Apparently it is very controversial that I sprayed these paints at ~28 psi through a 0.3 airbrush. Well, currently where I live it is very very cold and very very dry. I need 22 psi to airbrush Tamiya lacquers thinned >60% with MLT. In the summer I can spray those below 15 psi. With a different airbrush and different conditions, you should be able to spray the ATOM below 20 psi. I literally showed spraying them at 22 psi in the video. This is why I often hesitate to give specific details on exactly what pressure and thinner ratios I use, because I get comments from someone saying they did exactly what I did and it didn't work. Your airbrush itself, the local air pressure, temperature, humidity etc. will all mean you have to fine-tune your paint slightly. I'm giving a baseline. This hobby always requires trial and error and learning for each modeler.
Apologies to you Evan for the unpleasantness I caused behind the scenes. That was a private comment, not meant for anything outside a locker room type of chat, and have no idea how it got grabbed and shared in such a manner. I am sorry to you personally if this caused undo concern and harm to you in any way. The entirety of the comments were deleted and I posted a private apology to my Discord, as well. It was unprofessional and said in poor taste, and regret saying it -- I wish you the best with your hobby endeavors. I spent time watching the entire video and you do a very thorough and complete review of AMMO's newest paint. I also agree 100% with the above post on airbrushing, as it is very reliant upon one's setup equipment and region/season.
Thank you for the apology Mike. Let's leave it at that. And that goes for other peoples' future comments below this too... I try to keep it respectful on this channel.
I think the issue might have been that you say "that's required for water-based pains" instead of "that's what I need to make water-based paints work where I live" or something similar. I was genuinely shocked when I heard you saying that, as a matter of fact 😅. I was going to point it out before I read your post. 😉
In summary of my review: Pros: They spray very well, have good coverage, great atomization. Durable when applied over primer. Fine lines were easy without much fine-tuning; not finicky like other water-based paints. Compatible with alcohol and lacquer thinners for airbrushing or cleaning. They have the same colour when applied by brush and airbrush, which is great for touch-up work. No issues with "tip dry"/no paint building up on the nozzle during painting -- forgot to mention that in the video. Cons: They are only available in 12-packs for ~$36; I think they should be sold individually too. Not as good as actual lacquers. Not durable on an unprimed surface. The ATOM paints are the best water-based acrylic I've ever airbrushed. I would highly recommend painting them only over primed models to help with adhesion. It was key to thin them around 50-60% with thinner (I used A.MIG-2000) and spray at 28 psi. For fine lines 80% thinner, 22 psi. Note the exact ratios and pressures may be different for you due to different air temperature, pressure, humidity, airbrush, etc. I will personally stick with my lacquers, but if you only spray water-based paints due to health/ventilation issues, these are something I would consider.
I have to admit that I'm curious about the performance of the paint under more extreme thinning, to the level of a glaze or wash; some acrylics don't hold up well to high levels of thinning with water, the pigment separating and not giving even coverage, so need a thinner that incorporates acrylic medium to keep the pigment suspended when highly thinned. Something to experiment with when I pick up a set to try.
Thank you for the review. I am a model railroader who custom weathers equipment for clients. I use mainly Tamiya and Vallejo Arcylics along with Pan Pastels due to the smell of lacquers. I’ve been looking for something different and this review convinces me to order some. Thank you
I'm amature painter to say the least but I bought a set of basic color Atom paints at Adepticon 24 and I have to say I was amazed at how clean the paints were. I hope to get more from them in the future!
Interesting review of these new colors with a good presentation how they works, your first impressions and what result you can achieve with them. Thanks for testing them, Evan. Wish you a nice weekend. Joachim
Hi Evan. Great to see you today. Lovely review on the paints. As you say the popularity of buying so many pots at once may be limited. Take care my friend and speak soon
Thanks for this fair review I, too, like versatility of lacquer paints when thinning them. Moreover, a lot of acrylics (ak, mig) dried after some months, but my old tamiyas where still usable 20 year after I bought them. Acrylics are great for detailing, with paintbrush.
Nice review sir. I watched the whole thing even though I will never use these paints. I was just impressed at how thorough your review was. Bruce would be proud.
