HGUC 1/144 E.F.S.F. Mass-Produced Mobile Suit RMS-179 "GM-II" [Torrington Base Livery]
GM-II!! Saw this for $30 alongside the HGUC Nemo and had to add it to my growing GM collection. The GM-II was the Federation's contemporary to the Nemo, and was a direct improvement upon the original GM. Although it does wield the same beam rifle as the Nemo, (reusing the same sprue moulds that the Nemo uses) it had a less efficient fire control system and thus weaker output from the weapon. It also only holds a single beam saber, unlike the dual sabers of the Nemo.
This kit had excellent color separation. Like other GM-style kits, it only needs a little red detailing on the vents and boosters, plus some yellow for the head vulcans. I also used my chrome marker to paint the sensor behind the visor, which makes it stand out in a really distinct way, almost like a foil sticker. As usual, I also added some gunmetal and silver weathering to the grey parts, with some additional gold highlights. I also picked out all the sensors with a UV reactive green metallic, as the kit didn't include any foil stickers.
I wanted to use this kit for my local hobby group's photography competition, so I went the extra mile on detailing. The livery here is directly inspired by the Qantas Flying Art series, specifically the "Minyma Kutjara Tjukurpa/White Dots" livery by Pitjantjatjara artist Maringka Baker, and is meant to reflect the suit's (fictional) home base being in Australia. The design on the shield in particular reflects the fictional location of Torrington Base in relation to Sydney Crater, although this itself is rather inconsistent in UC media.
To make the build look professional I also used lots of decals and stickers. As mentioned in other posts, I'd already cannibalized the sticker sheet for my Asshimar and Nemo, but I saved most of the E.F.S.F. stickers for this kit. It includes some Torrington Base decals as well, as a nod to the GM-II's cameo in Unicorn. In addition I used spare decals from a variety of sheets including the Woundwort, GM Spartan, and a generic multi-use UC sheet. The "106" designation is purely based on what numbers I had left from stickers and decals. I locked everything in place with a second matte top coat.
The kit doesn't come with too many option parts. There's just an extra pistol grip hand as well as the two open fist options, and two beam saber effects in trans-yellow. I don't think it's necessarily a downside though, as it does limit how many leftovers there are to store after posing. It's a fairly flexible kit, with good hip and shoulder articulation, but it has no ab-crunch and limited waist rotation. You can still get it to hit some nice looking poses though.
For the photo competition, I took it out to The Beach, a horribly named location near Sydney Airport. It's a good spot for watching planes take off. I got some really nice pics, but I do wish I had something better than my phone camera to take advantage of the amazing weather and location.
Overall I had a lot of fun with this build, and I hope it does well in the competition! I'm super proud of how it turned out and I'm tempted to submit it for the Gunpla Builder's World Cup too.
The UC shelf just keeps getting more full...
