Model kit project: 1/144 HGUC GM Cannon - 01

Update 01 - selecting the kits

To confidently start the process of kit-bashing my own High Grade GM Cannon, I had to commit to which two kits I would combine. As mentioned in my previous post, there was only one model kit which included the GM Cannon's unique components in 1/144 scale and is *not* prohibitively expensive: the original un-graded RGC-80 GM Cannon from 1983.

"Serving suggestion"

The one positive point of model kits from this pre-High Grade era is their inexpensiveness (which strangely enough are still produced and sold with some frequency).  I spent about six dollars for this GM Cannon. The version I ended up obtaining was actually from the sequel series Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, but the only difference was its color: molded in red plastic as opposed to white. For this project it doesn't matter.

A turd in desperate need of polishing and a few coats of paint

Compared to literally any High Grade kit from the past 20 years, this thing is a beast. Not a tough, majestic 'beast' mind you; rather some miserable beast that crawls and skulks, like a toad or an anteater. This makes the 1/144 Gundam Wing kits from the mid '90s look like a marvel of engineering. Everything is molded in a single color, so painting is a must.  Nothing snaps together like Bandai's modern kits do or even attempts to line up in a snug fashion, so everything requires glue as well. A truly cretinous kit, or perhaps I am merely spoiled.

I actually studied its instruction manual online at Hobby Search (www.1999.co.jp/eng/) to make sure it was not too low-tech for this project. As weirdly-proportioned as it is with a very low parts count, most of the components I needed to take from it appeared to be separate or easily removed from its parent part, like the cannon or the backpack. The shins were a bit short, but that could be remedied. Finally, the details were good enough to match more recent models of its scale.

To compensate, whatever I used for the main body in this project couldn't simply be the closest possible design to the standard RGM-79 (which the Cannon variant was derived from), it most importantly needed the best sculpt and points of articulation available. The original High Grade GM was serviceable but shows its age when compared to newer kits with double-jointed knees, articulated waists, saddle joints in the shoulders, and so on. Luckily, one of its closest variants was made as recently as 2011: the RGM-79R GM II.

AKA the RMS-179 GM II, to obscure the fact it is a minor post-war retrofit.

Even though the GM II is covered in little doodads that differentiate it from the standard mobile suit, most of these will be replaced by the CM Cannon's components, such as the shins and the back of the head. A brief study of the instructions again convinced me that the GM Cannon's parts could be swapped in without too many surprises. After waiting a couple weeks I found a vendor drop their price to $15 for a GM II and ordered one.

I actually started working on the old GM Cannon before the GM II kit arrived, preparing the components that would eventually go onto the newer kit. The first order of business was cutting away the right side of the chest, containing the cannon's mounting point and that specialized chest vent.

Yes, most of this kit's major components are simply a front half and a back half sandwiched together

Considering how few parts this kit used overall, Once I had removed the parts I needed for this project I went ahead and took the extra 20 minutes to build the whole thing. It was for curiosity's sake more than any other reason.

Did anyone else see that early episode of Gundam where Amuro went back to his childhood home and found that old flimsy Pinocchio doll of his, and wondered just who in the space age would own such a crappy figure? Well, evidently now I do.

Next time I'll cover which parts are going where on the new kit, and begin the real work of carving components down to snugly fit onto the combined GM. Keep an eye out for the next update real soon.