Interesting results. Some of their new automotive colors have me intrigued, but not sure I'll make a change from lacquers. Thanks for taking the time (and expense if you paid out of pocket for these) to review them.
Was introduced to your channel through Reddit. This was an amazing review of the paint, and it's an extremely detailed take on it. A gunpla/resin model painter myself, so I'm not entirely familiar with all of the armour painting techniques and terms, but I think anyone could benefit from videos like these. Amazing job -- thank you!
thank you! got my airbrush almost a year ago and only used mig ammo paints. Im 90% happy with them and i guess the atom will bring the missing 10% 😁. But i mostly used single color cammos on tanks and have yet tried fine details like some German cammos.
Thanks for the Review Evan - not sure if you've ever used Acrylic Gouache - but at first glance they seen very similar. They spray on dead flat, are thinned with water and when dry are very difficult to remove (with water). When brushed leave no brush marks (when thinned with water) - and can be painted over when dry but won't blend or reactivate with water - (see Turner's Acrylic Paints for reference).
Great job Evan! Since I found out that I'm allergic to lacquers, I've been on the lookout for a good water-based paint for airbrushing. Oh how I miss my Real Colors though....
Why, oh, why did I have to see your review of new paints? :D Kidding, great review, thanks for the thorough look. Being a sucker for new paints, always on the hunt for the holy grail, I had to order a set. Or two... ;) Am curious how they hold up to mottling German WW2 planes and tanks with ambush camo. The fact that you can brush paint over sprayed parts is truly enticing. I am wondering how they sand. Did you try that with them? Cheers
Great to see you took the time for a good amount of testing, that should be really helpful to many fellow modellers out there. Will this make me change out my paint range? No, Revell Aqua paints are just working too well for me, it's nearly impossible to convince me that other stuff would deliver the same reliable results in my hands.
This product looks interesting! I will (hopefully) sonn begin using an airbrush and need to restart my paint collection, so this would be an awesome paint to use. The "starter pack"/bundle style of selling that is seenf or now won't be much of a problem for me at this point.
As someone who only airbrushes acrylics because pets and no place to properly ventilate anything outside, I really appreciate this review. It looks like they'll be a great addition to a paint collection. I'm especially impressed with how well the white seems to airbrush, both you and Workbench Hobbies showed that off well. Sets of 12 20mL paints for $36 isn't a bad price at all, either, even considering the limitations of sets only so far.
There are a number of videos and articles online about setting up an airbrush booth to vent into a bucket where you can't site it in a location you can vent out a window; not having watched them, I don't know how well they would work for trapping aromatics like lacquer or enamel solvents, but it's something you could give a few minutes to check out.
Thanks for doing this review . I am AK 3rd gen user and quite like them , that is when i use acrylics . I also use Laquers or Tamiya Acrylics mostly . If these come out in single bottles , i would give them a try , but not in 12 packs .
Thank you for this very exhaustive review. Looks like a convincing product. I use different acrylic paint brands: Tamiya, Mr Hobby, Vallejo for airbrushing and Revell Aqua with the hairy stick. My choice primer is Badger Stynylrez/Ammo one shot. I already have around 120 paints so I really wish they would sell these paints individually to test it before committing to extending my "collection".
@@Panzermeister36 I cycled back around to this prior ot giving these a try , personally never liked working with AMMOs earlier paints so we will see. I thought ..."I'm sure PM36 has reviewed these" , and here we are as a great reference !
*Thanks for the test, acrylic paints good as airbrushed or hand brushed are rare, so it's interesting to buy them but - as you wrote in comment - one by one as necessary.*
Thank you! Yes, I would prefer them to be available individually. That makes sense to me....I buy paint for a given project, not a whole line all at once.
Interesting, and thank you for the review, it was very well done. It left me with only one question. Did you experience any tip dry on your airbrush, especially when trying to do that fine detail camo work? Just curious as that's one of the biggest reasons I hate water based acrylics in airbrushes. I most likely won't be getting any of these, as I am like you and prefer lacquers, and have quite a huge stockpile of them. Couple with that, I don't think Ammo, or AK Interactive get their color interpretations close to anywhere accurate most of the time.
