Italeri 1/500 The Colosseum Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

While there are many notable historical landmarks in and around Rome, Italy, few are more spectacular in terms of architecture and engineering than the Colosseum. Construction began in 72AD to create a symbolic venue for the Roman people to counter the problems left by the reign of emperor Nero. The Colosseum opened in 80AD and remains the largest amphitheater ever built. The colosseum could seat over 65,000 people, which is about the same capacity of major modern sports venues up until the last few decades. The central field of the colosseum could be configured to support a wide range of activities including mock naval battles. The ability to flood the field for water events would last only a short time before technical challenges precluded such uses, but by that time, the colosseum was being used for the sporting events of the time - gladiator games - as well as other activities. After almost 2,000 years, the colosseum stands today, with only parts of the structure damaged by earthquakes. If you were a Bruce Lee fan, you'll recognize the colosseum as the stage for his epic fight against Chuck Norris in the movie "Way of the Dragon".

Italeri has created another masterpiece with the release of this Roman Colosseum kit. Even though the kit is 1/500 scale, it is still a large model. Upon opening the box, you'lll be impressed with the main part of the kit - the huge one-piece bowl that makes up the interior of the colosseum. This is impressive molding! The kit is molded in light tan styrene and presented on eight parts trees (duplicate trees not shown). Assembly will be relatively quick and straightforward. The experienced modeler will want to spend some time with painting and weathering to achieve a nice result.

Note that one of the parts trees includes a set of figures to be placed out in the arena. These include five gladiator figures of varying type and one lion. There is also a sheet of cardstock with printed figures on black backgrounds that replicate the various ornate statues displayed in each of the upper two tiers of exterior archways.

The kit also includes a nice booklet that not only includes the build instructions, but historical and photographic information which will help you recreate this iconic structure as it appeared circa 82AD. Fully assembled, the model will be about 16 inches long by about 14 inches wide by about 4.5 inches high.

If you're looking for something different for your model display, this will be a fun break from the usual arrays of Bf 109s and Tiger tanks.

Thanks to MRC for the review sample.