaster, just don't use heavy coats and the results will be better. I agree that I don't like the new bottles very much. You have to hold them vertically to dispense paint and it makes it hard to count drops. If you hold them horizontally as most of us are used to, the paint runs down the flat area around the hole and gets messy, but they do brush paint fantastically, which I can't say of the other two.
Yes the Atom paints are fantastic to handbrush. Unique coverage for acrylic paints. I have just ordered the Atom thinner and im looking forward to test it.
Thanks for the feedback!
Rusty I want to thank you for these videos. I use enamels for paint but also thinking about going to acrylics,so these videos like yours and Manns model moments help in deciding of going to this medium.also I see that the Vallejo is a thinner paint cause of some of the black base was showing through in the edges on the video.
Yes, its likely Vallejo lets more of the underneath base showing through and maybe needs one more coat on top.
Thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for your review. I already use Vallejo Model Air and AK Gen3, and I do prefer the latter. Unfortunately I’m not able to airbrush German WW2 camouflage with these acrylics. For German WW2 camouflage I still use my Mr.hobby lacquers. I'm not sure if I will test Atom because I find that there are not enough FS/RLM/BSC colours in their range.
I really think Atom are made for high covering easy brush painting figures. Not primary for fine airbrush works.
A lot of people swear on Mr.Hobby RLM colours, heard only good things about it.
Thanks for the feedback!
I like Vallejo. I think the bottom line is to find a paint you like and, if it works well for you, stick with it. Thanks for the review.
Exactly! It takes some time to get the right handling. Once found its best to stick with it👍🏻
Thanks for the feedback!
Really helpful and I have subscribed. I’d like to know how they respond to Tamiya masking tape if possible. Thanks again for your help. Les
Good point, everybody uses these right? Thanks for the feedback!
I don’t think that’s the thinner for the new atom line. I also think you over thinned it.
How about a Hataka vs Lifecolour vs AK 3rd Gen or Model Air (as a control sample) now? My 'thinner' mix for acrylic is 70% flow improver + 30% thinner and then add 10% retarder to that. I'm using AK 3G. I have used Atom for detail brush painting and they are excellent. I'd like to try through the airbrush but I build almost exclusively RAF aircraft, so I'm waiting for an appropriate colour set to come out
I have Hataka ordered and ready😃.
Atom are okey with the airbrush but in my opinion they are not made for it and AK 3rd Gen or Model Air are better options
Thanks for the feedback!
Life colour is awful
@@RustyscaleShow I've just bought the Atom Early WWII RAF set and it's really disappointing - not the paint itself, but the colour match. They have produced a Sky colour but the brown and green are from other sets and are way off. Bizarrely, they've also included a 'Duck Egg Green' which is of little use, rather than a cockpit green. Even a black would have been better.
I think the Atom paint broke down because you overthinned it the first time and then made it worse by diluting it again to 50 percent. From what I could find on the Mig site they recommend 30 percent thinner to paint ratio for airbrushing. I think this is one of the acyclic paints that is meant to be sprayed with a thicker consistency then milk. Mission Models paints is another brand that comes to mind that is the same.
Not a fan of the Atom bottle design, but according to the video from Mig I watched you are supposed to tip them completely vertical and then the drops will come out of the bottle in a controlled fashion. They specifically mention not to tip the bottle and then try and get the paint out at an angle, which is what you did and I think most of us do when handling these types of paints. I don't have an Atom bottle to try this with, but might be worth experimenting with. Unfortunately I cant find the video to link here for you, but the demo was by Mig Jimenez himself and was at some model show. He was also spraying the paints with no thinner and did make a point you don't need a lot of thinner for these paints. Perhaps you might be able to find the video on UA-cam. Anyway, you might want to repeat your experiment with 30 percent thinner and perhaps no thinner at all and a higher airbrush pressure and see if you still get the spotty finish with the Ammo paint. I would be curious if with less thinner that still remains a problem for you. Thanks for putting up the video. Always interesting to see other modellers experience with paints. Cheers, Dan
Okey so 30 percent thinner is recommended. This would suggest to use a bigger sized needle and more air pressure than i usually use. But i couldnt work the way i want under these conditions. So this is another proof, Atom paints are best applied by brush in thicker consistency.
