RGM-79S-SC Spartan Space Combat type
The GM Spartan was a variant of the RGM-79 GM fitted with a different backpack and extra armor on the front of its body, wire-guided anti-MS missiles on its right shoulder, Minovsky particle dispersion pods, and infra-red camouflage fabric on its back. On its head visor it's provided of an infrared interception sheet in order to enable IR radar detection. The GM Spartan is known to have been deployed by the 2nd Special Platoon of the 17th Armored Marine Division in the Southeast Asia front, during the Borneo landing operation (December UC 0079).

Spartan Space Cmbat Type
A small number of Spartans and unassembled units were acquired by Anaheim Electronics and redeveloped into zero-g combat airframes. All of them were equipped with early model Panranomic Linear Cockpit & new backpack. Data gathered frrom the test frames eventually went into the develpment of RX-178 Gundam MK-II.

The Kit
AKO Hobby GM Spartan conversion kit + Reworked Bandai 1/100 Master Grade RGm-79C GM Kai.

RGM-79SC GM Sniper Custom
The GM Sniper Custom is a high-performance derivative of the RGM-79 GM, designed for use by experienced pilots. The RGM-79SC has an improved backpack, upgraded rocket thrusters and verniers, and reinforced armor. Other notable improvements over the RGM-79 GM included a head "visor" for protecting the sensors and cooling vents were fitted to the torso and knees. The weaponry of the GM Sniper Custom was simple and consisted of only a single beam saber, a beam gun and a sniper beam rifle.

Following the introduction of the GM series of mobile suits, the EFF created a more powerful version of the suit for its best pilots. This suit was the GM Sniper Custom, which, as its name implies, was designed for long-range battle by adding a powerful sniper beam rifle to its armament. However due to the high production cost of this variant, less than 50 models were built. The built models were then assigned to ace pilots like 1st Lieutenant Francis Backmeyer, who often tuned their suits to their personal requirements.

The Kit
AKO Hobby GM Sniper conversion kit + reworked Bandai 1/100 Master Grade RX-78-2

RGM-79M GM Custom
The RGM-79N GM Custom was equipped with many verniers, which gave it agility almost on par with the RX-78-2 Gundam. It also carried a high-output generator, which enabled the use of beam weaponry. Due to its high cost, however, only a few units were built. In order to decrease cost the GM Custom typically was only equipped with a bullpup machine gun, which had no where near the power of a beam rifle but was much cheaper to produce.

During its military reconstruction following the One Year War, the Earth Federation Forces built a high-performance variant of its standard RGM-79C GM Kai for highly-skilled ace pilots. This new mobile suit, based on the RGM-79C GM Kai and the RX-78NT-1 Gundam "Alex" from the One Year War, was the RGM-79N GM Custom. Three units were stationed aboard the Albion during the pursuit of RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis" and subsequent battles against the Delaz Fleet. Surviving units were repossessed by the AEUG and repainted so the torso, part of the head, and feet green to identify them from those in use by the Earth Federation

The Kit
Reworked Bandai 1/100 Master Grade RGM-79M GM Custom

RGM-89LM Jegan
As the successor of the RGM-79 GM series, the Jegan is the new mass produced mobile suit of the Earth Federation. The suit is lighter and more maneuverable than all the previous GM units, although it is not as well armed as the RGM-86R GM III. Nevertheless it performed very well and thus it was put into mass production.

As a mobile suit based on the GM series, the Jegan's design focuses more on being easy to use, easy to maintain, and possessing a high cost-effectiveness. Because of the size of the Earth Federation Forces it was imperative to possess a mobile suit that could be easily used by a wide range of pilots, and used a wide set of common mobile suit parts that could be quickly and cheaply replaced.
For weapons the Jegan was equipped with a beam saber stored in a waist recharge rack and a waist mounted three-tube hand grenade rack. It was also equipped with the optional armaments of a head-mounted vulcan gun pod, a forearm mounted shield that had two 2-tube small missile launchers, and a beam rifle or a bazooka. As the Jegan remained in service over the years, it received periodic technological upgrades, producing a large number of variants.

Jegan Light Armor
Battlefield modified version of the versatile mobile suit. Because of the nature of the modifications & pilots' individual preferences, no single machines are alike. Additions include new front/rear armor skirts, additional thrusters w/ new powerplant, new sensory visor for long range detection.

