1:76 Bedford OB

[rapidoandy]

Bedford OB/Duple Vista coach

 

Rapido Trains UK is delighted to add the Bedford OB coach to our growing range of 1:76 scale road vehicles. This design became the classic post-war British coach and its rugged simplicity meant that it became the first choice for coach operators long after more modern designs came on the scene.

 

Bedford, the commercial vehicle arm of General Motors’ British operation, introduced three new lorry chassis, the ‘K’, the ‘M’ and the ‘O’, in the summer of 1939, with the latter being the largest. The new range intended to maintain Bedford’s grip on the commercial vehicle market. As over 50% of all British small bus/coach chassis sold in the 1930s were Bedfords, a passenger version, dubbed ‘OB’, quickly followed the new lorries.

 

 

The outbreak of war curtailed OB production, although a wartime version, the OWB, was introduced 1941. OB production resumed in October 1945 and by the time production ceased in 1951, thousands of chassis had rolled off the Luton production line.

Coachbuilder Duple bodied over 8,700 OBs and 3,864 carried the famous Vista body. This combination gave rise to the classic OB look and it forms the basis of our model.

 

We’re delighted to announce that we’re producing three versions of the ‘OB’: the original body style, with extended boot doors and the revised design that was introduced in mid-1949 with larger rear bumper and revised rear light panels plus this same body side but with roof windows.

 

Our ‘OB’ follows the high standards set by our critically-acclaimed 1:76 scale BCT ‘New Look’ Guys and WMPTE Fleetlines. Plastic body construction means we can incorporate a wealth of detail, both inside and out, plus rubber tyres and poseable front wheels. Our OBs come with a choice of wing mirrors and rear lights so that you can configure your model to re-create your favourite coach. Unfortunately, due to the exposed nature of the headlamps and the fact that we’re offering two different styles, we regret that we’ve not been able to include lights in our model.

 

RRP for the model is £44.95. Ten liveries are planned for the first batch as follows:

 

·        920001: GAM338, Pearce & Crump

·        920002: LKM55, East Kent Road Car Co

·        920003: HOD75, Western National Omnibus Co

·        920004: LTA750, Royal Blue Coach Services

·        920005:EDL638, Southern Vectis (dark green)

·        920006: GWS468, Edinburgh Corporation

·        920007: FWO615, British Railways crimson/cream

·        920008: HAA874, Hants & Sussex

·        920009: FWW596, West Yorkshire Road Car

·        920010: LRO296, The Mountain Goat

 

You can order yours today direct from us or any Official Retailer.

 

[melmerby]

Interesting announcement, hardly surprising considering the Titfield Thunderbird license.

Some niche liveries there.

e.g. Mountain Goat, based in Cumbria

 

 

Not using the Bedfords these days:

Edited May 27, 2022 by melmerby

[Aire Head]

Happy to see the West Yorkshire Road Car one!

[AY Mod]

Out with the paint and get some transfers done then.

 

https://flic.kr/p/4iy28t - from the edge of WMPTEland.

[melmerby]

Complete with ( a bit of) a Wmpte bus

[autocoach]

Can the door be opened so it can be posed at the station bus stop? I modified an Oxford OB with open door for my old Padstow layout.

[Covkid]

4 hours ago, melmerby said:

Complete with ( a bit of) a Wmpte bus

 

Indeed Andy Y.  Used to live at the now demolished garage a few hundred yards from me. The site is now a row of Bungalows. I do miss the bus company but not the acrid fumes from them starting up on a cold winters morning. 

 

Warstones also had one of the ugly bodywork OBs, but can't remember offhand where it was "thrown together" !!!

 

EDIT perhaps I was a little harsh  GZ2248 was not such a bad looking bus after all - was an OWB according to Flickr.

Edited May 27, 2022 by Covkid

[Cwmtwrch]

New to the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board in 1944, with a Mulliner bus body, which was pretty standard for the OWB.

[Covkid]

2 hours ago, Cwmtwrch said:

New to the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board in 1944, with a Mulliner bus body, which was pretty standard for the OWB.

Yes.  I was being a little unkind and maybe should have said "not as attractive as the OB". 

Had no idea it was that old though !!! We moved into our house in 1996 so it was at least 52 years old then !!!!

[melmerby]

I'm not so sure that Green Bus (Warstone Motors) is a fit operator to be commemorated by a model.

They were banned from the road in 2009 due to the parlous state of the vehicles and the company director (Graham Martin) was banned from being a director.

Nevertheless he started a new company "White Wings", using many of the Green Bus vehicles, but operations ended rather ignominiously in 2011 when a wheel came off one of their buses in Wolverhampton. They too were banned along with Mr Martin whose was to be kept out of the transport industry for ever.☹️

Edited May 27, 2022 by melmerby

[Johann Marsbar]

Rather o/t for an OB thread, but Green Bus certainly had an interesting fleet in the 1980's as we visited their operation in 1986 on a minibus tour of the West Midlands.....

 

 

 

Rather more on topic could be this as a suggested OB livery....

 

 

Corgi were interested in producing a model of this (preserved) one in their 1/50 scale range back in the 1990's - around the period they produced the Ipswich Corporation version of the utility trolleybus , as I was liaising with them as to the correct colours/adverts for that model at that time.  It was, however, one they didn't produce in the end, and I don't believe EFE have ever done one in OO either, despite Mulleys being an operator of several of the type fairly late on. At least one other Mulleys one was preserved, apart from ours, following the sale of the remaining examples from his fleet in 1975.

