# Revell Corvette Grand Sport



## Rondo (Jul 23, 2010)

Got this kit a few days ago. Usually I'll keep them sealed till I'm ready to at least pretend to start building but in this case I had to see what was inside. I had heard that the Revell release would not have photoetch but it appears that the full Accurate Miniatures content is there. 

Not to say the kit is without issues but for $20 it's a real value. I like many others was seduced by the exotic engine. And it does look very nice. In fact there are about 100 details in the kit that would look great on another build. 

On the minus side, the tires are a little weak. The tread is not very crisp but worse, the overall shape is mismatched from side to side and the tread is cupped in a bit. 

Apparently this kit is a special situation, being bought at liquidation and it is said that Revell won't (can't?) be producing any more kits, so when these are gone they're gone. If I find it, I'll pick up one more.


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## CorvairJim (Dec 16, 2011)

Thanks for the head's up about the limited availability. I'll have to grab any that I can find. I grew up too late to have known about these cars when they were competing, but being a Chevy fan, I found out about them later on. I NEED one on my shelf, and like you said, a couple more could be good parts donors in he future too.

Question: Is this the coupe or the roadster... or do they offer BOTH of them?


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## Rondo (Jul 23, 2010)

Hey Corvair Jim, This is the coupe. I don't believe AM ever got around to a roadster but may have had one planned. In trying to learn about the kit's history, I've read that there were 3 different kits:

One with a flat hood
One with a milder scooped hood
This one which had a pretty radical louvered hood

Apparently the first kit had some issues which got cleared up for later issues. Looks like some of the earlier kits had nicer tires. The tires in the Revell kit are in Acc. Min. bags so I don't know how they got so screwy.

I'm off now to see if I can score another one. :wave:

Edit: Mission accomplished. I even left one for someone else. Got an Orange Crate as well. They also had the Moebius Chrysler 300 which will be a must have.


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## CorvairJim (Dec 16, 2011)

Holy Cow! You knocked that one out of the park! I'd say "Mission Accomplished" on that trip... :thumbsup:


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## Rondo (Jul 23, 2010)

After doing some more reading on the Acc. Min. kits, it seems that there were at least 3 different BOX ART versions with different hoods shown. However, the kit in all cases was basically the same with the wild louvered hood. Some changes were made over time for better fit and added detail. The tires were changed to drop the Good Year lettering.


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## dreadnaught726 (Feb 5, 2011)

Saw these at a local shop and picked up 2 even though I still have 2 of the original AM issues. From what I can determine Revell only aquired existing inventory to repackage and do not own the molds so when these are gone, thats it! These are really great kits but building can be a little tricky so be patient and take your time.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Rondo said:


> Apparently this kit is a special situation, being bought at liquidation and it is said that Revell won't (can't?) be producing any more kits, so when these are gone they're gone. If I find it, I'll pick up one more.


That is probably untrue. When the original Accurate Miniatures went out of business some years ago (there was a second revival company that was not the same) the AM molds were in the possession of the Korean outfit that did their molding. The molds are still safe and sound in Korea and the molding company does runs for, basically, whoever pays them to run the molds. Italeri has been reissuing the AM kits for a few years now. Apparently they buy the molded, bagged kits from Korea and stick them in an Italeri box. Likewise, it seems Revell just pays to buy the bagged kits. They are not old stock etc that Revell got and reboxed. They are newly run kits.

Originally there were 3 different Corvette issues from AM with various detail differences.

The original kits are not rare by any means. There are some on ebay as low as $10 Buy it Now. It's not a bad kit but has a lot of fit and assembly problems.


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## DOM-19 (Mar 12, 2002)

That '63 snap on looks pretty good--dom


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## laimer (Apr 6, 2012)

Some changes were made over time for better fit and added detail. The tires were changed to drop the Good Year lettering.


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## Rondo (Jul 23, 2010)

djnick66 said:


> That is probably untrue. When the original Accurate Miniatures went out of business some years ago (there was a second revival company that was not the same) the AM molds were in the possession of the Korean outfit that did their molding. The molds are still safe and sound in Korea and the molding company does runs for, basically, whoever pays them to run the molds. Italeri has been reissuing the AM kits for a few years now. Apparently they buy the molded, bagged kits from Korea and stick them in an Italeri box. Likewise, it seems Revell just pays to buy the bagged kits. They are not old stock etc that Revell got and reboxed. They are newly run kits.
> 
> Originally there were 3 different Corvette issues from AM with various detail differences.


That is interesting that AM kits have been issued by Italeri as well. I have never seen the Grand Sports that way. I would assume that normally whoever bankrolls the tooling would own the rights to it's use if not own the tool outright. Hopefully, the ongoing use of the molds is the result of a legal agreement and not simply a case of possesion trumping ethics.

*"The original kits are not rare by any means. There are some on ebay as low as $10 Buy it Now. It's not a bad kit but has a lot of fit and assembly problems."*

Well sure they are...NOW! LOL I had looked at those but I believe they were open kits and I wasn't quite sure of them.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Italeri has not sold any of the AM cars (that I know of but I don't pay attention to Italeri's car series either). But, they have sold many of the planes like the TBF Avenger and B-25 Mitchell. Italeri's prices are way jacked too. 

I don't know or remember all the ins and outs of the demise of AM but they burned a lot of bridges and burned their own business to the ground basically. At any rate, today, the molds are owned/in the posession of the Korean tooling outfit that made and ran them for AM all along. As with a lot of kits, it is not uncommon for one company, like Italeri (or Revell) to buy bagged kits from someone else and repackage them. For example, Tamiya sells Italeri kits in Japan in Tamiya boxes. Revell molds kits for Hasegawa and these are sold in Japan in Hasegawa boxes. Revell Germany buys bagged Hasegawa kits and sells them under the Revell name... So, currently, Revell decided to buy a run of Vette's from the Korean molding company. Not really a big deal. It's a nice kit at a good price.

The main drawback to most AM kits is that they were a tad overambitious and overengineered given the newness of the company at the time and the tooling/molding techniques they used. The kits look nice in the box but then you find engineering, fit, instructions, etc. are definitely not Tamiya quality. The kits take some TLC. The McLaren is particularly bad...


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