I will try to use the bottle as suggested by Mig and see if it works better👌🏼
Thanks for the feedback!
Like your review and have subscribed. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the feedback!
thank you for your video and dedication. I still can not understand or find any advantage acrylics have over lacquers besides the toxicity, which should be managed correctly with ventilation. Everything is difficult, takes more time or insufficient to compare with lacquers. I'm a long time fan of Mr.Color and now discovered MRP paints. I will not change even if Mig is a great guy.
I changed from laquer to acrylic paints mainly because they're (almost) non-toxic and dont smell that strong. My kids often jump into my hobbyroom to check out what im doing and i always had to send them out, if i was working with laquers (usually not without having to argue with them).
But basically i do love laquer paints as well.
Thanks for the feedback!
Vallejo now has a new formula for 2024 that now comes in clear 18ml instead of 17ml bottles. Wonder how it compares.
That is good to know. I will try to get my hands on it.
They spray fine but are useless for brush painting. They get bubbles in them that don’t pop and leave texture once dry.
@ Mig Ammo Atoms better alternative?
@@RP-ck8ymyou paint too. fast and paint too thick. Once you paint slowly and keep every layer thin, there will be no bubbles. That's your problem more than the paints.
I don't think you mixed the Atom paint sufficiently, hence the pigment spotting.
Atom is by far superior, Vallejo is far too fragile and susceptible to finger marks and damage in it's initial coat without any varnish.
It's clear to me you set out to favour Vallejo.
Regarding control of paint flow from the Atom bottle, they advise holding the bottle vertical before squeezing bottle.
Finally, I much prefer Atom thinned with Mr Thinner levelling thinner which has a great grab ability when dry.
Well no matter how long i mix any Ammo acrylic paint in general, the pigments are separating a bit. Its always happening. Maybe with levelling thinner its different. I will try👍🏻
I don’t think that was the right thinner for it. It’s supposed to act like enamel paint which tells me it’s probably alcohol based or something.
I remember when I was an airbrush noob I assumed as the paint was for an airbrush it was already thinned and just used it straight from the bottle. You can imagine what happened next 😢
I think i know exactly, cause i been there too😄
Really like Vallejo paints but found Tamiya masking tape can pull the paint off, even after using Mr Surfacer primer and leaving them 48 hours to dry, so moved on to Tamiya acrylics which are lovely to use. Its just a shame Tamiya don't do more colours.
Interesting - I have been using the Tamiya tape with airbrushed Vallejo on Tamiya spray primer for years without a problem.
Tamiya for the airbrush every time for me.
Vallejo is the best, years of experience, the brand really made their own products on factory and historical accuracy is a reference, no "scale effect" or other tricks, just FS, BS, RAL, RLM...
Atom also has their own thinner. I feel like you had too much pressure when you were spraying the Atom. You blasted it on there full nozzle
The psi was at 18 and i did spray all the paints in the same manner, the other paints didnt react in the same way. Every paint needs another handling, but for testing the conditions should be equal for every contestant. I start to believe Ammo paints are the divas of acrylic paints😄
Thanks for the feedback!
@@RustyscaleShow understood but!! Always a but! Hahahaa. In my experience - no water based acrylics should be sprayed like that.. Building up light coats is the the proper way. Even Mig Jimenez teaches that in all his videos. So in my humble opinion, and I’m not expert by any means, I’m just speaking from my own experience and learning from others who are much better than me - like yourself, for you to get accurate results, the paints should be sprayed in the way the manufacturer has recommended. I’m not knocking you at all. I promise. You have a great channel. Just something I saw in your video that maybe might have skewed the results - slightly. Trust me, I know my opinion doesn’t mean squat. I’m a nobody so just an observation on my part!
