Accurate Miniatures Grand Sport Corvette:

[ismaelg]

Hello,

I am mostly a factory stock modeler, but I have found myself doing more racing subjects lately. I've had the Accurate Miniatures Grand Sport Corvette kit for years and I think I may need to start working on it sooner or later. I've heard many different things about the kit: Some frame rails needs to be filled, something interferes and doesn't fit, maybe the headers or something, ride height needs tweaking, etc.

I know some of you have already built it so what's your impression? How do you like it? What needs to be looked at carefully? How about the many aftermarket items for them? Any comments or suggestions?

Yes, I've seen pictures of Jim Drew's Grand Sport but he is from another planet Right Jim?

Thanks,

[Harry P.]

I've had that kit sitting in its box, half built, for years. I never got any further than the engine/chassis.

For some reason they put the hollow side of the frame rails on the bottom, where they're visible on the finished model...so they all have to be filled with strip styrene. A major PITA, and could have easily been avoided if they would have simply engineered the chassis with the open slots on the other side!

[JHDrew]

Hello,

I am mostly a factory stock modeler, but I have found myself doing more racing subjects lately. I've had the Accurate Miniatures Grand Sport Corvette kit for years and I think I may need to start working on it sooner or later. I've heard many different things about the kit: Some frame rails needs to be filled, something interferes and doesn't fit, maybe the headers or something, ride height needs tweaking, etc.

I know some of you have already built it so what's your impression? How do you like it? What needs to be looked at carefully? How about the many aftermarket items for them? Any comments or suggestions?

Yes, I've seen pictures of Jim Drew's Grand Sport but he is from another planet Right Jim?

Thanks,

Hi Ismael,

It's a nice planet and they know me there...

Anyway, it's not a bad kit to build. I chose to do the roadster version from the long gone Cheez-Cast body.

I bought the Model Car Garage PE set. Model Car Garage PE set It has a lot of the flanges on the frame and various do-dads. I believe it's a must for this kit. I modified the spare tire area by removing the excess plastic around the tire. Yes you need to fill in the frame rails with our favorite putty. The thing I do remember is the strange steering linkage with no place to mount it. Historic Racing Miniatures has some correct A-arms and other goodies. Strada has them all...HRM at Strada

VRM has 2 killer decal sets. V-R-M Decals

Yes, that's the 1/12th engine below

[Dave in Seattle]

If you want the roadster, I think that Tony at R & D Unique still casts it. Try http://www.rndunique.com/rnd_productlist.cfm?pi=2&pc=1

Edited April 8, 2008 by Dave in Seattle

[MonoPed]

It's been a few years since I built mine, but I remember it not quite living up to expectations. Don't get me wrong, it's a neat kit of a neat subject, and that is enough to get me past it's flaws. The frame rails have large slots molded in in them that need to be filled. Why they didn't put the slots on the other side of the rails is beyond me. I had to move the engine around quite a bit to get the headers to fit, clear the firewall and clear the hood. The tie rod also did not fit, so I left it off. The tires in my kit aren't molded all that well, but it looks decent on the shelf. I would put it alongside the Revell Germany Jag XK-SS and BMW 507 kits. Neat subjects, a little quirky to build, but worth it in the end.

[samdiego]

I had a good time with mine. The racing stripe through the hood louvers was a pain, but I pretty much brought that on myself.

[cruz]

Bill Geary tells me that the ride height is off and I have heard some other little things here and there but overall I have heard more positive things than anything else. I would love to see you attack that project, I have one myself and would love to build it one day.

[MonoPed]

I had a good time with mine. The racing stripe through the hood louvers was a pain, but I pretty much brought that on myself.

The decals on mine absolutely would not conform to the curves of the car, no matter how much solvent I dumped on them. I ended up painting the stripe instead.

[Seattle Mike]

Generally the fit of the parts is pretty good. Be aware that the first releases had no mounting pins for the front suspension parts at all, making there placement a bit more difficult. I filled the hollow frame rails with plastic strips first, and then puttied them over. This eliminated a lot of the shrinkage. At one time someone was resin casting the filled in frame, but I don't remember who, or if it is still available. Take your time with the headers and side pipes, as the joint between them is less than great. The engine builds up pretty nice, but you may need to shorten the distributor a bit to get it to clear the hood. Also, be really careful about the fit of the fuel lines and linkage, as the location and fit is a little iffy. The complaints about the rider height are valid, as mine sits like a 4X4. I have the Paddock/Friedman book on the Grand Sport, and the cars definitely sit lower. I did a more in depth building review in Scale Auto when the kits were originally released. I don't remember the issue, but I'm sure one of the board members can help with that.

[MrObsessive]

Generally the fit of the parts is pretty good. Be aware that the first releases had no mounting pins for the front suspension parts at all, making there placement a bit more difficult. I filled the hollow frame rails with plastic strips first, and then puttied them over. This eliminated a lot of the shrinkage. At one time someone was resin casting the filled in frame, but I don't remember who, or if it is still available. Take your time with the headers and side pipes, as the joint between them is less than great. The engine builds up pretty nice, but you may need to shorten the distributor a bit to get it to clear the hood. Also, be really careful about the fit of the fuel lines and linkage, as the location and fit is a little iffy. The complaints about the rider height are valid, as mine sits like a 4X4. I have the Paddock/Friedman book on the Grand Sport, and the cars definitely sit lower. I did a more in depth building review in Scale Auto when the kits were originally released. I don't remember the issue, but I'm sure one of the board members can help with that.

Hey, I've got that issue Mike! It was in SAE issue #100 from December '95. Excellent review and an excellent build!

One of the first things I noticed on the box art car was the ride height.........unfortunately they used the same car for the magazine ads, which I thought took away from this otherwise great kit.

I've yet to build mine after all these years...........I even have the roadster trans kit from Harold Bradford that I won at NNL East years ago. I should plan to build this one sometime soon as it's been a looooong time since I've done any type of mid year Corvette.

[MrObsessive]

I also want to add..........I coulda swore I saw a very nice turned aluminum and PE set offered for this kit a while back! The turned aluminum consisted of Weber trumpets among other things. I just can't remember who made it though!

[cruz]

I bought the PE set from Model Car Garage and if I recall it comes with a transmission for some reason!!

[Exotics_Builder]

I bought the PE set from Model Car Garage and if I recall it comes with a transmission for some reason!!

MCG has a PE set for the Grand Sport and it did come with their very good resin Muncie 4-speed as a replacement. I don't know if the current offering still has the 4-speed. I bought the Detail Master short trumpets to use for the Webers.

[JHDrew]

I bought the PE set from Model Car Garage and if I recall it comes with a transmission for some reason!!

It came with a transmission so you coud do the PE linkage without having to scrape them off the kit part.

[samdiego]

What an awesome reference photo. Is that the same induction that comes with the Revell '67 Corvette?

[ismaelg]

Thanks for the lead Bill! As soon as you mentioned it I remembered seeing it, so I started digging...

Remember these binders?

Mike, that's a very nice article and a great build. I can't believe that kit is already 13 years old!

Thanks,