fajah Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Folks, Recently just bought a supply of AK Acrylic Lacquer paints to try them out. Current project is a Gull Gray over White Tomcat. I sprayed the Insignia White (slightly thinned w/ AK's recommended primer) on the bottom of the fuse and the flaps/spoilers on top of the wings. It went on great - nice and smooth - really impressed. I let it dry overnight (12+ hours) and then masked off the flaps/spoilers w/ a low tac mask set from Crossdelta. The mask pulled up some paint. Arrrrggg!!! As I'm brand new to using AK, wondering I'm what what I might have done wrong from those that have used it. Possible contributing factors: 1. I did NOT spray a primer first. In the past using Testors enamels, I have never used a primer coat and have never had any issues. 2. Was the paint not allowed a long enough time to cure/dry? 3. Was thinning the paint an issue? I read somewhere that AK supposedly can be sprayed right out of the bottle - however, it looked a little thick to me right out of the bottle so I thinned it, but again, I'm brand new to the product... Just wondering other folks experiences were w/ using AK. At this point, in order to salvage the project, I'm thinking that I need to lay down a coat of Future to protect what I've got, then prime the rest and proceed from there. Thoughts??? Really appreciate any input. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Beary Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) 1. Did you clean the surface of the model. Any mold release, skin oils, etc., will decrease adhesion. Alcohol works fine. 2. Priming would certainly have helped. I use Tamiya Fine white primer, sometimes right out of the spray can. 3 . A coat of Future won't solve your problem, as it is due to the adhesion of the paint to the surface of the model. It could actually make it worse...the masking tape will adhere to the Future and when you remove the tape it will pull off the Future and the paint. You will be just overcoating the problem. 4. I don't know how "low tack" the mask set is compared to Tamiya tape. You can always de-tack any tape by sticking it to your hand a few times. That masked area is pretty much all straight lines. De-tack some Tamiya tape and just mask with that. HTH Bob Edited April 21, 2020 by Bob Beary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bikerider Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I've used AK Real Colors on 3 or 4 models now. On all of them I used Tamiya primer (grey or white) and had no experiences with peeling paint after pulling up any masking, which has varied between Tamiya masking tape, Tamiya, flexible tape, and general Home Depot masking tape. Sounds like no primer is the issue. K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fajah Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) Appreciate the replies fellas. Hoping I don't have to strip paint and start from square one...but it is what it is. Never cleaned or primed using good old Testors enamels and never had any issues, but from here on, I'll definitely be doing both. Thanks again! Edited April 21, 2020 by fajah Grammar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tapchan Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 For my Hornet I've used AK RC 008 Maize Yellow. Terrible paint, extremely matt. I have their Russian Turquoise and it is ok, however 008 didn't want to mix properly with MLT. I've sprayed it on the primer, two light coats, everything fine, two medium coats, perfect, one extra medium coat and I left it to dry. When I was back to my bench hour later I've noticed something like cracks in paint. It seem all remaining MLT got grouped in lines and evaporated, leaving empty canyons in paint, to the level I had to fill it with putty, sand it and paint again, this time with yellow from gunze tinted with clear red a bit. Later on I have managed to mix RC008 a bit better with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner Retarder Type as it is more aggressive, and for thin layers it worked well (but still extremely matt). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Keroburner89 Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 Interesting, I had an issue as well with it adhering to some parts of my Hornet. I'm also having trouble shooting it through an airbrush, I've tried Isopropyl, tamiya thinners and Mr Color thinner Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fly-n-hi Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 (edited) Just to be clear you are talking about AK Real Color? There is no "AK Acrylic Lacquer" (at least there isn't in the US). I'm not trying to split hairs but mis-labeling paints can make things more confusing. Mr Color thinner works very well with AK Real Color. Id recommend using it. Edited May 22, 2020 by Fly-n-hi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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