The Kit
Reworked Bandai HGUC RGC-89 Jegan EAKOS version.

RGM-96X Jesta
A high-class mobile suit of the Jegan series developed by Anaheim Electronics to escort the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, whose operating time in Destroy Mode is limited. Although it is essentially a product of the UC Project, this fact has been kept hidden even within the military organization. The Jesta was fitted with a redesigned backpack capable of tremendous thrust for the sake of keeping up with the Unicorn Gundam. Aside from escorting the RX-0, its main mission is expected to be suppressing ordinary enemy forces, thus producing "situations" in which the Unicorn Gundam can directly confront enemy Newtype weapons.

There are 12 RGM-96X JESTA that are assigned to the Ra Cailum class team for testing and evaluation, including the Londo Bell and its elite MS team, the Tri-Stars.

The Kit
Bandai HGUC RGM-96X Jesta

A little novel I'm slowly brewing on. Timeline is set in late UC0088, not long after the Kryps Conflict. There are about five or six mobile suits in the works. I'll roll them out as creative drive permitted.

The test team
Every manufacturer has it's own test teams to evaluate its products before rolling them out to their potential customers. Especially in the world of Universal Century, test teams' evaluation are absolutely paramount in every way. Anaheim Electronics, the megaton of Universal Century, not only excels in their Comerica and consumer products. Their military division is probably the most lucrative among its octopus-like ventures. Development of Mobile Suit pretty much encompasses the majority contracts of the division. Each Mobile Suit project is responsible by an individual department. Each department has its own test team for product evaluation. Test pilots and support person ell are drawn from civilian and military sectors. It's common to see ex EFSF and Zeon crew working in the same team. Most of the senior pilots are veterans of the One year War and Delas Conflict from both sides. They may faced off with each other back then, but now they're working as a team to make sure their parent company excels again with their latest products.

RMS-119 EWAC-Zack
A reconnaissance variant of the RMS-106 Hi-Zack used during the Gryps Conflict, the Earth Federation Forces' RMS-119 EWAC Zack could also be considered a distant relative of the old Principality of Zeon's MS-06E Zaku Reconnaissance Type. The most visible physical difference between the Hi-Zack and the "Eye-Zack" (as it was sometimes called) was the large radome mounted on its head. This radome was equipped with a passive radar system, allowing the EWAC Zack to monitor enemy forces without giving itself away with active radar signals. The EWAC Zack was also equipped with various additional infra-red, communications, and visual sensors, allowing it to monitor the enemy in a variety of methods. The radome also featured a second mono-eye that ran on a track along the perimeter of its lower side, allowing the pilot to keep a lookout on the ground while flying or jumping overhead.

Although the use of radar- and radio-jamming Minovsky particles in battle situations renders such electronic forms of detection useless, the EWAC Zack was often used for pre- and post-combat actions, tasked with acquiring enemy strength, location, and disposition data. Thus, the EWAC Zack was also equipped with four data pods in its backpack, each of which carried recordings of the mobile suit's intelligence data and could be either jettisoned or launched back towards friendly forces. In the case of capture by the enemy, the data in the pods was also encrypted, thus assuring that valuable intelligence would not fall into the wrong hands. The EWAC Zack was also designed for long-range use, equipped with a pair of external fuel tanks for extended flight times. Although typically unarmed, the EWAC Zack could also be equipped with the weapons normally carried by a Hi-Zack, if necessary.

The EWAC Zack was originally built and operated by the Earth Federation Forces, but the invasion of Earth by Neo Zeon during the First Neo Zeon War resulted in several of these units being captured by the enemy. At least one unit was also captured by the African Liberation Front rebel group, operated as part of their "Blue Team" and painted in their distinctive light blue-on-blue colors.

AE Test Team EWAC Zack
The test team allocated six units plus support spare parts from the company assembly channel. Two were aasigned to each test group as on-site product performance evaluation plarforms. They were often paired with high perfomance GM variant units which acted as excort units, gathering data of the company's uncoming products.

The kit
Reworked 1/144 HGUC RMS119 EWAC Zack Hazel with tribal eye logo on the radome.

