Box Art / Packaging

The ICM Paint set for Ancient Warriors (ITEM 3068) is presented in a stiff glossy cardboard sleeve and contains 6 12ml paint pots. Box art depicts a Roman Centurion on the front with depictions on the rear of a Roman Centurion and a Roman Gladiator with recommendations for use of the colors provided for each.

The Kit / Paints

The provided paints are presented in small 12ml plastic pots with screw tops and each lid also clearly depicting the color and color ID which is useful for storage. In this case we are provided with Paint# 1019 (Rusty Brass), 1020 (Bronze), 1024 (Silver), 1026 (Oily Steel), 1047 (Matt Red) and 1053 (Leather Brown). No ball bearings are added to the paint for easier shaking/mixing, however the paint pots are small and vigorous shaking is sufficient to prepare appropriately.

The Build / Paint Use

To test out these paints, I 3D printed a crude representation of a Roman Soldier as my test subject.

The Hawker Hurricane saw combat in many theaters of operation, performing different roles (interceptor, ground attack, night fighter, etc.), and served with several different air forces. This allows the modeler to finish their model in different camouflage schemes, different markings, and with different under-wing stores.

Euro Decals provides us with a sheet for a total of 8 airframes, two of them being night fighters (all-black), a recon bird (very dark blue), and the remaining 5 airframes provide a combination of Day Fighter schemes. These include European, Desert Schemes (North Africa), and a very unusual scheme of Dark Green/Mid-Stone/Azure blue used in Burma. Considering all the markings provided on the sheet, you can probably build 3 or 4 different models utilizing this sheet, which increases the value of it. A minor note is that no stencils are provided, but typically you can get them from the in-the-box sheet included with your model.

Euro Decals has provided IPMS/USA reviewer corps with a wonderful decal set for the WWII North American P-51 Mustang Mk. III (P-51B/C variant) in service for the Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Airforce. There is no specific mention of a preferred model company for this decal set.

This 1/72nd scale decal sheet covers eleven (11) schemes:

The Mitsubishi Ki-51 Sonia is one of those aircraft that has been consistently neglected by model kit manufacturers. Nichimo produced a kit in 1975 and that was the only option available until 2019 when Wingsy surprised Japanese aircraft model enthusiasts with a new tool kit. Yahu from Poland produces photo-etch instrument panels for a large number of kits including the Ki-51. I do not own any Yahu photo-etch instrument panels so this review allowed me to get a first hand look at their products.

ICM has released a plethora of German medium bombers in the He-111, Ju-88s and Do-17 family. It is only natural to include bombs for them! What do you do if you don’t necessarily want the big kit? Or you want to add to your diorama? Well, ICM helps you out with sets like this one. It comes in a sturdy cardboard box with a cover bearing a nice photo of the contents.

Unusual for me is the inclusion of torpedoes. The instructions are on two separate sheets: one for the bombs and one for the torpedoes. They are printed on high-quality paper with full color painting instructions/decal placement. A sheet of decals is included. They look and work perfectly. There are six sprues of light grey plastic that is flash free. The grey is a little soft. That is a good/bad thing. Good when gluing but a bit of a challenge when cleaning up small and thin pieces.More on that later.