Let’s continue our analysis of the GM Custom. Will it continue to borrow inspiration from the Gundam Alex? Or will it start to go its own way?
Feet
This is a pretty good foot. It uses an extra piece on the bottom, just to give it that little bit of extra part separation:
Next, it has this little mechanism inside of the foot:
Most High Grade feet will instead have a polycap or a ball joint here, which means that they don’t have very good range of motion1. This mechanism gives the foot a little bit of a forward bend:
I’ve seen this before on other models, including the Zaku I Sniper Type. It isn’t much, but sometimes it helps with certain poses to be able to stretch forward that much more.
Finally, the shin guard slides right on to the interior mechanism, and on top of that we apply two side caps:
When you consider that the foot on the High Grade GM Command is literally made out of just two pieces, the GM Custom’s feels downright fancy in comparison. There are a lot more parts here - and better articulation - than you usually get with an HG kit.
Compared to the Gundam Alex:
Not much to compare here. The Alex’s foot looks like a traditional Gundam-style foot, and the GM Custom’s like a traditional GM Foot. The only thing they really have in common is the placement of their thrusters, and I think it’s a stretch to call that “inspiration”:
This is by far the least similar thing we’ve seen so far.
Legs
My memory may be failing me, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen legs with this kind of interior assembly:
If I have, then it certainly isn’t common. I find it quite interesting, what with all the little pegs. Is there some specific reason for using this kind of structure?
Anyway let’s move on:
So we have a bunch of indentations in the front and sides of the legs, each of which are colored red and grey. They add a welcome sense of contrast to the light colored armor, but because the two colors are so dark, they don’t necessarily pop. Normally I’d say this is a bad thing, because you’d want something to catch your eye and bring your attention to the legs (or arms, or head, or whatever). In this case, however, I think the sheer bulkiness and shape of the leg is enough to draw one’s attention (at which point you’ll probably notice and appreciate the color contrast anyway).
Compared to the Gundam Alex:
The front of the legs are the spitting image of each other, and I can’t believe I never noticed it before:
Funnily enough, I bet I would have noticed if it looked like this instead:
Once again, I’m amazed at just how much influence color can have on one’s perception of a mecha.
Looking at the outside of the legs, they are not at all alike. The Alex has those iconic bell-bottom shaped thrusters, and the GM Custom does not.
As for the inside of each leg, it’s a slightly different story. They’re not the same, but I do think the are some vague similarities:
They both have a screw near the top, a panel line down the center, and a cutout below that. Sure, they arent’ all the same shape or size, nor are they in the exact same spot. But I still think they follow the same general pattern.
Arms
The GM Custom’s shoulder armor is one of the main things that gives the mobile suit its special look:
Interestingly, the little red cutouts on each shoulder are not painted in, but are actually separate parts embedded inside.
Looking at them from the side, the wrists are, for a lack of a better word, chonky:
Compared to the Gundam Alex:
You might not think the arms would look all that similar, but this side by side comparison says different:
Turns out the GM Custom’s shoulder armor is just the Alex’s armor with extra bits bolted on. And while the wrists don’t have machine guns embedded in them, they have the same specific, trapezoidal shape.
I wasn’t expecting the arms to be among the most similar body parts of the bunch, but there you have it!
Beam Sabers
I have no idea why there’s a peg on the bottom end of the beam sabers:
I mean, that’s not the part that attaches to the backpack. Is it just a stylistic thing?
Also, I think the beam sabers are on the same runner as the parts for the arms, and since the arms come on two runners, that means you get two beam sabers (even though it can only carry one).
Compared to the Gundam Alex:
I’m not comparing beam sabers. That’s a bridge too far.
Shield
This is the standard “modernized” GM shield, the same as seen on the GM Command and GM Sniper II. It’s … fine.
I tried to spice it up a bit with some silvery weathering compound around the edges.
There’s a part of me that thinks the smooth and sleek look of the shield stands in too much contrast to the bulky, angular body of the mobile suit. But then there’s another part of me that thinks it looks really good in the hands of the GM Custom - and feels different than it does when it’s equipped on other mecha. I know I’m going to sound like a five year old by saying this, but here it looks more … sharp. And stabby (despite being, you know, a shield). Maybe the aggressive look of the mobile suit shapes the way I view its equipment.
Compared to the Gundam Alex:
They’re not at all the same. No need to compare.
Rifle
The rifle is the GM Custom’s only main weapon, and as such, it absolutely cannot suck. Thankfully, it doesn’t:
It resembles any number of modern firearms, yet it also looks streamlined and ever so slightly futuristic. I don’t know why, but it looks lightweight to me.
Interestingly, I found that there wasn’t a whole lot of detailing to be done on this piece. There’s a slide and a bolt, and some other doodads, but not much in the way of panel lines. Instead, the rifle has a bunch of raised ridges. They’re sort of like reverse panel lines that give it texture without needing any extra help.
My only gripe is that there is no green decal for the camera sensor. It’s not hard to paint it in, but even that can’t mask the seam line right down the center.
Compared to the Gundam Alex:
I actually do want to compare these two, as I feel like one is a clear evolution of the other:
To my eye, the GM Custom’s rifle is a newer, more streamlined (and lighter?) update to the Alex’s.
Hands
Some High Grade model kits come with a pair of holding hands. A single pair2.
Most, however, come with 3-4 hands (not pairs, just 3-4 total hands). The best ones come with 5 or even 6.
The GM Custom comes with seven:
- Two open palm hands
- Two closed fist hands
- A right trigger finger hand
- A right closed fist with a space for the beam saber
- A special, double jointed left open palm hand
It also comes with a part of eighth hand (namely a trigger hand) that I’m pretty sure is just leftover from a reused runner. There aren’t enough pieces to complete it, and it wouldn’t hold the rifle anyway (since it has no notch for the rifle to plug into).
Regardless, seven hands is insane for any grade of kit, let alone a High Grade.
And it’s not just the sheer number that’s impressive. Some of the hands themselves are quite unique.
Take the closed fists. A normal closed fist is a single piece of plastic:
On this model, the closed fists are made out of three pieces:
This adds a subtle bit of spacing between the thumb and fingers. It makes it look more like a hand and a little bit less like a hunk of plastic. Plus, it gives off a different vibe. The traditional closed fist looks full on clenched, which signals anger and intensity. This hand feels a lot more relaxed.
And then there is the special open palm hand. It uses a double ball joint, which means it can do things like this:
You are never going to get that kind of flex with a normal hand. And as the instruction manual demonstrates, the extra range is very helpful for performing certain firing poses:
Simply being able to place the left hand anywhere, at any angle, may prove to be a difference maker when posing.
Conclusion
It’s been a long journey, or at least it has been for me. Between the number of photos I took, and drafts I went through, just getting two build posts together has taken a lot longer than I anticipated. However, I think it was all worth it in the end. This comparison between the GM Custom and the Alex has been fascinating, and the finished model looks amazing. It’s completely changed the way I view this mobile suit - I’ve gone from “I really like it” to “I really really like it”.
But we’re not done yet. We still have to put it through its paces and see how well it poses.