Testing of the new booster pod with two shield boosters was originally meant to be conducted with the RMS-117 Galbaldy β High Mobility Type. However, this Galbaldy β was lost when Lt Maxim Gunar defected to the AEUG. The tests were thus performed with the Hazel II, and their results are reflected in the Advanced Hazel. The new booster pod lacks the generator and thruster equipment of the previous version, and consists of little more than latches for the shield boosters and an optional propellant tank, acting as a multi-connector pod. Meanwhile, the sub arm unit was also adopted due to the good results of its testing with the Hazel Custom.

AE Test Team Hazel-F
Hazel 2A airframe 003 was originally part of Titans Test Team. Department heads at Anaheim Electronics have always placed a lot of interest in the ESFSF's own Gundam project. Previous attempts to acquire intelligence through official channels has gained little. Corporate espionage even turned dead lily with the deaths of operatives. With silent approval from the top execs, corporate intelligence decided to mount convert mission to hijack survived airframes. Dressed in Titans tech and allied EFSF uniforms, operatives successfully hijacked one known airframe with the help of AEUG sympathizers to their Von Braun City research facility at the Cayley crater, near the Apollo 11 landing site on UC0086.

Titans officials always believed AE was behind the hijack, but never had any proof. Soon after the arrival of the airframe, AE techs began to take it apart and study the technology. Technology which partially leads to the development of their own movable frame and panorama style linear cockpit systems that will become standard features in future Mobile Suit development. Hazel-F is a completely refined Hazel 2A with enhanced avionics and early versions of movable frame and linear cockpit. It also served as test bed for the classified fin-funnel attack drone system.

The kit
Reworked 1/144 HGUC RX-212-2A Advance Hazel with custom fin funnel attack drones.

Boxart

Designed late during the One Year War, the YMS-16M Xamel was the first true heavy artillery mobile suit, designed to operate as a mobile artillery gun battery. Equipped with a powerful hovercraft/hoverjet system in its legs and massive skirt armor, it could skim along the ground at high speed, giving it the ability to fire, move to another location, set up and fire again without giving away its position too easily. Its primary armament was its long-barreled 680mm cannon, which could be folded up for transport when not in use. It also mounted a missile launcher pod for medium-range fire, but its close-combat abilities were extremely limited, with only a pair of almost useless arms and a 20mm vulcan gun turret mounted in the head. The Xamel also featured a tandem-seat cockpit, crewed by a pilot and a gunner. It is unknown exactly how many of these prototype units were produced, although one Xamel is known to have been used by Delaz Fleet forces in its "Operation Stardust" theft of the RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis" prototype from the Earth Federation Forces in UC 0083, inflicting severe damage to Torrington Base in Australia

The kit
Repainted and heavily weathered Mobile Suit in Action Xamel. 3/4 of the main gun was replaced with brass tubing. Waist hoses are also replaced with aftermarket spring unit.

Un-assembled Xamel with stock paint work.	Painted with first base coat.

As the One Year War came to a close, the Federation began plans to mass produce the other machines of Project V. The RX-77D Guncannon Mass-production Type did away with the Core Block System and used the more economical titanium/ceramic composite armor instead of lunar titanium to cut costs. In addition, it possessed additional verniers and thrusters, making it even more powerful and maneuverable than the older model. However, this revision was never produced as planned, with only a few suits being distributed to units such as the Pegusus carrier Gray Phantom and the White Dingo team in Australia.

The kit
1/144 HGUC RX-77 D Guncannon built straight from the box. Painted, detailed with acrylics. Weathered with pastels. I also replaced the mouth protection bar with brass rod.

Gundam Astraea appears in the side-stories of Mobile Suit Gundam 00P and Mobile Suit Gundam 00F. The unit name derives from the goddess Astraea, who is associated with the card Justice -- one of the twenty-two Major Arcana in the Tarot. The other Gundam test-types follow this naming theme.

A prototype mobile unit, which serves as the intermediary design between the 1st-generation GN-000 0 Gundam and the 3rd-generation GN-001 Gundam Exia. It is a testbed for a number of experimental technologies, incorporated in pursuit of a greater general utility versus the 0. The GN Drive control mechanism differs from that of 0 Gundam, and benchmarks with both higher output and higher instability. In 00P, where the Astraea is initially introduced, its paint scheme is white with blue and red highlights. As of 00F, 15 years later in the 00 continuity, the scheme has been altered to red with grey highlights, and the face has been covered with a black mask, in order to disguise the fact that it is actually a Gundam; as 00F pointed out, Celestial Being and its associates want to keep only four Gundams being known to the world. No explanation has been provided for the other changes thus far. Astraea eventually got modified for second time into the GNY-001F2 using various parts from Exia. The two ear-like protrusions that extend backwards from the sides of the head structure appear to be a design feature unique to the Astraea, but their purpose is thus far unknown and its paint scheme is white with blue and red highlights.

