ICM Army Of Ice ICM 1:16 (DS1601)

[Julien]

Army Of Ice

ICM 1:16 (DS1601)

 

 

ICM have now boxed three of their "Game of Thrones" kits, (which they cant call as such due to licencing reasons?) into a single box.

 

King Of The Night

The kit comes on one sprue of grey styrene and one of black, with a separate black pedestal. There is a clear part for the Ice Sword. The parts are very well moulded with no sign of flash or other imperfections, and while the build is relatively simple, the painting will be a challenge to get the look right. Being 1:16 scale it’s large enough for the detail to be seen and painted, yet small enough to have a nice collection in a display cabinet.

 

 

As with the other kits in 1:16 the instructions are not very clear.  They consist of a colour drawing of the completed and painted model, with the parts numbered and arrowed. At least ICM have included some detail drawings on the painting guide this time, rather than having to squint and guess. As the kit is fairly straightforward it probably won’t worry the seasoned figure builder, but it might give the beginner some pause for thought. 

 

The kit comes with a nicely moulded pedestal with just single option of top. Alternatively the figure can be presented on a plain flat base.

 

 

 

 

 

Great Other

This is a White Walker.  They're a race of cold bluish people with shrivelled skin from beyond the Wall that at the beginning of the show hadn't been seen for thousands of years, but the first person to survive an encounter also inadvertently discovered how to kill them – Dragon Glass.  They have the ability to reanimate the dead by touching them, which was a welcome aspect for me, as I'm quite partial to a Zombie movie, but that's not the main thrust of the show, although it becomes more relevant toward the end.  

 

This is a new tool from ICM and it arrives in one of ICM's usual smaller top-opening boxes with the captive internal flap, and inside is one sprue of grey styrene, a smaller black sprue and separate part for the base, plus a clear sprue containing just the staff.  The instructions are on a single glossy sheet of A4 with a sprue diagram on the reverse, and you also get a glossy A4 print of the artwork that should be of assistance when it comes time to get the paint out.

 

 

 

Construction is straight forward with separate head, long hair at the back, two-part torso, separate legs with individual feet joined at the instep, arms with moulded-in shoulder armour, and four sections of his leather "skirt" armour.  His hands have separate fingers to allow him to grasp the clear staff/spear, and all the skin is moulded with the shrivelled, sunken flesh that's typical of their species.  Because the leather skirt is made from strips, some part of his butt can be seen between the sections, so be warned that there are a couple of wrinkly cheeks to cope with, but this realism extends no further, leaving a featureless "Action Man" crotch at the front.  The spear is clear (sorry about the rhyme) and differs from the box art and instructions which depict it as having a wooden or leather wrapped shaft.  The part has the ice blade, but has a spiral groove running down the clear shaft, so check your references and if you feel the urge to wrap it with strips of leather (which is what it looks like to me) or replace it entirely, feel free to do so.

 

 

The base is a sculpted oval affair, with separate top and bottom sections that you can either paint or add a little ground work to as you see fit.There are no decals as you'd expect, and the instructions tell you to paint the body white and give him blue eyes.  The "real" thing was actually a myriad of subtle shades of blue with translucent whitish highlights that will be taxing to replicate, but if done well will look exceptional.  I'd seriously think about installing a couple of dim blue LEDs in the eye sockets too, as if you don't, someone else will.

 

 

Wight

This chap is described as a “Wight”, but one look at the box art makes it eminently clear that it’s one of the undead army from Game of Thrones.  If you ignore the last season especially, it was quite a show and there will still be lots of fans out there that thought that the last season was unfulfilling, but doesn’t detract from the earlier seasons. 

 

 

The parts on the sprue are well-moulded and have various textures as appropriate for this rather stinky, rotten fellow.  He’s wearing the remains of some trousers with cloth shoes, and bits of armour on his shoulders, butt and one of his feet, with a patch of chain-mail on his groin, held up by an old belt.  The rest of his tunic is missing below his rib cage, and his chest is easily seen through the gaps and holes in his clothes, which is achieved by adding sections of the outer layer over the chest.  The arms are as thin and desiccated as the chest, and the head is equally thin, damaged and puckered, with lips shrunk back and teeth bared.  Altogether a scary visage, as you can see from the magnified part of the photo.  In his right hand he is carrying an old axe, which has his fingers separate in order to latch onto the axe.

 

 

The base is moulded in black, and has a top and bottom plate to close up the fluted sides, and if you elect to add some groundwork that should make for easier creation and allows you not to bother with masking during the process.

 

Conclusion

If you’re a figure modeller, or fan of the show then these will be a great way to pass the time. The painting will require a great deal patience to get right. This is really nicely made though and although quite small, and it will look really nice in the display cabinet.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of