Introduction

ICM continues to release a range of 1/16th scale figures for the figure fan. The latest figure on the market in this scale from them is a Delta Force soldier set up for fighting in Mogadishu in 1993. The ill fated mission that has the film ‘Blackhawk Down’ is based on and so may prove popular with a wider audience.

Review

This release from ICM is packaged in the usual manner of a cardboard tray with flip top lid, and a separate card lid with an image of the product printed on it. Inside is a single re-sealable plastic bag containing all the parts for the models, including another bag with a clear sprue inside. Loose inside the box are the instruction sheet and a colour print of the box art. There is no decal sheet included which is a shame as the American flag badge will be needed at a minimum. I will say here that when news of this release came up the images did not fill me with anticipation as the figure just looked wrong, down to I believe the fact that no context is present; having built this offering I am far more impressed with the figure.

Starting with a look at the moulding quality and I am very pleased with what I see. The parts such as the arms and legs which I was concerned about due to being solid mouldings and so susceptible to have sink marks, I looked very closely and found nothing to concern me at all. The arms and legs are the only elements with seam lines that are harder to clean up due to the crease and bootlace detail present; one of the legs I had to attack again after it was primed as it showed up a seam line I had not got rid of completely. In all other respects I am very impressed with the efforts made by ICM.

The detail provided here by ICM is very good for injection moulded figures with the hands and face detail being exceptional in my opinion and the first time I can recall seeing internal mouth detail. The detail on the weapons could have easily been improved if slide moulding had been utilised on the weapons, but that aspect is well within the abilities of most modellers. The detail on the boots and the body armour/flak jacket is very pleasing with the lacing being well replicated on both aspects. The various storage pockets and ancillary equipment has all been well tackled in this release.

The Build

The removal of the parts from the sprues was an effortless step and required the minimum of clean up on everything except the arms and legs. As I said previously the clean up of these parts was made more difficult due to being large solid mouldings that had the crease detail of the clothing to contend with, I thought I had got it all but the undercoat revealed a significant area of the right leg needed further work. I like the fact that the tread of the boots is separate as it has allowed a great level of detail. The use of separate parts for the fingers of the right hand and thumb of the left hand has also allowed ICM to provide some very pleasing detail.

Beyond the main parts of the figure the equipment is helped in a number of locations by recesses and plugs and I advise that the modeller attaches the parts with locators and then the parts that do not have them. By tackling assembly in this way the parts should all end up correctly placed and not present the modeller with issues that need to be overcome. Once everything is added to the figure it does look good from many angles.

I stopped assembly with five pieces that will need to go together after painting; these parts consist of the shotgun, M4, helmet, head and the body. This approach has provided me with a figure that I can tackle with paint and be pleased with the result, you of course may think otherwise. I painted the figure with a mix of Model Master and Lifecolor paint; I know it is unusual to paint a subject with mix of paint types but I have confidence in both paints for my purposes.

Conclusion

This is an easy build that offers a good level of detail that make it visually appealing. The effort put into the face and hands by ICM is stunning for injection moulded plastic that with careful painting should result in a life like appearance. The details on the figures outfit could be made to really pop with some careful washes and shading. I would have liked to see slide moulding used with the weapons as I know ICM can do this to good effect. I was really concerned about the look of this figure when news of it was released by ICM and I am pleased that my concern was not justified. Please understand that this figure is in no way finished Iis to a level where I feel you can get a good idea of the products looks.