Oxford Diecast Citroen H van - a warning

[quicksilvercoaches]

I've made a rather surprising discovery that Oxford Diecast's recently-released and supposedly OO Citroen H catering van is in fact HO scale so it's no good to OO modellers! Read more on my findings here: https://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.com/2019/08/h-for-ho.html

[friscopete]

oh the shame ,the shame .

[PhilJ W]

I saw some on a dealers stand at a toy fair last week and I thought they looked a bit on the small side.

[fodenway]

A shame indeed, especially as there have been highly-detailed versions of the H van available (in plastic) from some of the European manufacturers for some time. I had hoped that this might have been the start of a group of small foreign commercials in 1/76, but I won't be parting with any money this time.

[quicksilvercoaches]

All is not lost. If you don't mind applying modellers' licence to make something that didn't exist but could have done, the Oxford model could pass for a OO scale G van.

[BernardTPM]

But why on earth would you want a van that makes a Nissen Hut look good?

[Joseph_Pestell]

Who cares too much what a van looks like? Does it do the job?

 

For that, the H was a real pioneer and especially user-friendly with  its low floor. It came in a multitude of versions.

[BernardTPM]

If it's a model it doesn't do a job, save to please the eye or jog the memory. For me it does neither. I don't ever recall seeing them while they were current either. I wouldn't object though, to seeing them on a period French layout, adding to the atmosphere, in which case being H0 is actually a bonus.

[Enterprisingwestern]

6 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

But why on earth would you want a van that makes a Nissen Hut look good?

 

Because it's a Citroen?

 

Mike.

[PhilJ W]

Quite frankly I'm not interested in a vehicle that is not common in the UK and is only imported because it is 'trendy'. Several commissions and special liveries are in the pipeline so that seems to be the intended market.

[grahame]

17 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

If it's a model it doesn't do a job, save to please the eye or jog the memory. For me it does neither. I don't ever recall seeing them while they were current either. I wouldn't object though, to seeing them on a period French layout, adding to the atmosphere, in which case being H0 is actually a bonus.

 

14 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Quite frankly I'm not interested in a vehicle that is not common in the UK and is only imported because it is 'trendy'. Several commissions and special liveries are in the pipeline so that seems to be the intended market.

 

Yes, I agree. I don't recall having ever seen one driving down a road in the UK. And they're ugly enough to be head turning and memorable.

 

And, as for incorrectly scaled/sized (or labelled) vehicle models, that is not a new thing. Bachman produced a range of buses under their Scenecraft brand intended for British N/2mm modellers but they were made to an inconsistent scale that was even smaller in some dimensions than the continental 1:160 scale making them far too small for British 1:148 (or even 2mm 1:152) scale. 

 

It's great to have the scale (and incorrect labelling) drawn attention to, but it's probably not worth making a fuss about. It might be best to just ignore the model. After all it's not exactly a popular must have vehicle for British layouts, but would very much be at home on a European based one as mentioned.

 

G

[PhilJ W]

If  you need one in 1/76 Tomica made one in 1/74 scale a few years ago. I've never seen one outside of the catalogue so they might be difficult to find.

[Mallard60022]

Missing the clever move here. Small is far away...…..park it so that the forced perspective effect is applied. Alternatively, park it behind a building or even in a closed garage so that it isn't seen.

Bonjour vous opposants.

E. Macron

[grahame]

17 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

Missing the clever move here. Small is far away...…..park it so that the forced perspective effect is applied. Alternatively, park it behind a building or even in a closed garage so that it isn't seen.

 

Forced perspective only works when everything else in that distant far away area/zone is made to the diminished scale. You'd need to make the roads, buildings, street furniture and other nearby vehicles and figures to the same smaller scale. And you couldn't have any trains running through that zone otherwise they'd look oversize.

 

I like the idea to park it out of view thou.

 

G

[stewartingram]

23 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Because it's a Citroen?

 

Mike.

Have you spelt that right?

 

Stewart

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Bring it on, some of us are perceptive and far sighted and don't follow the herd!

 

Mike.

[Mike Harvey]

Pity the Citroen H is 1/87.. Being a resident of Dover in the 1940s to 1970s I was very familiar with the H and its other dustbin colleague the 2CV fourgonette. Every cross channel ferry had one or both, though when dispersed to the hinterland and beyond that certainly made them a rare beast. From what I recall they were popular with the wine trade and antiques traders so might not have got far beyond London or Brighton.

[Talltim]

I used to see three regularly in Sheffield at the turn of the century at the stage where they were old but not a classic. If the owner kept the rust free for long enough I bet he made a killing now they are the in thing for catering vans

[PhilJ W]

I see the Tomy Tomica version (1/71 scale) is on E-bay at the moment..

[PatB]

I remember one that used to run around Bristol c1990.

[w124bob]

The real irony is , there are better HO renditions out there as well. Busch, Wiking and Norev to name but three.