AK 3Gen Acrylics: A Painter's Guide to the Whole Range

If you have stood in front of our paint rack and wondered which one brand gets the most hype, the answer is usually AK 3Gen. It is one of the deepest acrylic ranges we carry, with more than two hundred colors in 18ml dropper bottles, and it covers everything from historical tank greens to fluorescent magenta. That depth is great once you know your way around it and a little overwhelming when you do not. So here is how we explain the range to people at the counter.

How the 3Gen range is organized

AK sorts 3Gen into families, and each bottle's label is marked with a colored circle for its family. Knowing the families is the fastest way to shop the line.

• Standard colors. The backbone of the range and most of what is on the shelf. This is where you find the deep run of historical and military tones (Russian Green, German Field Grey, US Dark Green, Deck Tan, Hull Red) alongside fantasy staples and a full ladder of skin tones from Dark Flesh up to Light Flesh.
• Intense colors. Black, White, Deep Red, Deep Blue, Deep Green, Deep Yellow, Deep Orange, Deep Purple, Deep Violet, Deep Brown and Pink. These are the high-strength anchors you mix from, and the black and white are what many painters reach for first.
• Color Punch. A small set of ultra-pigmented colors like Greenskin Punch, Dragon Blood, Black Purple, Sun Red, King Purple and Beast Brown. They are built for saturated shadows and mid-tones that stay vivid even after you thin and blend them.
• Metallics. A big set with fine pigment: Gun Metal, Natural Steel, Oily Steel, Silver, Aluminum, plus Gold, Old Gold, Rusty Gold, Brass, Bronze, Copper and Burnt Tin. There are also colored metals like Cobalt Blue, Anodized Violet, Foundry Red and Emerald Metallic Green for armor and sci-fi tech.
• Pastels and clears. Pastel Blue, Pink, Peach, Violet, Green and Yellow for soft highlights and cartoon palettes, and transparent Clear Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Smoke for lenses, gems, glowing effects and tinted glazes.
• Effects. Chipping Effect, Blood Effect and Viscera Effect do jobs a regular paint cannot, from worn paint on a vehicle to something much messier on a monster.

Building a starter set without buying the wall

Nobody needs two hundred bottles to start. Our usual advice is to pick one project, paint that, and buy for it. A good first basket looks something like this:

• A primer. The 3Gen primers come in 100ml bottles in Black, Grey and White, are self-leveling, and work by brush or airbrush. Grey is the forgiving middle choice if you are not sure.
• Black and White Intense. You will use these on nearly every model, for mixing, lining and highlights.
• Three to five colors for your scheme. A main color, a secondary, a skin or cloth tone and one accent. Pick the bottles by the model in front of you, not by the color chart.
• One metallic. Gun Metal or Natural Steel for weapons, Old Gold or Brass for trim.
• A medium. The auxiliary line includes Matte, Gloss, Glaze and Metal Medium plus a Retarder. Glaze Medium is the one that changes how you paint, because it lets you thin color into smooth transparent layers without just adding water.

That is roughly a dozen bottles. At $4.99 for most 18ml colors it is a reasonable way to find out whether you like the paint before you commit to a full palette.

If you airbrush, add the AK 3Gen Acrylic Thinner. It keeps the paint flowing through the needle without breaking it down the way plain water can.

Who 3Gen suits best

3Gen is a strong fit for anyone who paints across genres. Scale modelers like it because the historical colors are named for the real vehicles and uniforms they match, which saves a lot of guesswork on a tank or aircraft kit. Miniature painters like the Color Punch and Intense sets for high-contrast fantasy and sci-fi work, and the skin-tone ladder is one of the most complete we stock. Gunpla and model-kit builders get a good range of greys and colored metallics for panel work and detail picks.

It is also a good second brand. If you started with another line and want a specific shade it does not make, there is a decent chance 3Gen has it, and acrylics from different brands generally play fine together on the same model.

Shop the range

You can browse every color on the AK 3Gen paints collection and we ship nationwide. If you would rather see the bottles in person,  Lemoyne, Pennsylvania carries AK 3Gen, and staff are always happy to help you match a scheme or put together a starter basket. Bring the model, or a photo of it, and we will help you pick.