Scale Comparison and Custom Shop: Matchbox GMC School Bus.

I had a bit of fun with Matchbox today.  This year saw the re-release of the Matchbox "GMC School Bus".  It's a very realistic vehicle and it (or vehicles very similar to it) have been a common sight all over America for the past few decades.  Unfortunately it is currently in the slightly silly blue "See a Celebrity" tour bus paint scheme pictured on the right.

More on the orange scheme on the left in just a moment, but first here's the requisite "Toy Car Scale comparison shot.

Brand: Matchbox
Model: GMC School Bus
Model #: MB768/MB998
Years: 2009-Present

Matchbox calls it 1:64 but I think it's much closer to HO.   It hasn't been offered in a traditional school bus livery in 8 years, so I decided to quickly make my own as follows:

1) Drill out the rivet on the bottom.  Any drill will do (I use a Dremel) but I highly recommend clamping the car down first.  This will help avoid drilling into your own hand, something that may or may not have happened to me...
2) Toss the body in a jar of rubbing alcohol to loosen the paint and then scrub it off with a wire brush.
3) Spray the body with a few coats of orange. Wouldn't be a bad idea to start with a coat of primer.
4) With Black paint pen, paint the fenders and grills
5) With various paint pens, mark in the details, lights, etc.

Here's what the modified and unmodified parts look like after painting.  

I used reference pictures found on google images as a guide.

Front: Could have been a bit neater on the lights. 

The yellow glass is not quite realistic but I don't think it looks too bad.

Rear: As well as the lights I blacked in the lower middle window (actually part of the metal frame).

Side: Blacking out the wheel wells and marking in the frames of the doors makes a big difference. There's lots of nice detail on this vehicle that is obscured by the "See A Celebrity" paintwork.

Waiting for the spray coats of orange to dry over an afternoon was the most time-consuming part of the process. The rest was quick markings with the paint pens over the course of one evening.  I could have gotten even better results with patience, a small brush, and some custom decals. However, the goal here was a quick and easy project and I'm happy with the end product.

The result is a very convincing model that looks almost as good as many purpose-built HO scale trucks.  Unlike those vehicles - and like nearly all the Matchbox I feature- it only cost me a buck and a little effort.  At that price one could quickly fill a whole school lot with school busses or build a bus depot.

Now that the children have a way to get to school perhaps it's time to attend to the elderly residents of the Chicago Valley with a nice beige-and-pastel retirement home shuttle...