Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack — the universal standard reference

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - Body front and back (1/3)

Body front and back

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The dome head... There are two convex stickers on the lens area that look absolutely great. Among

The dome head... There are two convex stickers on the lens area that look absolutely great.
Among them, the red eye lets you choose between a convex sticker or a flat sticker + clear part combo.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The back of the convex stickers has a silver foil coating, so when light hits them they shimmer b

The back of the convex stickers has a silver foil coating, so when light hits them they shimmer beautifully. :-)

The arm section. Love how big and bold the decals are.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - One of the biggest highlights of this kit is that all the bolts on the body are individual parts

One of the biggest highlights of this kit is that all the bolts on the body are individual parts you plug in separately,
which really maximizes the sense of depth and realism. It's a fun build too ^^
As shown in the photo above, there's a wrench part for tightening the small bolts...
The idea is you slot the wrench onto the bolt, clip it off with nippers, and then plug the whole thing straight into the armor. Very convenient.
Sure, you could pick them up with your fingers, but it's a pain.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The body armor panels are double-layered like this, with the outer armor secured by those small p

The body armor panels are double-layered like this, with the outer armor secured by those small plastic bolts.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The double-layered bolt-fastened armor panels at various points on the body. The only downside is

The double-layered bolt-fastened armor panels at various points on the body.
The only downside is that this is only applied to the body — not the arms or legs.
Also, these sections will be upgraded in the future Metal Spec version.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The double-layered armor and bolt fastening on the side of the body and the front skirt. If you l

The double-layered armor and bolt fastening on the side of the body and the front skirt.
If you look closely, the molded color of the bolts and the armor are slightly different, so it does show. (Well, it'd be a shame if it didn't...;)

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The double-layered armor and bolt fastening on the rear and side skirts. Either way, it's a build

The double-layered armor and bolt fastening on the rear and side skirts.
Either way, it's a building method I really love.

The leg section. Compact and detailed, yet it gives off a solid, military-like weight.

The feet

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The fingers are designed so that, like recent MGs, you can split them apart with a hobby knife fo

The fingers are designed so that, like recent MGs, you can split them apart with a hobby knife for individual articulation...
In theory, anyway. In practice, they're stuck together so firmly that separating them is a real struggle. T_T
I gave up rather than risk breaking them with the knife and just built them as-is. Hmm...

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - cockpit hatch open. It swings wide open~ There's a pair of movable cylinders at the back. (1/3)

cockpit hatch open. It swings wide open~
There's a pair of movable cylinders at the back.

With and without the pilot.

The control stick moves forward and backward about 90 degrees like that.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The foot hatch opens too. Maybe for ventilation? ^^; The lens section hatch on the head can also

The foot hatch opens too. Maybe for ventilation? ^^;
The lens section hatch on the head can also be opened.

The lens section can rotate like that.

It can also slide side to side.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - Two options built into the sole of the foot. Pull down the lever on the left and a spike-shaped a

Two options built into the sole of the foot.
Pull down the lever on the left and a spike-shaped anchor peg pops out...
Lift up the front of the foot and a wheel hidden inside the sole drops down.
Looks like the idea behind Heelys (those roller shoes) that were all the rage a few years back actually originated back in the Votoms era ^^;;

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The hatch on the back of the leg opens... well, sort of. It's really more of a cover panel for th

The hatch on the back of the leg opens... well, sort of. It's really more of a cover panel for the articulation mechanism than an actual hatch.

The gimmick of the arm extending for a punch is also reproduced.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - A pretty long rifle. The magazine is also removable. Most of the parts are single-piece, so there

A pretty long rifle. The magazine is also removable.
Most of the parts are single-piece, so there are hardly any seam lines ^^

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The palm and rifle connect via two locking pegs, which makes for an incredibly secure hold. Consi

The palm and rifle connect via two locking pegs, which makes for an incredibly secure hold.
Considering how many complaints there were about the single peg on older kits not holding well enough...
Nice thinking, Bandai~

Two 1/20 figures are included.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - 1/20 Chirico standing figure. A proper articulated figure with movable arms too.. ^_^ (1/3)

1/20 Chirico standing figure. A proper articulated figure with movable arms too.. ^_^

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - Armor removed. This was one of those kits where the armor is really tough to take off... *cough*

Outer armor removed.
This was one of those kits where the armor is really tough to take off... *cough*

Internal frame

The torso frame. The power of a solid one-piece frame, as expected.

