ICM continues to be prolific with both kits and paint sets. The Acrylic Paint Set for US Armored Vehicles 1990-2000s continues this trend and consists of six 12ml wide mouthed paint bottles. The front packaging includes a presentation of a M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The back shows two M2 Bradley IFVs (Kit No. 72912) with color callouts for MERDC (Mobility Equipment Research & Development Center) Snow, Trees & Shrubs and Summer Verdant.

The MERDC scheme bridged the timeline in American military vehicles from the overall greens of the Vietnam era to the adoption of the three tone NATO camouflage in the 1980s. In December 1975, the US Mobility Equipment Research & Design Command introduced eight new camouflage schemes that were designated in Training Bulletin (TB) 43-0147, which were commonly referred to as MERDC camouflage. The MERDC schemes were adapted to different environments and had the common feature of having two main colors each of which covered 45% of the surface area of a vehicle, as well as two contrast colors that covered 5% each. These included three greens: Forest Green FS 34079, Dark Green FS 34102, and Light Green FS 34151; four browns: Earth Red FS 30117, Field Drab FS 30118, Earth Yellow FS 30257, and Sand FS 30277; as well as Black FS 37038 and White FS 37875. The different schemes were adapted to a verdant winter, summer and tropical verdant, two desert schemes (one for gray another for red desert), as well as two snow schemes (one for wood and shrubland the other for open terrain). Another winter arctic scheme was also specified which consisted of overall white and was the only one which did not have any disruptive pattern. The M2 Bradley is one of those combat vehicles that can be painted in overall green, MERDC and NATO camo.

The colors include:

• Camouflage Green (No. 1071)
• Green Brown (No. 1061)
• Middle Stone (No. 1060)
• Lime Green (No. 1064)
• German Field Grey (No. 1070)
• Off White (No. 1028)

Painting instructions are on the side of the packaging, stating

• Shake well before use
• Paint is prepared for a brush, for the airbrush dilute with water or thinner, 40-60%
• Use primer when painting with airbrush
• Colors can be mixed with each other
• If the ambient temperature is above 25^oC, use retarder

• When applying from airbrush, first use primer

Spoons were used for painting samples. The spoons were all given a primer of gray (Rust-Oleum Touch ‘n tone), followed by the top of the spoon being airbrushed, then the bottom brush painted by hand, with the line delineated by masking tape. Brush painting was remarkably easy, but a little patchier, particularly for the off white (as seen in the photos). Both methods dried quickly and have a flat appearance. I was impressed that some of the colors were hard to differentiate between airbrush and hand brush for the darker colors.

My only complaint about these great paints is that dropper style bottles are readily accessible and control paint distribution much better than this open-topped style. I tested thinning it with diluted water, Badger Spray Through and Vallejo thinners. All worked well and reconstituted the paint.

This is a good, one-stop acrylic paint set for US armored vehicles from the 1990s-2000s with the MERDC camouflage schemes. This is good paint for figures as brush marks disappear, and the paints are sturdy and dry matte. I look forward to using this paint set with an upcoming review of the ICM 1/72 M2 Bradley IFV (ICM No. 72912) in Snow, Trees & Shrubs MERDC scheme.

Slava Ukraini!

Profuse thanks to ICM (https://icm.com.ua/) and IPMS/USA for providing the review sample.