HGUC GMIII review

Been a while since i built a high grade, so i suppose a change of pace once in a while is good. I picked up the new hguc GMIII not long after it was released and it is my first hguc model. GMIII is one of the federation's grunt mobile suit from gundam zz. While gundam zz as a series is very bad, the ms design of this GMIII looks unique and serves as an appropriate upgrade from the classic GMII in Zeta gundam.

1. Intro
Model: GMIII
Size: HGUC 1 144
Pilot: Countless fed grunts

Boxart:

Sideshot:

Manual:

Price: 1500 yen

2. Parts

Head, Torso and waist. The head is a real winner of the kit. The clear green part for the visor looks absolutely fabulous. The torso has a clean and simple design and i used a karaba marking on its left side. The waist has two giant missile pods slapped on it that are detachable. One thing i like about this kit is that it comes with clear sticker-type markings. While clear sticker-type markings are not as good as MG's rub-on kind, for a high grade model i don't expect more.

 Nothing special on the back. The neck of the kit is in green and there is a black sticker provided to wrap around the neck. I did not apply the sticker since the neck is not that visible anyway. I hate stickers that wrap around parts.

The arms, with the left arm showing its full articulation. The shoulder missile pods looks great and it even comes with 2 extra red parts to swap in and out when the GMIII runs out of missiles. Great job bandai.

My biggest complain for this kit is the stickers that are used mostly for the legs. The red piece on the knee is a sticker, but i opted to paint over the part with a red gundam marker. The red does not quite match with the sticker's colour but i am satisfied with the results. The thin green strip that runs down from the knee is a sticker
and it was supposed to continue and wrap around the protruding part. I skipped that completely and trimmed the green sticker down to only the thin strip  that i used.
The giant red stickers left behind on the sticker sheet are supposed to be used for the sides of the leg ( see my manual pic ), and i simply panel lined it.

Weapons and accessories: There is a surprising amount of weapons accessories in total.

I painted the inner side of the thrusters of the backpack in red. Two beam sabers that are shorter and fatter as compared to usual high grades.

The handle for the beam saber can store at the backpack, much like Mk II's.

The rifle is the usual high grade standard, with a handle in front that can swivel. What is awesome is the number of extra hands. A total of 5 extra hands other than the 2 open palms shown earlier. 2 closed fists, 2 open fists for beam sabers, and 1 trigger hand for the rifle.

The shield has a solid feel to it can it can attach to 2 different points on the attachment part.

The clear sticker sheet, with numbers for u to mass produce your own GMIII army. Also comes with the londo bell insignia, which i believe is for the char's counter attack version.

3. Details and articulation

All assembled, i realised the lack of colour accuracy on the legs does not bother me as much as i though it would. The 'white' of the GMIII is actually a pale lime green i suppose and that looks pretty unique. The missile pods on the shoulders and waist bulks up the ms a fair bit. My favourite part of the kit is still the head though.

The rifle looks good with the GMIII as well, and it is a simple method of swapping the right open palm with the trigger hand that is already attached to the rifle.The hand does not fit tightly, but is still enough to support the weight of the rifle well. Articulation is great  for a hg, though the missile pods will definitely hinder certain poses. However, since the missile pods can be easily detached, i cannot find any faults in terms of articulation.

4. Poseability

On action base 2 (black).

Reminds me of GP03 Stamen...

Time for beam sabers when missiles run out.

Despite my limited imagination, it is not difficult to see that this kit has a lot of playability with its many accessories.

5. Sturdiness.
No real issues in term of sturdiness but i do have 2 nitpicks:
1.The hands can feel a bit loose at times, but you just have to push the hand back in.
2.The beam sabers mounted on the backpack tend to fall if you nudge them or turn the kit upside down.

6. Conclusion:

Good:
1. The head's design and the clear green visor looks fantastic.
2. Clear sticker markings provided.
3. 5 extra hands and closed missile pods parts adds much to the value of the kit.
4. Retains the grunt suit look while looking good.

Bad:
1. Almost all of the color accuracy for the legs are done by stickers, stickers that bend/wrap around parts.

Details: 6/10 Stickers...
Articulation: 8/10 Impressive articulation
Sturdiness: 8.5/10 No real issue other than the 2 nitpicks mentioned earlier.
Poseability: 9/10 Incredible amount of poses for a hg grunt kit.

For 1500 yen this kit is worth every yen. I would definitely buy HGUC GMII after seeing the quality of this kit.