The cockpit pedals have a bit of articulation too.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The arm frame. In most kits the arm frame tends to be a bit plain... but the arm frame on this ki

The arm frame. In most kits the arm frame tends to be a bit plain...
But the arm frame on this kit looks really great!

The hip joint mechanical frame

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The leg frame. Very crisp and well-defined shapes throughout. The legs in particular feature a do

The leg frame. Very crisp and well-defined shapes throughout.
The legs in particular feature a double frame structure that's usually only seen on high-end kits.

The internal frame of the rifle in particular is PG-level.

Peek a little further inside and you'll find loads of detail reproduced here and there.

The frame on both sides of the cockpit and the molded detail on the floor.

cockpit

The control stick in the cockpit has a movable handle, but it's only meant to be attached when the pilot figure isn't seated.
In other words, you need to remove it to sit the figure in. That's because the control stick part is attached to the figure's hands. ;

The cockpit looks like it'd be a comfortable seat. Though it does look a bit cramped...

Interior mold of the upper body armor

The mold and structures inside the head

Interior mold of the skirt

Interior mold of the leg armor

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - To recreate the down form, the shin needs to extend forward. This part is a bit stiff and doesn't

To recreate the down form, the shin needs to extend forward.
This part is a bit stiff and doesn't pull out easily, so you inevitably have to apply a bit of force.

The down form as seen in frame state

You can see how the leg gimmick changes when in down form.

Frame action. Yeah~!

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - Articulation. The frame state is slightly better... but basically it's at the 90-degree level. We

Articulation. The frame state is slightly better... but basically it's at the 90-degree level.
Well, given the way it's shaped, wild articulation was never really in the cards, so it is what it is.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The shoulder connection is fixed in place, so it doesn't budge up, down, or sideways... though th

The shoulder connection is fixed in place, so it doesn't budge up, down, or sideways...
Though the shoulder joint does angle out slightly diagonally upward, which does help articulation just a little.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The ankle articulation range is decent — if you pull the double L-shaped joint out slightly to th

The ankle articulation range is decent — if you pull the double L-shaped joint out slightly to the side, ground contact is pretty good.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The forward-leaning torso gimmick is pretty unique. The waist itself is fixed and only rotates ho

The forward-leaning torso gimmick is pretty unique.
The waist itself is fixed and only rotates horizontally,
but there's an articulation gimmick built into the hip area that lets the torso lean forward a bit.

Action poses. With only one weapon, pulling off a wide variety of poses is a bit... limited.

The kneeling pose turns out reasonably well.

Box art pose

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - A punch pose using the arm extension gimmick. But the reach is so short to begin with that you ca

A punch pose using the arm extension gimmick.
But the reach is so short to begin with that you can barely tell the difference;

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - For the down form, the middle section of the legs needs to fold forward. But the fit here is pret

For the down form, the middle section of the legs needs to fold forward.
But the fit here is pretty stiff, so you have to pull pretty hard to get it apart.
It doesn't seem like a point that'll break easily, but it's still a little nerve-wracking... go easy on it~

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - The down form — that quirky pose you see in Votoms. (1/3)

The down form — that quirky pose you see in Votoms.

Side and bottom views of the down form

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - cockpit hatch open in down form. Chirico's up to something... lol (1/3)

cockpit hatch open in down form.
Chirico's up to something... lol

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - This kit uses wet decals. Since I reviewed it without any topcoat... a lot of them peeled off whi

This kit uses wet decals.
Since I reviewed it without any topcoat... a lot of them peeled off while removing the outer armor and posing it. T_T

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - Even after assembly, there are quite a few armor fixing pins left over. I wonder if they're usefu

Even after assembly, there are quite a few armor fixing pins left over. I wonder if they're useful for something??

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - Together with the RRR Layzner, which shares a similar background. But the quality gap between the

Together with the RRR Layzner, which shares a similar background.
But the quality gap between these two kits is enormous... the ATM-09-ST Scopedog wins by a landslide.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - Alongside the MG Gundam Ver. O.Y.W. 0079, which you could call a standard-sized kit. Going with B

Alongside the MG Gundam Ver. O.Y.W. 0079, which you could call a standard-sized kit.
Going with Bandai's 1/20 scale does make it noticeably bigger.

