58 FineScale Modeler September 2019I
taleri’s “World Architecture – the
Most Famous Monuments” series fea-
tures some interesting subjects, but the
latest addition is a big one even in
1/500 scale. It’s The Colosseum as it
appeared in 82 AD at the height of the
Roman Empire.
In its heyday, the Colosseum looked
very much like a modern football stadium.
However, instead of football players, the kit
provides four gladiators as well as a lion and
a bear to entertain the crowd.
The “stadium” portion is an impressive
one-piece molding resembling a
Tupperware container. Clever design work
simulates the numerous statues present in
alcoves around the arena’s exterior by print-
ing them on heavy cardstock. The walls
consist of twenty sections molded withsturdy mounting posts for the base and pins
designed to hold the cardstock backdrops
in place.
A well-done pamphlet includes a com-
prehensive history and the instructions;
painting instructions are provided using
color photos of the model instead of dia-
grams.
Construction of the base requires trim-
ming some substantial sprue gates. The
framework that mounts the stadium por-
tion to the base has a bit of play, so I left it
unglued until the stadium was prepared. A
large sprue gate right in the middle of the
arena required careful trimming and filling
to hide the large divot. Then the stadium
was flipped upside down and the mounting
framework attached. All joints were glued
while the stadium was upside down.
Italeri suggests attaching the columns
that support the upper works — looking
for all the world like an elevated running
track — but I wanted to firm up the stadi-
um’s perimeter, so I installed wall sections
next. The instructions say to paint the walls
and install the printed cardstock to the sta-
dium before assembly. But the cardstock is
easy to install at the end of the build.
I used a strap to cinch and hold all the
wall sections in place while they were glued.
Deluxe Models Perfect Plastic
Putty was used to fill
seams since it can be
removed with water,
avoiding damage to
the molded stone-
walls.
Be careful remov-
ing the column sup-
ports as there are twotypes that look very similar. I was worried
about the alignment but they installed eas-
ily. One type mounts to the stadium and
the other type to the upper level. The upper
level “running track” was installed next but
the joints were very visible. I filled them
with Tamiya putty then smoothed the work
with a motor tool — I didn’t want anyone
tripping as they ran laps.
For the base color, I used Krylon colo-
nial ivory from a spray can. Details were
painted with various Tamiya colors includ-
ing flat red for the main trim areas. The
stonework was emphasized using Flory
Models dark dirt wash.
As the final step, the statue cards were
prepared by cutting along the lines indi-
cated and using the tip of a hobby knife to
cut tiny slits for the mounting posts using
the printed marks as a guide. Each card
segment has a printed number correspond-
ing to its position on the model. The wall
sections have numbers molded into their
reverse faces to match. The accuracy of the
trimming and slitting marks was perfect,
and the slits allowed the cardstock to stay
in place. Just to be safe, I added a drop of
glue at each mounting peg.
It took more than a day to build the
Roman Colosseum, but only a little over 18
hours total. While it is a difficult kit
to make into a finely fin-
ished scale model, it is
cleverly designed and
would likely make a
good souvenir or a
challenging history-
report project.- Chuck Davis
Italeri The Colosseum
WORKBENCH REVIEWS
Kit: No. 68003 Scale: 1/500
Mfr.: Italeri, italeri.com
Price: $86.50 Comments: Injection-
molded, 143 parts (20 printed card)
Pros: Clever design; printed card a great
idea to represent the numerous statues
Cons: The fit was a bit off especially the
“running track” upper surface which was
difficult to install well