HGGTO 1/144 E.F.S.F Prototype Amphibious Mobile Suit RGM-79U "GM Sloep"
Its finally done! The last of my Gundam: The Origin GM variants! Unlike the other builds I've done so far, this is technically from Mobile Suit Discovery, like the GM Missile Pod that started this collection, although it does share the same designer, Kunio Okawara.
The GM Sloep is the precursor to the much more well-known Aqua GM, and represents a somewhat incomplete retro-fitting of the GM into an amphibious machine. While the later Aqua GM was purpose-built for aquatic operations, the GM Sloep is pretty much the standard space-capable GM design (with this kit featuring one of the closest recreations of the original GM kit from the HGGTO line) with a new boat-like backpack designed for submersible thrust and attitude control, and a set of new custom sensors that let the GM Sloep actually see things underwater despite its sensor suite being designed for space.
I think overall, this is one of my favourite HGGTO builds. It incorporates a lot of supplemental runners from a lot of the different HGGTO GMs, including the GM Sniper Custom/GM Intercept Custom and the GM Night Stalker, while the overall build still follows the basic structure of the other GMs from this line. The stand-out feature is of course the backpack, which sits rather neatly on a poseable hook allowing it to be angled slightly.
Just like the other HGGTO GMs, the colour separation is near-perfect. There is some colour correction required for the white sections on the tips of the hydroplanes, recreated with foil colour-correcting stickers, but otherwise the only painting required is for the yellow and grey on the forehead vulcans. I also added a touch of yellow to the speakers on the sonar gun for a little extra visual detail, and added my (standard by now) chrome paint behind the visor.
I gave the grey sections my standard metallic weathering, swapping out the silver pigment powder for the slightly greener titanium to help tie everything together. I noted that Kunio Okawara's original sketch for this design included some rust staining, so I added my own (although I think I weant a lot farther than implied by his sketch). Most of the extra weathering is standard sponge chipping is black and gunmetal, with some extra large pale brown/clear rust oxide splotches sponged on top and mottled with a bright orange. However I also tried out a new technique by using an extra thin brush to carefully paint some rust streaks dripping down the body of the suit in clear rust oxide, blending them into the build with some of my rust pigment powder. I think this gives the suit one of my best ever attempts at rust staining and I'm super proud of how it turned out.
As usual I touched up the existing thrusters with red heat-retardant coating and some gold detailling, although this suit only has the vestigial feet thrusters from the base GM, that likely see minimal use while the suit is submurged. There are some auxillary submarine thrust packs on the calves, and all of the waterjet outflow vents got some nice staining with my oil-stain pigment and a black drybrush to imply heavy use.
I think the sticker set for this kit is by far my favourite. Most of the caution detailing is the standard HGGTO fare, but there are some great striping details and text-stickers that faithfully recreate Kunio Okawara's lineart. Of course, there are plenty of spares that have been set aside for future use. I even stole an E.F.F. logo from my GM Night Stalker II for a little extra detailling.
The kit includes the standard set of HGGTO GM hands, with two open hands, two open fists, and two pistol-grip hands. The open fist options feel a little redundant aside for posing, as the design of the suit necessitates foregoing a beam saber.
The main feature is the backpack, which is designed to let the GM operate like a form of submarine. There are 3 large propellors that allow for forward and backward movement, and a set of retractable and poseable hydroplanes for attitude control. You can retract the hydroplanes by turning the white ring on the centre of the backpack.
There are plenty of smaller vents implying a form of ballast system to help the otherwise space-designed machine to sink and float. The backpack also carries a small wired sensor-pod with two cameras on it, that can be launched on a 45m cable to act as a sort of periscope while the rest of the suit remains submerged. The included lead wire isn't quite long enough to imply this length, but it's a perfect size to get some great poses.
The other major inclusion for the GM Sloep is the handheld Sonar Gun. This isn't really a weapon, but essentially the front sensor components from a submarine modified into a handheld format as it was deemed impractical to mount the hardware directly to the base GM (despite there being two perfectly good hard-points on the arms that were not being used for a shield). There's a large auxillary camera for better submarine visibility (with some chrome added to the camera component to help it stand out) as well as a large nose-cone housing the sonar hardware.
The other inclusion is the standard beam spray gun, which this time comes with some small stickers to help provide extra detail. I added some heat discolouration to the barrel as usual.
Overall this is a really fun and solid build, with great posing and a few simple gimmicks that manage to not get in the way without feeling uninteresting. Out of all of the P-Bandai builds I've done from this line, this one feels the most like it justifies its P-Bandai price tag.
Now I've only got a single HGGTO kit remaining, and then it's on to some less traditional builds. Keep an eye out for them!
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