Revell GMC Van "Stranger things"

[CapSat 6]

8 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

 

 

For me it's not really the lack of an engine as much as it is the inability to easily change the ride height. Most things I'd want to do to a van require either raising or lowering it. The questionable front end proportions don't help either, especially when there are better options.

That’s a very good point. The ride height looks about stock. Looking at that one shot of the chassis plate, you might be able to razor saw the front axle off, trim it down a bit, and reattach, thereby lowering the front. That would perhaps give you a custom rake. Still a PITA though…

[mikemodeler]

11 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

I just see it says GMC on the box.

Better change the topic title now 😉

 

But the grille looks a lot like a Chevy.

[Mark]

32 minutes ago, mikemodeler said:

But the grille looks a lot like a Chevy.

Chevy and GMC vans used the same grille for a few years.  Chevies had the bowtie in the center, GMC didn't.

[Khils]

The thing that I noticed.....it's actually got the "structural roof ribs"...ya know, the thing that discussed me about ALL AMT reissued van kits

(edit)...oops, left out GM van kits

Edited Wednesday at 02:49 AM by Khils

[Fat Brian]

2 hours ago, CapSat 6 said:

That’s a very good point. The ride height looks about stock. Looking at that one shot of the chassis plate, you might be able to razor saw the front axle off, trim it down a bit, and reattach, thereby lowering the front. That would perhaps give you a custom rake. Still a PITA though…

Yeah, that could be done but it looks like that will cut the whole front of the chassis plate off. It will take careful trimming to get everything lined back up and playing nice together. Definitely a PITA.

[Tabbysdaddy]

29 minutes ago, Khils said:

The thing that I noticed.....it's actually got the "structural roof ribs"...ya know, the thing that discussed me about ALL AMT reissued van kits

(edit)...oops, left out GM van kits

The A-Team van has the roof ribs, although that hasn't been reissued in a long time. 

[meechum68]

Bring back the Vanning 70-80s!  I will have to get a couple of those.  

[mikos]

On 10/13/2025 at 7:06 PM, stavanzer said:

Amen, Brian!

A complete waste of my time.  The Goofed the Front End, and The slab Chassis just seals the awful deal.

I may buy the wheels when the eBay guys start parting out the kits.

I don’t mind the slab chassis, but the goofed up front end concerns me.  Maybe it’s just the custom non -stock grill that makes it appear this way?

For me, all the detail in the world doesn’t matter if the body details are wrong.

[Beans]

1 hour ago, mikos said:

Maybe it’s just the custom non -stock grill that makes it appear this way?

I think you are right.  The grill to me looks a little bulky and that kind of throws off the front.

Picture of the actual van for comparison:

 

[Chuck Most]

 

Everyone griping about the grille and here I am looking at the shape of the forward edge of the roof thinking "Well, that's much closer to the mark than the existing kits of these vans, which range from anywhere to "well that's odd" and"did they volunteer the janitor to pattern this ".

Aside from that I'm pretty sure I have a shoebox full of loose AMT/Monogram/Revell van grilles I can make work if that bothers me much. Front end gives me Revell Jeep J10 vibes... looks high and narrow compared to the real deal.

Hopefully"grilles that suck out loud" aren't a continuing theme with new Revell releases, because the grille was the weak link in the K5 Blazer kit too, and I'm not expecting the Jimmy version to be any real marked improvement.

No engine detail? Who cares? It's a van. Van kits that do include full engine detail usually don't need to. I can't think of any van kit that does include engine detail that's actually visible once the thing is built. Unless you're going to make the doghouse removable full engine detail is a wasted effort.  The opening cargo doors and all the possibilities that unleashes more than make up for any lack of a powertrain.

[Andria H]

34 minutes ago, Chuck Most said:

 

Everyone griping about the grille and here I am looking at the shape of the forward edge of the roof thinking "Well, that's much closer to the mark than the existing kits of these vans, which range from anywhere to "well that's odd" and"did they volunteer the janitor to pattern this ".

Aside from that I'm pretty sure I have a shoebox full of loose AMT/Monogram/Revell van grilles I can make work if that bothers me much. Front end gives me Revell Jeep J10 vibes... looks high and narrow compared to the real deal.

Hopefully"grilles that suck out loud" aren't a continuing theme with new Revell releases, because the grille was the weak link in the K5 Blazer kit too, and I'm not expecting the Jimmy version to be any real marked improvement.

No engine detail? Who cares? It's a van. Van kits that do include full engine detail usually don't need to. I can't think of any van kit that does include engine detail that's actually visible once the thing is built. Unless you're going to make the doghouse removable full engine detail is a wasted effort.  The opening cargo doors and all the possibilities that unleashes more than make up for any lack of a powertrain.

