1930’s era Gangsters had a certain fascination to many people. I’m sure most people have seen the movie Bonny and Clyde. The figures in this set of three brings us back to that time period without having to rob banks, get into firefights with law enforcement, the risk of prison or worse!!

The Kit: 24054

The kit, provided by the manufacturer ICM, based in Ukraine contains three Gangster figure that include two male and a female, the Gun Moll!! Injected molded with crisp detail and clean parts that contain no flash. The parts for the figures are contained on a single sprue. There are two additional sprues that are identical to each other, which contain a Colt Model1911 hand gun as well as the legendary Thompson Sub Machine with your choice if a stick magazine or the drum mad and the Colt in the other. Also, a three piece valise is included on the sprues.

Construction began with the running male holding the valise in one hand and the Colt in the other. He was assembled with no problems and primed. I left off the arms Colt, valise and his hat for final assembly to aid in painting.

Next up was the standing man holding the Tommy Gun. He was a little more complex due to the detail that made up the shirt, tie and vest that would be visible under the jacket, The jacket front is two separate pieces. This allows the vest and shirt area to be painted before the jacket front is added and facilitates painting of this area. The arms and Tommy Gun were painted and when assembled saw white glue used to attach the arms and gun in the correct position. A small amount of liquid cement was used to finalize the arms and gun position and allowed to dry.

The Gun Moll required some additional planning to incorporate the painting into the construct. The legs were assembled then placed within the two skirt halves. The outside of the skirt was painted. The upper torso was assembled and attached to the leg and skirt assembly. The Moll also has a floppy hat and a scarf. These were added late in the assembly process. She’s also running and carrying two money bags.

Painting, as mentioned took place during the construction phase as details are layered so painting was done to accommodate this. Military figures are my go to type of figure, and painting civilians was a pleasant change for me. It expanded my color pallet while using colors I normally don’t use. I have very few references for this time, so I thought back in time and remembered some of the clothes I recall hanging in my grandparents’ closet!! That influenced my color decisions and the overall look. An example are the shoes worn by the gunner. They have white fronts and brown rears that I vividly recall in my grandfathers closet!! Once the colors were figured out painting was straight forward. I used some of the colors included in the paint set to good effect.

For a base I found a flooring sample I had picked up at a local home center. There are brass pins anchoring the figures in place.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable build. The figures are produced in a a manner that is logical and go together easily. The only clean up I found were where the subassemblies joined. A quick scrape with a hobby knife and a few passes with sandpaper did the trick in most places. Where there were slightly larger gaps a small amount of acrylic putty applied made short work of seam clean up. The completed figures look good and show nice detail overall. This was a very enjoyable project from start to finish and cool subject matter. I highly recommend this kit to anyone that’s interested in Gangsters and this era, or anyone wanting a change of pace.

Paint Set: #3089

Included with my review sample was a paint set titled Gangster Paint Set. How appropriate!! The set of 6 ICM acrylic colors contains one each of # !001 White, #1002 Black, # 1007 Red, #1010 Blue, #1033 Sky Grey, and # 1053 Leather Brown. The pigments are finely ground, and the paint delivers excellent coverage. I only brush painted these colors and they performed very well off the brush. Thinning was accomplished with distilled water. I would be interested to see how these paints airbrush, but that’s something for another time. The set is marketed for the Gangster figure kit, and the instructions paint guide call for colors not included in this set. A well-stocked paint rack is helpful. There aren’t any set colors that in play when painting civilian clothing, so your imagination is the only limitation to what paint you select, that and memories of our grandparents closets!! . I found the IMC paints provide great coverage and a short dry time leads to a nice flat finish after two coats. I recommend this set for a classic color pallet and great coverage.

I enjoyed this build and liked the paint set.

Thanks to ICM and IPMS/USA for providing this sample for review.