Atom can be thinned with alcohol and lacquer thinner
Thank you for that. I shall try them both.
Weird that the Vallejo was the most expensive. Certainly not the case here in Canada. By far the least expensive
Ah really? Thats interesting, but between these acrylics the price difference is at a small level. And these bottles last quite a while (in the scale i use them though)
@@RustyscaleShow I own a hobby shop and sell the Vallejo for $4 Canadian(.23 cents per ml, and with the new 18ml bottles, brings it down to .22 cents per ml). If I had the AK in the shop they would be $5.75(.34 cents per ml), and the Atom paints would be $6.75(.34cents per ml)
All 3 come from Spain, so any import taxes, duties, etc, etc, added to them, would be the same.
The Atom paints intrigue me, but really don't look like they offer much, if any advantage over Vallejo
I know you didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of whether the colors are accurate, but I think it's at least noting that the Atom looks green, which is completely wrong. It almost looks like a match for the IJN green that draws so much contention. The Vallejo looks gray. The only one that really looks like a light blue is the AK (middle one?). Of course, it's hard to tell via a video seen on a phone screen.
I’ve used Vallejo RLM 65 and it looks a bit more blue….
I agree . The atom looks like rlm 78 and neither of the others looked light blue enough . I've recently bought 20 ak gen 3 paints and i will be buying more . Love em , easy ,even compared to tamiya and you get 7ml more .. result .
Yes i thought the same thing tbh, it seemed to me the Atom version of RLM 65 looks more like RLM 76, which is also light blue but has a greenish tone to it.
But its a highly contested colour tone anyway.
I also think the AK, in the middle, matches best to my eyes.
Thanks for the feedback!
@@RustyscaleShow I will go out on a limb and be fairly confident that RLM 65, or any other paint, whether Allied, or Axis, during WW2, likely had a variety of hues, depending upon who manufactured the paint, the base they used, etc. For example, I owned a SUV, and my brother wanted to repaint a panel. He took the paint code to get the paint mixed: the same paint code had four different hues, depending upon which manufacturer made the paint for FORD. The only way to get the true match was to take the gas cap off, and they scanned the paint, from the inside cap color to get the correct hue. So, even in this day and age of technology, chemistry and science, other than prime colors, there can be a variety of hues for the same color. Great video, BTW.
You def overthinned the Atom. They also have Atom thinner, what you used was not Atom. I thin my Arom with DIY thinner and it works awesome. Better than Atom thinner. 🤣
Yes, i didnt have the Atom thinner, just the regular Ammo acrylic thinner. But as you and other mentioned, there is even better thinner for the Atom line than the Ammo one.
Thanks for the feedback!
Funny that Vallejo is the most expensive. In the US, Vallejo is the least expensive for me.
Oh really? I didnt expect that. Must be a import tax thing or something.
Thanks for the feedback!
I rarely thin Vallejo, ammo the same goes down smooth as silk you over thin. Ak paint sucks
For me it's Vallejo
They are very reliable, but in this one the AK 3rd Gen did very good i must say.
Thanks for the feedback!
A very superficial test; you didn't check the durability of the paints (e.g., the masking tape test) or how the paint behaves during sanding. Moreover, it's worth watching videos from paint manufacturers first, where they clearly show how to handle their paints. You do seem to favor Vallejo, but their Model Air series is poor and has weak adhesion.
As mentioned in the video, if i do a test i want to push the boundaries a bit to see how products can perform under rough conditions. Not only how they do react to perfect treatment.
@@RustyscaleShow But there were no harsh conditions here... You should have applied a layer of undiluted paint directly onto bare plastic, plus tested how the paint behaves with overspray - that would have shown something. As it stands, this test only told me that each paint has a different shade.
I have been trying the new atom paints with skin colors. They are pretty decent so far. I only painted a pinup duet so far and it is good so far.