The kit
1/144 HG GNY-001 Gundam Astraea with Dengki Hobby Magazine Feb 08 supplement conversion kit. Painted with Kryon indoor purpose paint, detailed with acrylics. Weathered with pastels and Citadel bolt gun metal.

The Guncannon is the second prototype design model that stemmed from the Earth Federation's Project V in the original anime series. It was developed during the One Year War in response to the Principality of Zeon's MS-05 Zaku I and MS-06 Zaku II mobile suits.

The first Guncannon was the prototype RX-77-1A Guncannon A, which had poor mobility due to its heavy armor. The second version, RX-77-2 Guncannon, corrected this problem. As defensive weapons, it mounted two 60 mm Vulcan guns in the head. However, the Guncannon's primary weapons were the twin 240 mm cannons mounted on the shoulders, which were used for the mobile suit's design purpose: mid-range fire support. The Guncannon was also armed with a high-precision beam rifle for sniping operation, being one of the first mobile suit equipped with a beam weapon. The Guncannon was less mobile but more heavily armored than its cousin, the Gundam. This allowed the Guncannon to be a significant threat to Zeon's Zakus. Unfortunately, the extra armor provided no additional protection against the powerful beam weapons, and heavy projectile weapons (such as the Giant Bazooka used by MS-09R Rick Dom) were also capable of causing severe damage. It also lacked any sort of melee weapon, rendering it having to fight empty-handed during close encounters with an enemy unit. Another disadvantage was that its 240 mm cannons only held 20 rounds per cannon, limiting the Guncannon's effective operation time on the battlefield. During the Zeon attack on Side 7, only one RX-77-2 survived the attack. It was later stationed aboard the Pegasus-class assault carrier White Base and assigned to Kai Shiden. However, when White Base made its way to Jaburo, another Guncannon was transferred to the White Base to replace the space-incompatible RX-75-4 Guntank piloted by Hayato Kobayashi. To separate the two units, they were named the "C-108" and "C-109" respectively. Both units were heavily damaged at the final battle of the One Year War at the Zeon's space fortress A Baoa Qu. Kai's Guncannon later reappears in Hayato's mobile suit museum in Zeta Gundam.

The kit
1/144 HGUC Guncannon built straight from the box. Painted, detailed with acrylics. Weathered with pastels.

Pegasus-Class Assault Landing Craft was the first ship of the Earth Federation to be designed around a capacity to carry mobile suits (MS). These Assault Carriers are functionally equivalent to an aircraft carrier, as their primary function is to launch and recover mobile suits.

Since Pegasus-class ships carry their own MS with them at all times they are somewhat less dependent on their main guns and anti-aircraft guns for protection and they enjoy more freedom on the battlefield, as they do not have operate in close consort with other ships for mutual protection against enemy mobile suits. All Pegasus-class ships are also equipped with a Minovsky Craft System which enable ships in this class to enter and exit the earth's atmosphere; additionally, the craft system allows for these Assault Carriers to float by creating a barrier between the carrier and the ground.

Unlike the other Federation ship classes of the time, the Pegasus-class is not so much a single class as a concept; rapidly advancing technology swiftly changed both the internal arrangement and external appearance of the Pegasus-class ships. Only the first three units (Pegasus SCV-69, White Base SCV-70, and White Base Jr. SCV-71) were completed to the original plans. After White Base Jr., technology was advancing so quickly that each subsequent Pegasus-class cruiser looked significantly different, though each had the same general arrangement of a central hull with two large aft thruster blocks, two wings, and two forward mobile suit launching "legs." The overall design looked like a sphinx or a winged horse, giving the class its name. After the One Year War, every ship was redesignated as Mobile Suit Carrier (MSC) whether it had survived the war or not.

The playset
I used fine-tip Gundam Markers to detail up the panel lines, and sealed with matte sealer. A relatively quick forward touch up, but make a big difference in the overall look. Image on the right is the stock playset.