The AMT '77 Ford Econoline and 1/20 MPC '74 Ford Econoline, and I think the 1/16 Revell vans, do have opening front hoods, the Lindberg Lil Red Wagon in stock form is a van-based pickup but has a removable doghouse too. But as a former owner of a '74 G10 in real life, what the heck is there to see under the front lid other than battery, master cylinder, radiator, and a few reservoirs?

[Can-Con]

13 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

Yeah, that could be done but it looks like that will cut the whole front of the chassis plate off. It will take careful trimming to get everything lined back up and playing nice together. Definitely a PITA.

Simple solution for lowering, , , cut the mounting pins off and mount them up higher. 

Probably could mount them a bit lower if you want to raise the van up a bit for some reason too.

[Hondamatic]

On 10/14/2025 at 6:31 AM, stitchdup said:

Being its a gmc is it the correct shape for the a team van?

You can use the AMT chevy van (which was the same tooling for the Ateam van) and get the conversion grille and bumpers on ebay. The dash will still be wrong though 

 

[Jordan White]

I’m confused why people keep bringing up the engine when I have yet to see a complaint that there is no engine. The complaint I’m seeing is the promo-style chassis, which I agree is disappointing after seeing the well done chassis in the Blazer kit. Would have been nice to get a van chassis with an accurate suspension and a rear axle that doesn’t look like it came from a big rig!

[Luc Janssens]

6 hours ago, Jordan White said:

I’m confused why people keep bringing up the engine when I have yet to see a complaint that there is no engine. The complaint I’m seeing is the promo-style chassis, which I agree is disappointing after seeing the well done chassis in the Blazer kit. Would have been nice to get a van chassis with an accurate suspension and a rear axle that doesn’t look like it came from a big rig!

Well I assumed that, "the design choices for a full open kit and a slab chassis" so guilty as charged 😉

But as I wrote, in this particular kit it looks like Revell chose, to put in the spotlight, the interior and (maybe/hopefully, more future) dress up parts and graphics.

Also Round2 is doing similar things with their Craftsman plus series. But it doesn't stop me from shoehorning a 427 'vette engine in the amt '64 Chevy Malibu 😀

 

 

 

Edited 19 hours ago by Luc Janssens

[stitchdup]

would the blazer chassis suit the van with a little stretching? 

[Fabrux]

These vans were unibody, so a separate chassis isn't appropriate. Plus, there was no factory 4x4, they're all aftermarket conversions. Plus plus, the engine is slightly offset, resulting in unequal length control arms from side to side.

[Tabbysdaddy]

Yes it's unibody, and yes the engine is offset, but no, the control arms are not unequal lengths. That would make it handle weird. I just measured to make sure. 

[Can-Con]

Um, you guys sure these are not "body in frame" construction? 

Pretty sure they all have a separate frame unless you're talking about the kit specifically having a one piece chassis plate instead of having a separate frame and floor like other van kits.

But, yes Chris, Sean is right about the front suspension arms. In fact they used the exact same ones as the pickups for the first couple years and just slightly modified pickup arms after that.

It was just the frame crossmembers that had the offset.

[Can-Con]

7 hours ago, stitchdup said:

would the blazer chassis suit the van with a little stretching? 

No, completely different frame.

I bet you could easily slam an AMT Chevy van frame and floor under there if you really wanted. Rear end bothering you? swap it out for something else. It's a separate part, not hard to do. 

[mikemodeler]

3 hours ago, Fabrux said:

These vans were unibody, so a separate chassis isn't appropriate. Plus, there was no factory 4x4, they're all aftermarket conversions. Plus plus, the engine is slightly offset, resulting in unequal length control arms from side to side.

The Revell

van has a full frame as does the AMT van.

[Tabbysdaddy]

There is no separate frame on the 1:1. The underside of the kit looks very much like the real thing. The front crossmember bolts to the unibody rails.

[Hondamatic]

20 minutes ago, Tabbysdaddy said:

There is no separate frame on the 1:1. The underside of the kit looks very much like the real thing. The front crossmember bolts to the unibody rails.

Looks like youre an actual van owner, so I'll believe you more than anyone

 

Too bad this is the same body/ year as the AMT. Would've been nice to have an 80s, or shorty with stock body, but spotlight on any van kits is nice. I'll definitely have to add to the collection 

[Can-Con]

42 minutes ago, Tabbysdaddy said:

There is no separate frame on the 1:1. The underside of the kit looks very much like the real thing. The front crossmember bolts to the unibody rails.

Interesting. I've never heard of that before.      I guess you learn something new all the time. 👍

[av405]

58 minutes ago, Hondamatic said:

Too bad this is the same body/ year as the AMT. Would've been nice to have an 80s, or shorty with stock body, but spotlight on any van kits is nice. I'll definitely have to add to the collection 

My exact thoughts as well.