It feels roughly similar in size to the MG Z'Gok.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - Together with the recent MG Zaku II 2.0. In some areas, the ATM-09-ST Scopedog actually surpasses

Together with the recent MG Zaku II 2.0.
In some areas, the ATM-09-ST Scopedog actually surpasses the Zaku 2.0 in quality.

In many ways, this kit clearly shows the effort that went into making up for the RRR's failures.

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog - Bonus shot. That box is the Turbo Custom kit from the 1/24 Wave (Takara molds + upgrade parts) AT

Bonus shot. That box is from what's considered a premium among Votoms kits —
it's the Turbo Custom kit from the 1/24 Wave (Takara molds + upgrade parts) ATM-09-ST Scopedog series.
I originally planned to compare it with that series too, but that'll have to wait for la~ter... (Come on, that's irresponsible!)

Straight build

The Votoms license — one of the icons of real robot anime — briefly found its way into Bandai's hands. Previously, Takara had been producing Votoms plastic model kits, and Wave later acquired those and released slightly upgraded versions. Up until recently, Wave's 1/24 Votoms kits had been well regarded as premium products in their own right, but thanks to the aging molds and technology, they fell short in many ways compared to the latest Bandai kits.

When it was announced that Votoms would be getting a Bandai release, it drew a lot of attention from longtime fans. Oddly enough though, the scale turned out to be 1/20 rather than the familiar 1/24 — a scale that's almost never used in the plastic model world outside of F1 cars. It's a bit of an odd choice, but presumably they wanted to differentiate it from existing products and make it larger so the detail work could be better.

When the 1/20 Votoms was first announced, there was some ambiguity about whether it would be part of the RRR series — but when the lid came off, it turned out to be its own standalone series: the Votoms 1/20 Series. This says a lot, and I think the biggest factor was that the existing RRR kits hadn't been well received. The project to bring real robots back to life was ambitious, but the first batter up — the Layzner — sold very poorly due to quality that fell below expectations. Then the L-Gaim, which was designed to a much higher standard in many areas — arguably MG-level or better — seemed to actually hurt its own mainstream appeal because of how different and oddly unique it felt compared to Gundam.

That said, having built this Votoms kit myself, it's clearly several steps above the RRR series in quality — and I get the feeling the Bandai folks who poured their enthusiasm into developing it just didn't want to be associated with the RRR label. It's like they wanted to say, "this is on a completely different level from RRR." Either way, it's a kit that by its origins and size really should belong to the RRR lineup, so releasing it as a separate series was a bit of a surprise.

On top of that, the ATM-09-ST Scopedog from Votoms lends itself to easy reuse across all kinds of variations — Turbo Custom, Red Shoulder, Brutish Dog, and so on — so I think they wanted to spin it off as its own series and pump out multiple releases. Taking all of this into account, Bandai's mecha plastic model lineup has effectively gained one more entry.

I've gone on a bit about the background, but bottom line — this kit absolutely oozes developer enthusiasm. In a word, it feels like a mix of Bandai's pride as the near-monopoly in the mecha plastic model market, determined to show a quality that blows every other ATM-09-ST Scopedog kit out of the water, combined with the passion to produce the real robot legend Votoms at the highest possible quality.

The end result is a kit that's on a completely different level quality-wise from any previous ATM-09-ST Scopedog — in every single area: color separation, molded color, joint strength, gimmicks, inner frame, functionality, you name it. Compared to MG, which is basically Bandai's benchmark for plastic model quality, nearly every aspect matches MG standards, and in some areas it actually shows a level of craftsmanship that surpasses MG.

First off, thanks to the extensive use of single-piece armor panels, single-piece frame parts, and slide molds throughout, the parts have an exceptional sense of volume and seam lines have been almost completely eliminated. I've never seen a kit use slide molds this extensively before... every single runner is packed with solid, three-dimensional parts cranked out via slide molding~

On top of that, undergates — which in MG kits are usually reserved for plated parts — have been applied to nearly all the outer armor, and even major inner frame parts use undergates. In terms of injection mold quality, this thing shows tooling technology that rivals or exceeds most PG kits. And a large portion of the outer armor panels feature a zimmerit coating-like surface texture molded right in. Just looking at the runners alone, they're so lavishly molded it'll make any plastic model enthusiast's eyes go wide... the money spent on the tooling itself must be in a completely different league from other kits.

