ICM 1/16 Viking

[Dave Ward]

I'd been thinking about 'what next', when Tim Marlow posted his lovely resin viking, so I'm going to do this................

I can remember buying this, but I can't remember starting it! A few bits have been joined & the shield has been painted, but all in early stages..........
The instructions - horrifyingly, they resemble the MiniArt 1/16 figure sheets, but that's as far as it goes.

He looks very much like an ordinary Viking, no fancy clothes, armour, or chain mail, just his helmet & his shield.
You get the option of a simple pot helmet, or one with a faceguard, and armed with an axe, or a sword.
I reckon the pot helmet, and because Vikings are generally depicted with an axe, I'm going to use the sword, helpfully ICM have provided an empty scabbard for this option. Several arrows are provided, either to stick in his shield, or maybe in the base, by his feet.
I'll take some detail pictures when I get to the bench later today ( busy morning! )
Dave

 

[adt70hk]

Looks interesting Dave. Will try to keep an eye on this.

ATB.

Andrew

 

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
Something different for you. Vikings do make great figures as Tim's showed.
Jim

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks great to me. Certainly more realistic clothing and equipment than the two I’ve done, which were fantasy Vikings to my eyes.
Interestingly, my other big Viking, Sven Brokenankle (the one jumping off the ships figurehead wearing chain mail and carrying three axes, if you can remember him) was completed using the shield design on the box art.

 

[Dave Ward]

Whilst waiting for the finishing touches on the Bergepanther to dry, a few pictures of what the state of play is on Hagar.........................

A bit of tidying up to do on legs & torso, before repriming.............

Alternative bits for the helmet - that True Metal will need striping off & redoing!
Face & one side of his head - doesn't look so good at this blow up!
There is unexpected detail, at this high magnification!

The shield needs the leather edge painting & that bright white needs toning down to a cream colour.
All in all, not too bad, the bits are all there, and anything I don't like, I can strip the paint back & start again
Dave

 

[papa 695]

Looks like a good kit David, and a very nice start.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Seat pulled up

 

[Dave Ward]

When I looked at the arms - I realised the sleeve cuffs were solid

Original solid cuff on the right. I used a small drill & honeycombed the end of one sleeve, then used a sharp, new scalpel blade to hollow out the end to give a little depth. I'll take another look tomorrow morning ( it's been a very gloomy day here ), and see if I need to dig the old Dremel out - mostly, it takes more time to set up, get plugged in etc than it's operation is worth - I can do the same with hand tools ( and more control ) just as easily ( not one of my more cost-effective purchases! ).
Dave

 

[adt70hk]

Nice save Dave. Shame about the solid sleeves.....

Andrew

 

[Jason Crausby]

Looking good so far Dave!

 

[Dave Ward]

A bit more work on the cuffs/sleeves I drilled a load of 0.8mm holes in the area to remove................

I used a new scalpel blade to remove the material between the holes, then a rotary rasp in a pin chuck to smooth everything out.

I'll paint the hollows black, to give depth.....

The legs are ready for painting, I've added the undertunic (?), and the way the construction works, I can detail paint & finish the legs & add to the base separately from the upper body.
I've added the arms to the torso, and I'll have to see whether adding the belts/scabbard/knife etc will cause problems if I add them now

The thing behind the torso is the plinth - a separate oval piece fits in the top, I'll have to decide what to have as groundwork - a shingle beach? , grass? or stone slabs in a church? Whatever it is it will be pretty simple
Dave

 

[Steve Brodie]

Thats a Lot of work but good on you for sticking with it , Its looking good. I suppose that's why resin figures cost a lot more.

 

[Dave Ward]

Thats a Lot of work but good on you for sticking with it , Its looking good. I suppose that's why resin figures cost a lot more.

Steve,
I have no idea of how much a resin 1/16 full figure would cost - but I know it would be far more than I'm prepared to pay!!!
The ICM injected model is around £24, but I'm sure I paid less! ( Polystyrene is not as dangerous as resin, anyway! )
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Well the 1/16th Viking lad that I just painted and posted retails at around sixteen pounds plus postage. It seems that resin figures at that scale are usually two to three times that price though……and metal figures are dearer again.

 

[Dave Ward]

More progress

The basecolours all blocked in. At this time, dyeing of material was in general pretty drab, & the earth colours were most used ( at least for the ordinary Viking ) . The undertunic would be of linen, which was a light grey in it's unbleached state. He has a pouch on his hip ( behind his dagger ) - possibly for his comb & gaming stones. This may be made of sealskin, so I'll paint it to give a little variation. I added a peg to the oval base, to locate the legs.

Now, given that 75% of the Scandinavians are blonde - I have the problem of how to paint his hair, this may take a bit of experimentation..........
Dave

 

[adt70hk]

Dave.

Coming on very nicely.

ATB.

Andrew

 

[Dave Ward]

Last post for today.....................

All loosely fitted, to see where there will be any problems - I think the head will need a bit of a tweak............
Dave

 

[adt70hk]

Nice start Dave.

ATB

Andrew

 

[Dave Ward]

Getting towards a finish...................

I decided in the end to go with the axe - the sword seems a little.........civilised!
I have to scratch a strap on the back of the shield - then there is just the head to paint - that may take more time than the rest of the model!
The contrast between the MiniArt 1/16 figures & ICM couldn't be more apparent - at this stage a MiniArt model would consist of 20% filler, 10% human sweat & blood, and a few years off my life expectancy! The ICM model fitted very well, no filler was consumed, and until now has been a real pleasure.
I've been looking at the other ICM figures - all their 'guardsmen' figures look a little too stiff & formal for my taste - I'm not sure about the three Game of Thrones figures, which really leaves the gladiator & the centurion. There's a bit too much skin to paint on the gladiator, so I'll be keeping an eye out for a centurion, at a price I like!
Dave
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Shield has dirtied up very nicely Dave. Looking forward to the head now!