AJM

The two big distinguishing design features of the GS is the rear wide body and the side cove air extractors(see pic below) -- if you look at the pictures above you'll notice that the side cove from the 1/24 Maisto is really for a 'Z06'. The GS side cove has the GS emblem area located almost in the middle of the cove and it also has side vent trim that harkens back to the original GS. This turned out, for me anyway, to be one of the most challenging aspects of the build. I did take measurements from the 1:1 car and scaled them. I filed down the 'Z06' logo and then used a small strip of styrene to reposition where the GS emblem should be --this was filled in with 2 part epoxy and cleaned up. you can see the results below..

Yes, your quite correct, matter of fact I have most of it on my work bench! Thanx for the complement, it's most appreciated. Onto the build -- with much fitting, the front grill from the 1/24 Maisto looks pretty good. This is the correct grill for the GS and the Z06. Due to the slightly larger scale it had to be massaged into place. it will be primed and painted Semi-gloss black.

A little work on the front fenders and a comparison to the stock Z51 C7 kit - -Apoxie putty was used after a 'lip' of strip styrene was placed in the wheel arch. i had to study many pictures of the front fenders to get the look correct. Also another comparison of the rear of the GS with the Z51 stock model. you can see that the GS is much more aggressive looking

Rear fenders starting to take shape --this is a side by side comparison to the 1/24 Maisto Z069they call it a Grand Sport??)

First coat of primer, fitted side air vents(still not correct, but will be fixed later), top fend scopes added, and again much sanding and filing and filling...

After grafting the C7R fenders/rockers and keeping the C7 stock wheel arch with the 'signal indicator' -- now the real fun begins --many/many hours of filling, sanding ahead. used 3M two part glazing putty and Apoxie filler. But the general shape looks good at this point --fingers crossed!

As you can see from above and below, i had to open up the front grill, top rear fender air extractors and also the side vent coves were cut out --many hours spent doing this. also, much test fitting of the Maisto parts to integrate into this.

So here we go -- biggest difference between the Z51 C7 and the Grand Sport is the rear fender wide body, among other differences such as front grill, rear xmission cooler vents, side cove vents and vent trim pieces and rocker skirts. I took measurements from the 1:1 across the rear fenders and scaled the dimensions and compared to the C7R model and the fender width was almost exact. I also measured the front fenders and decided that I had to provide a 'little more flare' to the front . So the plan is to cut out the C7R rear fenders and rocker panels and graft them onto the C7. So let the surgery begin...

Since there is no 1/25 scale(or any scale) model kit of the C7 Grand Sport, Z06 or ZR1 version of the Vette, I took advice from some builds and comments on this forum about doing a kitbash to recreate this. So the approach will be to combine the 1/25 Revell 2016 C7 kit, the C7R Revell kit, bits from the 1/24 Maisto Diecast 'Z06', C1 models resin kit, 'Cup' wheels from Plazmos, I had custom decals made by Thomas at Speedway Decals and much advice from builders, Ismael G., Len Woodruff and Bob Downie, on the use of Automotive Touchup paint. Below are the kits that will be used

The inspiration for this build is the 1:1 vehicle that I purchased last year, on the 'bucket list' -- 2019 C7 Grand Sport , Coupe, Arctic White, Heritage package, Carbon Flash badging, machined face 'cup' wheels, two-tone interior. Last version of the front engine/rear wheel drive Corvette. This will be a challenge, but lets give it a go.. .picture below is what I will be striving to recreate!

I've worked with him and he is very reputable. I would or hesitate to do business with him. Al

The Arctic white C7 looks great. Nice job!

Love the gold finish and the wheels are killer! Great job.

Ismael -- Great start on this! I'll b following -- I had the same idea, and purchased the white friction model as well, I'm planing on doing the 2013 car with 60th anniversary livery, from Pattos Place. Also will use the C7R kit for mirrors, wings etc. best of luck! Al

Very creative, integrating the 1/24 kit with the 1/25! Will b following, keep up the great work.

Great build , luv the paint finish and color. The gold wheel inserts compliment the paint well!

Looks great, will be watching. I like the '68 BM , side pipes do it!

Jordan -- I have that kit in my stash as well, let me know what you think of it. It looks like a really detailed kit, Thx, Al

Ismael -- what a great job ! Every time I see one of ur builds it inspires me more -- luv ur Vette's!

Sorry for the 'cockpit' issues on the text in the above image of the engine bay, which I was finally able to get to load. As you can see the dual snorkel air cleaner was built to replicated the 1:1 . Also, added some engine wiring, brake lines etc. Too bad this engine in the real car was so 'smogged -up', the 5.7L engine was only putting out 225 h.p. --but the car sure looked nice! Noe the windshield wipers with 'Anco' blades(red ends). Thx again for all the kind words and for looking, Al

Since this was done over 30 yrs ago, I'm not completely sure, but I think it was either Folquil Aluminum or Model Master Aluminum, airbrushed directly over the chrome plated wheels -- then semi-gloss black and enamels were used to detail the cross flags.

Yes, the photos are taken with my iPhone, but I tried both ways, landscape and portrait with no success.?

Thank you for all the kind words; for some reason I'm not able to post some of the pics of the engine bay, any suggestions are welcome --I'm using the 'drag files or choose files' from the box, but I get an error message that file upload failed??? Thx again Al

First time posting in this section of the forum, glad to present a model that I built over 30 yrs ago, just getting back into the hobby. This is a 1/8 scale Monogram '78 corvette, that has been modified to the '79 , which was the first Corvette that I had purchased --had for 13 years and then sold it when the kids came along. So this is my remembrance, it sits proudly under a Lucite case in my office. What inspired me, was a kit review in a very early issue(1979) of SA mag. The build took me over three years --way too long, but enjoyed it. Some of the model features are as follows: Exterior paint is Dupont 'Corvette Yellow'(code52), acrylic lacquer applied with a Badger 200 AB, wet sanded, polished and waxed(no clear coat); interior was a tan/beige , w seatbelts added and the side coves modified to accept the seat belts, like the real car, steering wheel was cast from a 1/8 scale Camaro kit, which more realistically replicates the smaller steering wheel on the Vette. The '78 commemorative badges were modified to just 'crossed flags' for '79 , rear window defroster is red pin stripping tape. The 5.7L engine was detailed using the vette shop manual, air cleaner was modified to be a 'dual snorkel', brake lines were added as well, T-Tops were AB silver with a thin coat of gloss black and final coats of Tamiya Smoke, to try and replicate the 'glass' T-tops. I think it came out pretty good, it has the 'look' and 'stance' of the real car -- appreciate any feedback --if I built this now, probably would do some things different, but I guess that is experience. I've added a picture of the real car and then a few of the model, Thx for looking and I enjoy going onto this forum and seeing all the creative model builds , Thx for looking, Al

Ismael -- the Ron Fellows C6R is really taking shape -- looks great, Al