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 13 hours ago 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.