Hi, all! As a part of my layout, I am going to have a small Boy Scouts campground, and I have some tents, Boy Scout figures, camping details, etc. But there’s one more thing I would love to add (with a little tip o’ the cap to my old troop):
This troop van was apparently made in or before 1955, and I’m trying to find a van that I could paint like this one for the campground. Any suggestions?
I think maybe the Woodland Scenics “Mickey’s Milk Delivery” van might be like it (somewhat), but buying that set with the figures seems kinda pricey just to get the van (the main part I’m interested in for this). I was thinking that surely somebody makes one like this van, or even close enough.
Can anyone out there who’s knowledgeable about trucks and van models advise me of 1) who the maker (probably) of this type van is, and/or 2) who makes an HO scale model that is fairly close to the one above?
Appreciate any help that you could provide. I’ve looked using Google image search, but not sure it’s giving me anything close enough that I can go looking for an HO scale model.
I remember those types of trucks from my youth. I believe they were called a “Metro Van (sic)”. They were used by all types of business from bread delivery to dry cleaners to Railway Express Agency, to general delivery services of all types. I believe, although not sure, that the body was produced by Grumman for General Motors and sold under the Chevrolet brand name. If I’m wrong, I will stand corrected. The Magnuson kit is a good representation of this vehicle, but requires some patience to build, paint etc.
I think there was one that was called DIVCO that looks very similar in form to that one posted here. The ones that you mention were just called GRUMANN up here. Car Craft magazine did an article on DIVCO a couple of years ago
Thanks for the info, Chuck, Jimmy and Barry! Actually, I have that Magnuson kit (or the Walthers version of it) in my kits-to-be-assembled box, so I may go with that one (no new purchase required…).
In a search of Walthers (including discontinued items), I found that CMW (Classic Metal Works) had made the Metro delivery van - see Walthers’ number 221-30117 for a photo of one model of it. Now, if I could find one of those…
My next challenge will be to figure how to model (or hint at) ‘open’ door/doors (on the driver’s side, at least). I think on the Magnuson kit, maybe I could slightly lower the door area (or leave it unpainted where the door would be). If I were really good with my Dremel drills (I’m not…), I could ‘whittle’ out the floorboard and ‘hump’ shapes from underneath, and paint them from the inside/bottom. But then again, that sounds like work! [:O]
We’ll see what way I go on that. If I could only find one of those CMW ones, eh?
For what it’s worth, I remember the DIVCO milk truck, it was different than the one shown in your photo. The “METRO” van had no front hood; it had a rather flat front, the DIVCO van had a " front hood" with a rather unique hood ornament, for lifting the hood, I suppose, for servicing the engine.
