HGUC GM Custom Review

By Loran

Holy crap, a new Gundam article!

Bandai’s kind of a fickle company. There are tons of designs we’ve wanted to see get HGUC kits for years-most of them are GMs, when you think about it. We hold out hope that they’ll eventually see releases, and sometimes it can mean waiting years or even a decade for it, but chances are, it’ll happen. Sometimes they’d just be a few simple part swaps, and you have to wonder why they didn’t consider it in the first place. Some, like the GM Sniper II, really just need to be made so the 0080 lineup can be finished! You’d think they’d do that by now…

The GM Custom is one of those kits I expected to see years ago, probably following the GM Quel. As I mentioned in my review for the Quel, I had a few problems with it, particularly the proportions. It felt like everything I liked about it-specifically, the poseability, was sort of nullified by how out-of-scale some of the proportions were. It wasn’t inaccurate-in fact, it WAS accurate, but to the updated lineart, which didn’t sit well with me. Surely, a kit of its sister suit would suffer the same problems, right? Well, let’s take a look…

As you can see, this kit is REALLY slim. It has no fat legs, and a head that doesn’t seem too small. It’s almost as if it doesn’t use any of the parts from the GM Quel! Yes, with the exception of the “standardized” GM Joint runner that the Kai, Powered, and Striker have. I think even the visor is new.

Color distribution on this kit is really good, mostly because the design didn’t have much to begin with. Unlike most Federation suits, the chest is mostly two halves instead of quarters, probably because it’s all one color.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the color scheme I chose for this kit, it’s based on the “GM Colors GM Custom” that appeared only in a “from-the-back” shot in Gihren’s Greed. Yes, I based my kit off a single frame from a video game. WOULDN’T BE THE FIRST TIME!

The construction of the head is very well-done. Behind the visor is some nice mechanical detail. I painted it silver on mine which added a bit more depth to the head. I love how the “hat” portion is a separate piece, making painting a lot easier if you want to do classic GM colors or AEUG colors.

Being a nice, simple, pre-Zeta Feddie suit, it has all of the joints I’ve come to expect on HGUC kits, with those wonderful double-jointed elbows.

You have to split the skirt armor (of course…), but it has a little rig on the bottom for attaching action bases. The waist is made out of ABS, so you don’t have to worry about breaking the hips.

This kit has your standard assortment of weapons, yet it manages to keep me satisfied. You get the rifle and shield, of course, but you get TWO beam sabers WITH BLADES and a ton of hands! Included are two closed fists, two open palms, a trigger hand that actually holds the gun in a non-intrusive fashion, a hand to hold the saber, and a hinged hand. The hinged hand is MOSTLY pointless, but you can use it to have the GM hold its gun with both hands. It looks a bit odd to me, for some reason.

The GM Custom is a great kit, and it offered a few surprises. I honestly expected a GM Quel rehash and I got something so much more. It gives me a bit more hope for a GM Sniper II, but not enough. It’s a definite recommendation for any kind of Gundam fan, and I think you should grab it once you see it on the FPNYC shelves!