[RANGERS]

15 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

Rather o/t for an OB thread, but Green Bus certainly had an interesting fleet in the 1980's as we visited their operation in 1986 on a minibus tour of the West Midlands.....

 

 

 

Rather more on topic could be this as a suggested OB livery....

 

 

Corgi were interested in producing a model of this (preserved) one in their 1/50 scale range back in the 1990's - around the period they produced the Ipswich Corporation version of the utility trolleybus , as I was liaising with them as to the correct colours/adverts for that model at that time.  It was, however, one they didn't produce in the end, and I don't believe EFE have ever done one in OO either, despite Mulleys being an operator of several of the type fairly late on. At least one other Mulleys one was preserved, apart from ours, following the sale of the remaining examples from his fleet in 1975.

A flick through Corgi catalogues of the 1980s and 90s should yield all manner of potential liveries, from the mundane to the bizarre. Personally I’d like to see the various versions that Barton had (five different combinations I think there were of two liveries, with and without the glazed cove panels) and for something a little different, the open sided ones that Lincs Road Car ran along Skegness sea front.

[stewartingram]

I like the idea of a Skeggy version. Also don't forget the long lost Cambridge area stalwart, Premier Travel.

[Johann Marsbar]

Presumably the Skegness ones were like the preserved Lodge's one.....

 

 

 

[A Murphy]

I know I ought to get out more, I am alarmed at how excited I am by this release. It'll be a West Yorkshire one for me. The problem of course is going to come when I plonk this on the station forecourt alongside a contemporary (as in a North Western windover for example) from somewhere like efe - one of them may suffer in comparison!

 

Alastair

Edited May 29, 2022 by A Murphy

[stewartingram]

Thinking ahead, do Rapido buses have metal or plastic bodies? I'm just thinking of a potential ease of conversion to a Skeggy if they don't actually do one.

[AY Mod]

10 minutes ago, stewartingram said:

Thinking ahead, do Rapido buses have metal or plastic bodies?

 

Plastic bodied; nice definition, but, yes, easier to adapt than diecast.

[wombatofludham]

On 27/05/2022 at 15:56, melmerby said:

Complete with ( a bit of) a Wmpte bus

...and perpetuating the thread drift, on the far right, one of the two ex Coopers of Wrockwardine Wood Bedford-Duple Viceroy grant coaches that Midland Red kept in the mid'70s.  One had nice moquette, the other sweaty faux leather.  How do I know?  Midland Red would often send them out on my bus home from school in Rugeley.  Usually the sweaty one which in the summer of 1976, with greenhouse windows and the pathetic sliding vents at high altitude, wasn't the nicest of experiences!

Cannock depot had all the waifs and strays Midland Red acquired over the years which was about the most interesting thing about my trips to school back in the 1970s.

[Covkid]

6 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

...and perpetuating the thread drift, on the far right, one of the two ex Coopers of Wrockwardine Wood Bedford-Duple Viceroy grant coaches that Midland Red kept in the mid'70s.  One had nice moquette, the other sweaty faux leather.  How do I know?  Midland Red would often send them out on my bus home from school in Rugeley.  Usually the sweaty one which in the summer of 1976, with greenhouse windows and the pathetic sliding vents at high altitude, wasn't the nicest of experiences!

Cannock depot had all the waifs and strays Midland Red acquired over the years which was about the most interesting thing about my trips to school back in the 1970s.

"Melmerby"'s photo is actually quite a Rapido house image.  On the left you have one of the two hundred WMPTE Bristol VRs, which RapidoAndy will eventually get round to producing from the Fleetline tooling.  There in the centre of the piccie is  Warstones GCA747 which I am sure will be on the second list of releases !!

And look e on the right behind the Midland Red Viceroy.  Is that a Midland Red Leyload National which is Rapido's current bus project. 

 

Utterly marvelous !!! 

[RANGERS]

On 29/05/2022 at 10:45, Johann Marsbar said:

Presumably the Skegness ones were like the preserved Lodge's one.....

 

 

 

The Lodge one is one of those from Skeggy, it was new to Western National and gravitated North via Duple at Hendon where the conversion was carried out.

 

In later life it was preserved in Lincs Road Car livery before Lodge acquired it in 2012.

[ed 66 plant]

I assume that headlights will feature on the models but will be non working?

I will order the Royal Blue version and would like to know if the destination display  has been determined.

regards

Ed

[Pre Grouping fan]

10 minutes ago, ed 66 plant said:

I assume that headlights will feature on the models but will be non working?

 

Ed

 

Back earlier in this page where any posted all the artworks the text mentions due to their exposed design they won't be working. 

 

[AY Mod]

Delighted to see the samples on show on Rapido's stand at Warley.

 

[RapidoCorbs]

We're thrilled that the 3D preview render of our upcoming Bedford OB Bus has been featured in Sufficient Power Magazine!

Choose from 10 different livery and detail variations on our website:
https://rapidotrains.co.uk/bedford-ob/

[mclong]

Sufficient Power Magazine cover mentions Lodekka's and Sentinel six legger, does this mean Rapido's next bus will be a Bristol Lodekka, and Sentinel steam lorries are coming too.