I’ve got this solid resin kit of a 1948 Chevrolet School Bus it’s 1/87. The kit was produced by Gregs Garrage in Saginaw MI.
Can anybody let me know what color they’ve used when painting a school bus for the 1940’s and 50’s? Is there a paint brand that offers a color that is close?
Cheers
Bruce.
I once saw a school bus parked next to a UP streamliner and their colors were so close as to be virtually identical. I think I would probably go with a UP or Milwaukee Armour Yellow myself. This hue is available from almost all paint manufacturers.
R.T. is right on about the shade. I rode school buses back in the 'fifties out here in California, and the colors always reminded me of what the City of San Francisco looked like when it zoomed through Roseville. I think Armour Yellow is VERY close on.
Tom
Perhaps this wikipedia entry may be of some use. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_bus_yellow
Thanks for the link, Randy. Now I know why school busses have always been the same color. I was two years old when that standard was adopted!
Of course, busses belonging to rural and cash-strapped school districts, and those exposed to sunlight here in the dessicated desert, tend to bleach to a lighter shade as they age. There’s a nice weathering project for some detail hound.
On my layout, kids from the towns in the hills travel to school by train…
(So did I - but the train was the NY subway system,)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - school trains and all)
Apologies for straying ever so slightly from the subject, but I’ve always been curious about this school bus model:
This model (& a few others offered by the manufacturer) have been in Walther’s catalog since at least the late 70’s. They were very expensive then, & even more so now. I’ve always wondered on the reasoning on their prices, considering they come with no seats, interior detail, or decals.
Has anyone ever purchased one of these, & if so, are they worth it? I want to doubt it, but curious on on others’ opinions.
Thanks for clearing up this issue. I have a couple of Jordan Schoolbus kits and I was wondering when the yellow color was adopted. I will paint them yellow. There is a picture in a historical book on my hometown that has a school bus in it. The photo is black and white,but its obvious the bus is not yellow. Its a dark color.The year…1937.
Many thanks, to y’all for that very helpful and useful information.[:)]
The paint is on mail-order.
Cheers
Bruce
A point well made there, Chuck; bleached coloring is often overlooked on custom paint jobs.
I toured an HO-Scale layout at Seattle in '04; the brass hat was modeling Santa Fe in the mid-'70s and his first generation diesels, theoretically 20 years old, were getting in bad need of a trip to the paint shop.
More recently, I’ve noticed that some bus roofs, particularly in Florida, are painted white. I suppose this is to help with the heat load from the sun, to keep the interior more tolerable. Not comfortable, of course, but just this side of unbearable. I’m not sure when that practice started. Do they air condition school busses in Florida?
I have also seen school busses with a white roof. Up here in the New England I have also seen school busses with black roofs.
tim