what is considered the best 70's american van kit. must be 1/25 scale

[youpey]

what is considered the best 70's american van kit. must be 1/25 scale. i have no preference on on which van. i am just looking for one that fits together nicely and goes together easily. 

 

this is the style of van im looking for. it doesnt need to be a dodge, and i dont care if it has side windows. i guess i would prefer if it didnt, like this one. but i am more interested in the quality of the kit over that detail. any help is appreciated

 

 

 

[1972coronet]

I'm partial to the AMT and MPC Ford Econoline vans for simplicity and end product . The AMT Econoline has been reissued in two or three iterations in the last 10 years ( the Coca ~ Cola edition is the most recent ) .

The long-running AMT G-van ( Chevrolet )  is a fun kit and it looks great upon completion . It has its inaccuracies ( 5 lug wheels on a one ton chassis ) and some iffy parts to it , but those are easily worked around .

Then there's the MPC B-van ( Dodge ) . IIRC , it was last issued in Bad Company livery , which is a c.1982 'annual' , back in c.2016 . It features the typical undersized 'generic' Chrysler small V8 / manual trans ( though that combo is more accurate in a B-van than a 1975-1976 Dart ) and some other not-obvious-to-me inaccuracies .

Truly , you can't go wrong with any of the kits I've listed . 

[1972coronet]

** ADDENDUM **

The most-recent AMT Econoline is the surfer's van edition . This one appears to be the nicest , as it includes the newly-tooled surfboards from the 1965 Malibu Wagon , and some really nice decals .

[youpey]

1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:

** ADDENDUM **

The most-recent AMT Econoline is the surfer's van edition . This one appears to be the nicest , as it includes the newly-tooled surfboards from the 1965 Malibu Wagon , and some really nice decals .

Thank you very much for the information.  I can get the ford cruising van for 10 dollars less than the surfer van. do you think it is worth it to get the surfer van? i dont care about the surfboards, honestly. 

 

i really like the look of the police chevy van, but that is very expensive now. for what i am doing, i dont think i want to spend 50+ dollars on it, when i can get the chevy van for 30. i can check out hobby lobby near me to see if they have one on sale.

[Rodent]

There is also the Coke version of the Ford out now. It is a little more expensive, but the Coke machine might be good trading fodder here. I guess I didn't realize that the Chevy had become "rare" again. I thought the police van was just out recently.

[Classicgas]

The AMT Ford Cruisin' Van build up quite nicely, fairly simple as well.

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Classicgas

[youpey]

i was able to get the amt rescue van on ebay for a decent price. its a little higher than i would have liked, but i really prefer the chevy over the ford. im going to build it as a regular van, like the one above i think. the plan is for a late 70's or early 80's style diorama.

 

thanks again to everyone that helped me on this one. i really appreciate all of the help. i have never built, or researched a van, so i had no idea what was a good builder or not

Edited May 23, 2021 by youpey

[Oldcarfan27]

I think all of them have their plusses and minuses. 

AMT Ford van looks good, but has no interior detail. 

MPC Ford van looks great. Has interior detail and a separate side door, but hasn't been issued since the mid 80s, so consider that one - $$$$.

MPC Dodge van is good, if you like the 80s flat nose era and don't get the "backbirthed" grille from the ambulance issues. Early annuals had better interior parts, but there again - $$$$$.

I like the AMT Chevy van. Good details and fun choices. I just wish they hadn't cleaned off the roof supports from the A-Team issue. That roof was correct. The smooth roof from before and after it is just wrong.

Revell Custom 70s Chevy van has great detail inside and out, if you like 70s "vanning" style. I don't like the big fat tires and cheesy 10 hole wheels that it comes with, so that would be my first change to it. Separate roof, hood and doors are a plus!

How about Revell's Vanagon or 60's VW bus? Esci had a cool Euro Ford Transit van back in the 80s. And Hasegawa had their own VeeDub busses as well.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Oldcarfan27

[stitchdup]

Italeri rereleased the transit short ago in police and gas liveries. There's also the vw bay window bus just been released in europe ( snap kit but judging by the revell tractors it wont be that noticable) I think jimmy flintstone does some resin vans too but they might be earlier body styles

[Can-Con]

I don't know how correct this is but I seen last week that the "Foxy Box" version of the AMT Chevy van is supposed to be reissues soon. 

I would have preferred the "X-Tasy" version with it's colorful decals but this is kinda cool for the nostalgia factor.

 

[Can-Con]

BTW,, Here's a pic with almost all the AMT custom van kits. 

The "Candy Van" and "KISS Van" are missing from this page.

It's be neat to see all these reissued.

 

[Tabbysdaddy]

There's also a Revell shorty van. I shaved off the molded in wheel flares. I think I used my own rims and tires. 

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, Tabbysdaddy said:

There's also a Revell shorty van. I shaved off the molded in wheel flares. I think I used my own rims and tires. 

That's actually the old Monogram 1/24 scale van. They were a pretty good kit. Built up easily and looked great but the OP was asking about 1/25 scale.