I purchased directly from AK Interactive (Spain) a set of their new 3rd Generation AFV series paints, German Standard Colors 1943-1945. I already purchased stateside their 3rd Gen thinner. Regrettably, I could not get the 3rd Gen paint to spray well using their thinner, and experienced very bad tip dry (I followed AK instructions, various ratios, etc). I also tried other thinners, Ammo by MIG, Tamiya X20A, Vallejo thinner and flow improver, all to no avail…tip dry too quickly out of my Iwata Eclipse.
AK praises their 3rd Gen paints stating that they spray like lacquer paints with no clogging and no tip dry…no such luck with my extensive experimentation…until…
Today, I decided to use Createx’s 4012 Reducer and 4030 Balancing Clear with the 3rd Gen paints…my mix worked great out of my Iwata Eclipse HP-CS at 15-20 psi! Sprayed without any noticeable tip dry, and no clogging. My mix was as follows:
3 drops paint - AK 3rd Generation Ral 7028 (AK11318)
10 drops 4012 Reducer (yes, the paint is extremely thick!)
2 drops 4030 Balancing Clear
The 4030 Balancing Clear imparts a nice satin sheen (I bet will suffice for wet decaling).
4012 and 4030 are available from Spraygunner, Coast Airbrush and many others. I use these mediums when spraying Createx Airbrush Colors…they work great with AK Gen 3 paints as well!