Polar Lights Rodan (Snap) 1:800th Scale Model Kit (POL963)

The Rodan kit was very easy to assemble. Although it's billed as a snap kit, it's like every other snap kit...a little glue is needed here and there; on Rodan, this is especially true with the wings. The stomped city base is good in bringing in an element of action, and is aided by such details as a solitary lampstand and a tiny overturned car. I like assembling figure models and have loved kaiju films for 60+ years, so this model was particularly enjoyable for me.

This kit is a copy of the original Aurora Kit made in the 70's. This kit is the second edition by Polar lights. The first edition Polar Lights kit had the box cover art that is a virtual copy of the original Aurora box art with a green Rodan retouched photograph. I don't have researched quoted evidence but supposedly most if not all Aurora molds have been destroyed/recycled for its beryllium copper years ago. The Polar Lights kit was probably made by copying an old Aurora kit. The kit fit is OK, not great and works better with polystyrene cement even though its a snap fit kit. The accuracy is not super accurate based upon the movie Rodan. But for people who once had this kit, this is a great chance to buy an old memory at a great price ($32) versus buying an original Aurora kit at higher collector pricing.

This kit is advertised as a ‘snap-together’ model but I highly recommend using plastic glue for a better fit (especially for Rodan’s large wings). Minimal sanding was needed and this kit was largely free of flash. I found Rodan much easier and more enjoyable to build than the King Ghidorah model made by the same company. Rodan has some nice textures on his body that really shine with a good paint job. The initial build was fairly quick as this Rodan kit only contains 30 parts. He looks great next to my Godzilla kit on my shelf.

Very hard to put together and keep together. Not the greatest quality. Wouldn't recommend for younger kids because you also have to paint it (paint not included) to make it look anything like it does on the box.