วันเสาร์ที่ 12 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2551
HeadHurray for the clear visor, and double hurray for the detailing underneath. The GM head is actually more impressive than most Gundams since the clear visor allows you to see the inner working of its head. There’s no clear part for the rear sensor though, so that needs some paint. The head’s construction is the usual two halves with the visor insert and a polycap. The earmuff parts that attach have some rivet markings. The head movement is restricted a little by the curving helmet in the back and the collar.
Torso
Following the Gundam’s design, the GM has a shell-like torso that slips over the cockpit block. So, as you can imagine, the torso is basically an empty shell. A gray, undetailed piece goes across the inside of the armor to provide a place for the arms to attach to. The cockpit hatch attaches to the torso by a polycap, but can only lift up part of the way. The backpack has an inner detail with mechanics and moveable nozzles. The different option parts (beam saber mount, bazooka mount, etc) slide into a slot and are sandwiched between the backpack and the body. A cover goes over it that holds the beam sabers in place. The cockpit block is wonderfully detailed, full of pipes and mechanical stuff. It plugs into a cradle in the hips then the torso slips over it. There are also parts for the Gundam’s Core Block so you can build a GM with a folded-up Core Fighter inside. There’s not much waist movement due to the size of the cradle bumping into the skirt armor. The skirt armor is the usual expected from a Master Grade: ball jointed forward armors, polycap-attached side armors, and a fixed back plate.
Wow, these are simple. The shoulder armor is small and simple, its seam lines located along the joining sections of armor. Upper and lower arms are basically two halves, with another 2-piece part acting as an elbow joint. This rotating piece is the end of the upper arm that has the round joints on it. It looks weird off-center with the rest of the arm, so I fixed mine. The lower arm has a cover on it that was recycled from the Gundam kit, but the details underneath were dropped. The left arm has a special insert to mount the shield on it. The hands are more like High Grade hands than Master Grade. Instead of a cover for the back of the gripping hands, the hand is just in two parts resulting in a seam line down the back. Gripping, fist, and open hands are included.
Again, simple. Upper legs are just two halves with polycaps. The hip design doesn’t allow much mobility, so the GM’s a little stiff. The knee joint is ridiculous. It’s just this little plastic connector that inserts into the polycaps of the legs. It doesn’t allow much mobility and looks horrible when the knee is bent past a few degrees. The lower leg is built around a 2-half frame. To the front a single piece of armor is added. The rear calf has a hidden thruster insert that is covered by a flap. The feet have an upper 2-piece part that has pistons molded into it. The partial ankle armor has its seams hidden in the joint. It doesn’t really cover the joint, so some of the polycap attachment can be seen in some poses. The bottom of the foot has thrusters and other detailing on it. Overall the legs look OK, however they suffer from bad range of movement a cheap appearance from some angles.
Beam spray gun- This little pistol is well represented and easily fits in the GM’s hand or in the hip armor. The barrel’s a little tough to get on; I had to use a hammer.Hyper bazooka- For a rather simple kit, this is an excellent weapon. Its main body is two halves with the barrel, rear vent, and latch added. The barrel’s nice and wide, making the bazooka look hollow. The magazine is molded into the body of the bazooka. It fits in the backpack mount easily, with the little latch going over a hook in the mount. However, the GM holds it a little awkwardly.Beam sabers- The hilt’s a two-piece construction with a short beam blade. No problems putting it in the rack of being held.Beam rifle- One of the benefits of recycling the Gundam kit is the Gundam’s beam rifle is included. There’s a strange fold-out tab on it which looks like it’s suppose to mount on something, but there’s no where on the GM to do it. The stabilizing arm swings out. The sight is movable with a yellow lens. The GM has no problem holding it in any pose.Shield- The inside of the shield is detailed and has an arm mount as well as an adjustable hand mount. There’s a clear plastic piece that goes in the view slit. The GM actually excels at something that other MG’s seem to have a problem with: holding its shield. The hand mount fits snugly over the hand and the weight doesn’t drag the arm downConversion parts- Basically this is just different backpack options. Number 1 is the standard GM with beam saber on the left and a terminator block on the right. Number 2 replaces the terminator block with a mount for the bazooka. Number 3 uses a different backpack cover recycled from the Gundam to make a dual saber type. With a little cutting you can even make a version with the saber on the right side by sacrificing the dual saber cover. There’s also an optional side skirt armor that has an attachment point for the beam spray gun.Detail-up parts- Just a bunch of handles, hooks, and vents that you can glue on the GM wherever you want. Go crazy with them or leave them off, it's up to you.
This is not a Master Grade by today’s standards; it feels more like a glorified High Grade. In fact, I’ve had High Grades that were better than this (the simple addition of a knee block does wonders). It looks OK other than the horrible color scheme (which can be painted over). The GM comes with a nice arsenal, which practically makes it worth buying on its own. It’s real easy to remove the torso to show off the cockpit block and the gimmicky details are nice, but there’s not much substance behind them. The GM’s simplicity makes it easy to build but doesn’t make the kit that impressive. (Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars)
Contributor: Chris ‘KokopelliChindi’ Knudtson
General and Technical Data
Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100 Release Date: 02/1999
Price: ¥ 2500
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