In The Box

The ICM WWI German Aviation acrylic paint set contains six bottles, 12 ml each. The paints are water-based. The box contains the following:

• White (1001)
• Black (1002)
• Blood Red (1046)
• Light Earth (1056)
• US Dark Green (1072)
• Deep Sky Blue (1076)

The ICM website states that this set is best to be used with #72111 and #72121. These are WWI kits from ICM in 1/72 scale: Fokker E.IV and Pfalz E.IV fighters.

Application And Experience

The following instructions on how to use the paints can be found on the side of the box:

• Shake well before using
• Paint is prepared for a brush, for the airbrush dilute with water or thinner 40-60%.
• Use primer when painting with an airbrush
• Colors can be mixed with each other.
• If the ambient temperature is above 25°C, use a retarder.
• When applying an airbrush, first use primer

The bottles have a wide mouth, so it is easy to access the paint inside with a brush. The paint is rather thick, but it mixes easily both with water and a thinner. I used distilled water to thin the black paint, and it spayed very well with an airbrush at different air pressures. I was able to create thin lines using an Aztec airbrush. I also used the same black paint diluted with Tamiya acrylic thinner X-20A, and it worked equally well. I love how easy it is to clean these paints. If you clean a brush or an airbrush immediately after painting, you can easily rinse the brush clean or flush the paint out of the airbrush. Nevertheless, I used an airbrush cleaner after I first rinsed the tool with warm water. The characteristics of the paints are quite good. They dry to a matte finish. I recommend using two layers when painting with a brush and even more when using an airbrush. The paint is thin and multiple layers will help with getting uniform coverage and depth. In my sample demonstration, I used the brush and only one layer and one can see the brush strokes. However, the paint tends to level itself once dry. The airbrush example shows a nice uniform coverage using the black color. One other observation is about the paints’ durability. I recommend letting the paint dry and sealing it with a clear coat. This is because some of the paint rubbed off the surface when I handled the painted object too soon. After applying another coat of paint and sealing it with a ‘Future’ clear acrylic coat, I had no issues. I like these ICM paints because they provide quick access to the bottles, dilute easily, and clean super easily. I highly recommend these paints to modelers with a minor stipulation to seal them with a clear protective coat afterward.

My sincere thanks go to ICM for generously providing this paint set for review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it.