ICM US Cargo Trucks Acrylic Paint Set (3019)

[Mike]

US Cargo Trucks Acrylic Paint Set (3019)

ICM via Hannants

 

 

ICM have fairly recently released their own brand of acrylic paints on the market, and are creating some kit specific sets to go with their major releases, of which this is one.  The set arrives in a cardboard box with six screw-capped bottles inside, each containing 12ml of paint.  The bottles are clear Polypropylene, and are capped with cylindrical tops with knurled sides, and a one-time security seal that you break on first opening.  A label on the side gives you basic information about the colour and code, a little information regarding application in English and Ukrainian and a bar-code.

 

This set provides the major colours to assist you in painting your brand-new G7107 US Truck in 1:35 from ICM themselves, and you will find the following colours in the box:

 

 

1046 Blood Red

1003 Deep Yellow

1066 Grass Green

1068 Olive Green

1001 White

2003 matt Varnish

 

The paint is thick in the bottle, with plenty of headroom between the surface of the paint and the lip of the neck.  I dropped a glass stirring ball into each bottle, and they took a few seconds to disappear beneath the surface, indicating their viscosity.

 

 

During testing, I used Ultimate Acrylic Thinners to dilute the paint to spray through my Gunze PS770 airbrush, which has a 0.18 needle chucked in.  The paint dilutes well once it has been mixed thoroughly, and sprays well through my airbrush, which has a smaller than usual needle that is a good test of the finesse of the pigment grind of any brand, some of which don’t spray very well though anything less than a 0.3mm needle.  There were no problems with blockages at all, and the coverage was excellent after my usual ad hoc dilution method, which was probably nowhere near the 40-60% thinners or water that’s suggested on the pack.  Apart from the varnish, the other paints all dry to a matt finish.  It’s worth noting that in small letters on the side of the pack that if the ambient temperature is in excess of 25°c/77°f, you should use some flow improver to prevent the paint from drying on your brush/airbrush.  That’s probably true of most acrylic paints to an extent, and good advice considering the silly temperatures we seem to be enduring lately.

 

In past tests, the Satin Varnish worked very well diluted with water, sprayed over the spoons that were also partially taped up to perform two functions at once.  The satin patina that resulted is exactly what was expected, and the tape lifted no paint at all, despite my best efforts to do so.  Bear in mind that the spoons were prepped by a buff with a very fine sanding sponge to give them the best chance of adhesion.  Using a brush, the colours cover well two coats with minimal brush marks visible.

 

 

Conclusion

The paints are an excellent and cost-effective set.  There is a little less paint in the bottles than some brands, but a shade more than others, so it’s about average.  That is more than offset when you take into account the amount of thinning that will be needed and the very reasonable price they’re asking for the set, even at RRP.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd.

 

Review sample courtesy of

[bootneck]

Hi Mike,  I like using Acrylics and these ICM paints look to be worth a try and I have ordered a set.  Thanks for the review. 

 

cheers

Mike