Gunpla Build - HG GM Command Part 1

I fully expected this build to be extremely similar to the Cold Districts GM, and in that regard I suppose you can say I was not disappointed.

For example, here are all the runners for the GM Command:

And the runners for the Cold Districts:

They’re almost entirely the same.

Similarly, both models have only three pages of instructions (which is still my personal record for “Simplest High Grade”).

There really isn’t anything to say about this build that I haven’t already said before, so I guess I’ll just go over whatever minor cosmetic and aesthetic differences I come across.

Coloring

The GM Command’s armor is a pleasant and unique cream color. It isn’t quite tan, and it isn’t quite light grey. I don’t know if I like it quite as much as the icy cool white of the GM Cold Districts, but it is nice in its own right.

Shading

I experimented with applying the same shading technique I used on the GM Cold Districts Type. It worked as well as I expected on the dark grey pieces, but it looked much worse on the cream colored parts. I decided to shade the former and leave the latter alone.

Feet

Color differences aside, the feet are identical to the Cold District’s:

Legs

The legs, on the other hand, are not quite identical. The GM Command has a number of red and black markings (some painted, some decals):

The decals are placed into shallow recessions in the leg. Interestingly, these recessions are all a bit larger than the decals are. I think this is intentional - if you look at the manual, you will see what looks to be black paint underneath each red decal, so I think the idea is for us builders to do the same. It creates a sense of pseudo-depth, as each red mark appears to be floating within the black.

Lower Torso

The lower torso is extremely similar to GM Sniper II’s. Most of the surface detailing is exactly the same, and they both strap their beam sabers to their lower back.

Upper Torso

The chest is the same as on the GM Cold Districts’, except for that antenna mounted on top. Put a pin in that for now - we’ll talk about it more in the next post.

Back when I built the Cold Districts, I gloss coated the chest vents and red cockpit hatch. It was a mistake (though not a deal breaker). This time I did a traditional matte coat, and the results are much nicer.

Backpack

This is the only component of the GM Command that is truly unique. Neither the GM Sniper II or the GM Cold Districts has a backpack quite like this one, though there are similarities, most notably that the GM Command and the GM Sniper both have two vertically stacked thrusters.

However, the vertical thrusters here are a dud. They look so small and pathetic! The Cold Districts has four regular-sized thrusters, but you’re going to tell me the GM Command is supposed to be an improvement? How?

Thrusters aside, the backpack has a lot of detail, but none of it makes any sense. I’m especially confused by the green decal. It looks like the camera sensor on a mobile suit’s head or gun. What’s it doing back here?

Arms

The arms have more details than the GM Cold Districts’, but slightly less than the GM Sniper II’s:

In the end, they still look plenty familiar.

Fun fact - the elbow joints are the only pieces of this kit which suffered from clearcoat frosting. They were the last two things I sprayed on a very humid night. I suppose I had left the door open for a bit too long, which let a lot of moist air into the room where the pieces were drying. Thankfully a little bit of modeling compound covered up the frosting.

But that wasn’t the only problem with the arms. For some reason they had some trouble fastening together. For the right-side arm, I ended up having to jam a needle covered in super glue between the cracks, then force the two halves together with a clamp until the glue dried (it worked, by the way).

Head

The Cold Districts and GM Sniper II both have various accoutrements strapped to their head, including antennas and a head visor. The GM Command gets no such things.

I suppose you could argue that the design is nice by virtue of being so simple and streamlined. However, my problem with it is that it doesn’t quite look like it does in illustrations. Consider this artwork:

Those, um, little circular thingies protrude ever so slightly away from the head, which gives it a bit of a Mega Man vibe:

On the model kit, however, the “circular thingies” are completely flush with the head, which is much more boring in comparison.

Shield

The shield is generally the same as the GM Sniper II’s, but it has two minor differences:

• The Earth Federation logo is not a decal, but is rather engraved into the plastic
• The shield uses a different handle than either the GM Cold Districts or GM Sniper II (which means you get an extra, unused handle, since this kit reuses older runners)

On its own, painting such a small logo is not easy, but painting it yellow is particularly dangerous. Yellow paint is my nemesis - it’s runny, it stains, and it is extremely transparent/gets overtaken by other colors.

I tried making my life easier by using a different, newer bottle of yellow paint than the one I normally use. I also mixed it with that metallic white paint I cracked open for the last build. The result was a shockingly easy, mess free paint job:

I wish the paint was just a bit darker, to contrast better against the cream color, but I’m not going to press my luck by messing with it any more.

Looking at the final result, I must say that having the logo as etched-in detail, rather than a sticker, looks much better. Not just “marginally better” - the difference is quite striking. Now I find myself wishing more kits would do this.

Gun

This is the same bullpup machine gun seen with the GM Sniper II:

This time I used a lot of gunmetal weathering compound to give it a more realistic look. Here is how the two compare:

Beam Saber

Exactly the same as the GM Cold Districts, in a slightly different color:

I know it isn’t common for mobile suits to actually wield two beam sabers at once, but that doesn’t stop Bandai from including two beam saber blades with every single model kit I’ve ever purchased¹. The GM Command is the first exception I’ve come across, and I’m not cool with that. Obviously this is a cost thing - they reused many runners as possible here, including the ones from the GM Cold Districts, and only made new molds when they absolutely had to - but that doesn’t make it easier to swallow.

Mistakes and Messiness

I would be lying if I said I didn’t crank this build out quickly and just a little bit sloppily. There are bits of gloss paint, metallic paints, and weathering compound smeared on various parts, mainly the legs and chest. Thankfully they are hardly noticeable, but it should give you a sense of how I felt about this build and this model.

Speaking of which, we’re ready to put it together and take a look after just one build post. That will, of course, be coming next.