Introduction by Metal Slime. <---Go bug him for further info on MS background

Based on RX-78 Gundam data, EFSF spawned out a mass produced version of the renowned MS. The Objective of this GM line is primarily cost cutting. However, firepower (especially beam weapon) is still needed in some missions (when RB-79 Ball cooperation was not applicable). During the last few months of the One Year War, RGC-80 GM Cannon line has proven to be inefficient in dog-fighting, due to its armor weight. With the requests and simulation data by many GM aces, 2 Variations were introduced. One was the GM Light Armor and the other was RGM-79 GM Sniper Custom.

The custom engine was tuned up to match the level of Gundam. Coupled with hi-powered rocket pack --which later turned into a prototype for rocket pack of MSA-003 Nemo-- in this secondary variation (SPII). The coolant system on knee guards was designed to cool down leg thrusters. The head visor is not only for protection purpose, but also equipped with long range sensor for sniping mission. Other optional armaments are box type beam sabre unit, hand beam gun and an optional 380mm Bazooka strap.

With its agility and firepower, the Sniper Custom was deployed in intercepting missions. Thus, nicknamed “The Guardian” (Scarlet Troops in 0080).

The kit is build with a combination of B-Club upgrade parts and normal GM Command kit. I have this conversion forever, only until recently that I felt like getting it built. Mostly due to this kit needs quite a bit of work compare to other conversions type kit.

Apart from the parts provided, it also required builder to drill several holes, modified the groan area and quite a heavy use of putty to match the design. A lot of time I saw people built it incompletely, without bother to drill the cooling ventilation on the legs or elbow, etc..

The conversion parts consist of the head/visor, knee armor, leg verniers, chest armor, a nemo-styled backpack and a long range rifle. Except for the visor, just about all other parts could be easily construct from plastic sheet (i.e.: not a lot of curvy parts). Maybe that's why B-Club didn't bother to reissue this one.

I tried to leave the original structure alone and keep it simple, as they're pretty good already. The overall look/proportion is slightly adjust by raising the shoulder armors and raise the torso by 1mm. Strange how sometime just a few simple alteration can make the kit look quite different.

Arms/hands

The hands used here are from Jegan kit which have an index finger and the other 3 independently movable. The hands are larger than the stock GM Command hands, but it fits the image I want rather nicely.

On the left arm, I custom made a shield mouth from vernier covering a ball joint socket.

The legs/feet

The knee part is supposed to be smoothened into the leg, but I instead sandwich both sides with thin plastic to make it look like an add on armor. The screw-like object on the side is supposed to be the attachment point. On the leftmost image, I scribed a parting line of the leg armor and again, add a rivet as a joint.

Notice the rivet layout of the foot is heavily 'inspired' by Gasaraki's Raiden. The concept here, is to add a more gritty feel to the piece.

Detailing

I used hexagon shaped rivets for the most part here, plus some photoetches. The usual stuff. Apart from that I utilized some clear parts on the visor and chest. Since the whole thing is being painted in a flat/dark scheme, the brightness in the spot of clear part nicely provide contrast to keep things interesting.

Painting

I was kinda tired of the blue of the official color of the GM Sniper II, having painted so many blue Mobile Suit lately. Also, at the time of 0080, I saw this as a reworking on an old design rather than a whole new MS, so I decided to go with an original GM Sniper color scheme.

The main color is a mixture of olive drab and several Gunze's greens. Then a few layer of dry brush is applied using Tamiya enamel, with a rather subtle gradation. The dry brush on the darker color of navy blue, OTOH, is done in a sharp contrast.

Decals

I searched hi and low for a triangle shape decal for the knee that match the animation, and finally found one in one of the old kits. A water decal from one of the wrecked Xabungle kit, and it's in the worst shape imaginable! I did managed to salvage it somehow (cheap bastard!).

The rest is a combination of either stock sticker and Wave's X-decal. Lucky for me, the pattern of the dreaded sticker lend itself pretty well to being trimmed around the edge. So the edge of chest marking isn't obviously visible.

See next page for buildup details. >>