| HGUC
1/144 RGM-79 GM
Series: High Grade Universal Century (HGUC) 1/144 Title: RGM-79 GM Release Date: 04/2001 Suggested Price: ¥ 700 No. of Parts: 65 + polycaps + paper stickers Plastic colors: red, yellow, clear green, gray, greenish-blue Gimmicks: beam spray gun, beam saber, shield
Contributor: Richie Ramos Photography: Jason Kwong Date: January 21, 2004 A tragedy happened over the past few weeks: the mall where I usually bought my Gundam models caught fire. Luckily enough, my favorite store didn't get hit. So it was kinda belated when I got the GM. But I am very happy I did; not only is it a joy to construct, it is also a peek into how the new HGUC Gundam will be.
The head is basically a scale down of the GM head from the MG, down to proportions and even the Space-helmet-from-the-60's look. But it has a clear, green-tinted face plate with some internal structures that makes it classy all on its own. To give you an idea of how it looks, it looks like the original RGM-79's head, but with internal improvements like the GM Command from the 0080 series and the GM Ground Type from the 08th MS Team. The GM Command kit had the best heads with their sleeker angles, larger head crests and narrower visors, but this new head is a damn close second.
The body is a surprise; it has the earmarks of being based on the old HG mold, but the styling is so smooth and cartoonish that I was simply amazed. This IS simplicity in its finest. The chest vents are simple step-like vents that are imbedded into the chest, and the only interesting detail is how the collar assembly is done to give it a vaguely Trek-ish look. The backpack is a simplified version of the MG, again emphasizing a cartoonish look, boxy and minimalist. The single beam saber is also largish in heft, all the more giving it a Jedi look. My one problem with it is that the thruster cones are small. It takes away from the tech edge that the design somehow has in spite of the Zen-Anime look. The GM Command's body had a scrunched up look, but the military detail on the kits, though (like the shoulder antenna and the indented x-marks on either both waist plates), more than made up for the defects. 08's GM Ground Type was much better, but certain design constraints made for a very stiff-looking body, poseability-wise. The kit has a new design: it has an internal lower abdomen that also functions as a look at the core generator of the GM. This allows it to pose its waist a bit more, giving it a more human feel. Of course, you could also push the whole upper body down so that the abdominal plates meet with the with the waist plates, but in natural posing, feel free to loosen it up a bit, so to speak. The front plate is attached by a polycap to the waist, thus making the no-crotch look a possibility. I have to admit, it looks awkward when posed in particular ways, but it's a perfect way to achieve the flexible armor look. The side waistplates are nice and separate (but I am disappointed that the right hip plate had no holster for the beam spray gun like the one in the MG), and the back plate is actually angled a little bit to give more curves to the basically boxy design. The 0080 and 08MST's designs are left in the dust in this department.
Here we go, one of the more controversial parts the design. The shoulder plates are actually based, from the looks of it, on the original HG Gundam kit, with a bit of detail (micro thruster vents) that I've only seen on my Gundam Fix's Perfect Gundam figure. The internal shoulder armature is actually very similar to the one that the HGUC Hyaku Shiki has, as well as some other HGUC designs. But the round raised area (which in other designs serves as the attachment points of the shoulder armor) is now only a guide for a raised lines that are on the insides of the external shoulder plate. These raised lines act with the circular area to keep the shoulder plates stable and relatively fixed. Nice little detail, but it means a lot in terms of parts stability. The upper arms are basically internal rods with a one-piece overplate. The elbows are polycaps with plastic coverplates; this makes the arm / elbow area look bulky, but it is at least more convincing than a polycap. The forearms are also different in their own way: it has openings at the sides much like the HG Gundam, but in this case, there are polycaps, so that one can plug in the shield (more on that later). The wrists are ball joint polycaps, and the hands are pretty okay, kinda art deco in the intentional lack of detail except for the outstretched left hand. The GM Command had a better design, I think, but the naked polycaps kinda turned me off, whereas the GM Ground Type is simply normal. Nothing to write home about.
The thighs are so obviously taken from the MG Gundam (ver. 1.5)/PG Gundam look, but my big beef is that the thigh to calf ratio is more for the original MG Gundam / GM than the Ver.1.5 / PG type. Thanks to that and the limitations of the crotch plate, it's not possible to have HGUC GM kneel. The calf area is taken from the MG, though stylized more, and some of the ankle armor and the feet seem to be a mix between the original MG design and the Ver.1.5/PG design. The ankles are much better than those of the GM Command's, which were great to look at, but not great to pose; the GM Ground Type is also lackluster in this area, with the ankle plates merged to the calf area.
The kit comes with a shield that is basically a mini-MG GM's shield, with a new ball joint and stick design for keeping the shield attached to the arm or the back of the backpack. It's pretty ingenious, without being obviously a kit design for usage rather than realism. It also comes with a beam saber, and a beam spray gun, which looks like a smaller version of the MG GM's gun.
Yep, this baby is worth it. Better buy it, it's sure to be popular. I am getting a few more myself. Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars <<back to Gundam |