A good review Evan. I use MRP which are water based lacquer,but they stink to high heaven,and don't brush very well. I'll be interested in seeing what the hard edged camo comes out like,and i'd definitely give them a try. 👍
A very thorough review... Thank you. As a side note, working time is - of course - very important. As long as acrylic paints are fully cured [a day or more], there is very little risk of removing them unless you a/ really attack them chemically / mechanically or b/ unless you have painted on a poorly prepared surface - such as metal tracks that are greasy, rather than washed and primed. Recently, I have been experimenting with AV acrylics for heavy chipping effects without hairspray - apply primer and base colour in the usual way [let that cure for a day or more], then heavily dry-brush either a winter white or a contrasting colour for faded-out / chipped base paint [such as is seen on many modern era Soviet vehicles - where greens often chip and fade to bright mint green] and - after a few minutes - gently scrub that back with a stiff brush moistened in AV airbrush thinner. It works very well, and doesn't affect the sprayed on primer / base colour. It is also a lot more forgiving and controllable than hairspray which is often all or nothing.
My understanding is that they are discontinuing a few of the colours that aren't selling (20% of the line or so). The rest are being put into new dropper bottles. They're not discontinuing the whole line.
Generally, not impressed with the Mig/Ammo/Ak line of paints. Overpriced, overhyped and under-performing. This new line though, very interesting! Despite the quick drying time, they self-level very well and spray nicely with almost no tip-dry. Will I give them a try? I'm mostly adverse to supporting anything from Mig, the guy is the snake oil salesman of the modellimg world so, always reluctant to throw my money his way. I'll wait to hear more then maybe I'll give the Atom line a try. Thanks for the video, much appreciated!👍
Cheers Jerry. I'm of a similar opinion. The issue here is that you have to buy a 12-pack to test them out as they're not sold individually. It's a strange choice. I think many more people would be willing to give them a try if they could just buy one or two.
It’s almost overwhelming at how many paint options out there. I wasn’t impressed with the older Ammo paints. Actually contemplated throwing them in the garbage 🗑️
Guys stay with Tamiya, Mr. Hobby (Gunze) and Humbrol as well as decent Oil color brands you’ll get in an artist shop. You’ll also get pigments there. It is all about money. The above mentioned have decades of knowledge and won’t do you wrong nor let you down. I paused with the hobby for more than 10 yrs. The AK, MiG stuff efed up. Lately I sprayed a tank with Tamiya colors I bought in 2005 and Mr. Hobby. Rock solid and flawless paint job.
They are better than AK 3rd Gen for airbrushing, and I would say equivalent for brush painting. Colour accuracy I cannot judge yet as I haven't tried any of their historical colours beyond this 4BO green which looks fine.
I forgot to mention this in the video but I did not experience any tip dry after 45 minutes of painting. Now I did change colour and clean the airbrush by running pure thinner through it between each, but still no issues at all during 15 to 20 minutes of each colour without stopping.
I tried few acrylic paints/primers from mig/ammo, and they all sucked big time. Primers didnt stick to plastic/metal - they all peeled off easily under fingernail even tho i cleaned parts properly. Paints have great color range, but are IMO overpriced. For me nothing will beat automotive primer from can + custom mixed Tamiya paints. :)
I have not had good experiences with previous ammo paints, but their One Shot primer is simply re-labeled Badger Stynylrez which is a great primer. These new paints are very nice too. I am glad they are improving their quality.
Welcome to water-based paints buddy. I'm spraying it through a fine nozzle of the Badger Khrome; the surface tension of the water-based paint requires a higher pressure. Like I said, flow improver should help but it works fine. Hataka water-based paints are recommended to spray at 44 psi (3 bar).
Further detail: I'm spraying with the finest AB I have, at 28 psi. Of course, you'll need less pressure through a standard nozzle. In the pinned comment I've also described how the local pressure and temperature can affect spraying qualities. It's currently very very cold and dry where I live. Warmer and more humid conditions will make it easier to spray.
@@Panzermeister36well...imho hataka water based paints are the worst acrilic paints on the market. They are rubbish and lost money. I regret I have bought and tried it.