The RRR Layzner was a prime example of a kit that got joint strength tuning completely wrong (absurdly stiff to a baffling degree) — that's something you have to dial in through repeated subtle mold adjustments after test shots. The 1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog clearly went through that process properly, because the whole body has just the right amount of stiffness and the assembly feel is excellent. The recently popular soft-type ABS parts are used extensively, so even with fewer polycaps, great joint strength is maintained. The grip strength issue — one of the chronic problems with Gunpla — has also been cleanly solved. The weapon and finger attachment has two locking pegs instead of one, so that big rifle locks into the hand very securely. This double-peg system, introduced for the first time in this kit, seems to completely solve the grip strength problem — here's hoping it gets adopted in future MG kits too.

Even the assembly method is designed to give you the feel of putting together a real piece of machinery — for the body, every bolt is inserted individually as a separate part using a dedicated spanner. It's a really interesting way to build, and it really drives home just how premium this kit is.

The pilot figure that comes separately from the Chirico standing figure actually has decent color separation, so it looks pretty good even as a straight build. The face area is kind of hollowed out in a way that's oddly a little creepy;; but all in all, it's a solid pilot figure.

One thing to note though — since this isn't an official MG kit, it comes with wet decals instead of dry transfers, so you need to take care of them properly after application. You'll want to spray a topcoat or do some surface finishing, otherwise you'll end up like me with decals constantly peeling off during posing. T_T

Beyond the basic quality, every hatch on the head, body, and feet opens up, the wheel and spike gimmicks on the soles work, and the ATM-09-ST Scopedog's signature down form pose is perfectly reproduced — this is without a doubt the definitive ATM-09-ST Scopedog kit, a true masterpiece.

That said, the articulation does fall short compared to the satisfaction you get from the structural quality and gimmicks.
Of course, since this kit is focused more on capturing that military/mechanical feel and functionality/gimmicks rather than poseability, it's forgivable. Still, joint movement is limited to a classic 90-degree range, so if you're after dynamic action poses, this kit is a bit off the mark for that. But with so many other strengths going for it, it somehow doesn't feel like a major drawback.

My personal memories of Votoms go back to middle school, sitting in a dimly lit corner of a manga café, reading the Votoms comics and getting quite a culture shock from that strange, unique worldview and the incredibly realistic mechanical designs. That's why Votoms has been talked about as a legendary real-robot series, and it has a lot of die-hard old-school fans.

That said, I don't think those long-time old fans who've loved Votoms for so many years will give this Bandai Scopedog — polished and modern as it is — a completely glowing review. Part of it might be that Bandai's kit style was always a bit of a different direction from what Votoms was about, but more than that, I think it's because Bandai went and slimmed down the proportions their own way, and the Scopedog — which should feel worn-out and a little musty — has come out looking almost too clean and mechanically pristine.

From my perspective, where I mainly judge kits on their quality as mechanical models, I genuinely want to call this a masterpiece that only comes along once every few years. The lavish mold work you rarely see in other kits, the satisfying and realistic assembly method combining a solid frame with bolts, that crisp and modern feel as everything snaps together — the release of a fully-featured, up-to-date Scopedog is something to be really excited about.

For a newer generation with no knowledge of Votoms, the historical significance packed into that octopus-head of the Scopedog, the sweaty military grit, the raw and gritty feel of real-robot mecha — I doubt much of that will really come through. It does seem like this kit was aimed at old-school fans from the start rather than newcomers, but even so, a kit of this quality is one I'd recommend without hesitation. It's a high-quality kit, no question.

Anyway, the fact that they were willing to set aside the well-intentioned RRR series — which they'd put so much effort into — just to establish this as its own standalone line really says something about how much work went into this kit. Given the nature of the mecha, it might be a bit of an acquired taste and probably won't pull in massive mainstream popularity, but for mecha model enthusiasts who want top-tier kit quality, a unique assembly experience, and a satisfying sense of weight and solidity, this is without a doubt a "great kit" I can recommend without hesitation. And one more thing — if you've only ever built Gunpla and felt a bit out of place with the RRR series, I'd put my money on this 1/20 Votoms giving you that familiar Gunpla assembly feel, plus something extra and different on top of it. :-)

1/20 ATM-09-ST Scopedog | 2007.6 | ¥4,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.