MSA-003 [M] Cancelled...GM Marine Project Restart!

I've been wrestling with the Nemo for a while now and I final threw in the towel. In an attempt to clean paint off, I went ahead and soaked the parts in non-acetone nail polish remover, because a friend told me other builders stood by this paint stripping method on a hobby forum. I didn't test it and I didn't blot the parts, I just threw 80% of the parts into a chemical bath. This is a noob mistake that I shouldn't have made, but subconsciously, I think I wanted to be rid of it-- so I killed this model.

I've never killed a model before, even poor designs, but I guess I got fed up with the Nemo. The design is ugly and the proportions are terrible. I am already working on the Methuss Ground use, and it's coming along better than expected, but I think I'm done fussing with a MS design that's Zeta-era and really ugly. I can't remember the last time I worked with a base design that I loved (I don't love Methuss, but I am a fan of the variable MA concept, which was carried forward in Z II and ReZEL.)

Nemo is very...soft, but still salvageable. Some of the parts are melted into an odd position (e.g. ankle cover is upright for stripping a broader area of paint) and I may be able to fix those. Moving forward, I'll probably use Nemo for a background or trashed MS in a diorama. Parts that weren't ruined include the torso, backpack, booster unit (Neue Ziel), orange visor and respirator/mask.

So what now?

Well, I still want to make an underwater type GM, so I'm restarting this project with a base GM that I like: GM Sniper II!

Interestingly enough, GM Sniper II was the direct predecessor for the Nemo, and somehow, the Nemo turned out ugly. The GM Sniper II was rated with the highest performance among GMs and for you Nemo fans out there, the Nemo was made 7 years after the GM Sniper II, so of course the Nemo's performance is better...7 years in technology is a long time so it should better!

In addition to the proportions, I like the rotating visor and the vents on the legs. The torso will give more surface area to attached ballast tanks and perhaps a harpoon launcher, but the backpack is similar enough to Nemo. Perhaps the most significant carry over from the Nemo Marine concept is the addition of a Z'gok claw arm. This could be salvaged technology grafted or adapted to the GM Sniper II, allowing the flexibility of one claw arm and one normal manipulator for grasping weapons. The Z'gok arm might also have an anchor chain feature to mimic an underwater grappling claw.

I am also returning the idea of the Solomon Express RX-78-2 C armor or a Hambrabi/stingray motif with an extension trailing behind the MS for propulsion.