I don’t know about you, but I have many memories of a bus very similar to this, taking me to and from school. Not all the memories are good, but, despite that, seeing the bus in LEGO form is pretty darn cool. Allen Smith recreates the classic school bus at almost a 1:43 scale, down to the last iconic detail. The 1995, Thomas built Saf-T-Liner MVP school bus serves as the base of Allen’s model. The most recognizable detail, at least for me, is the front of the bus. The particular way the flat face is interrupted by the slight curve of the windshield is crisp. I love the use of wands for the windshield wipers! It gives them just the right angling for the look. Something my school buses never had is that nice crossing arm. They added it for safety to keep kids from running out into the road before the driver gives the all-clear.

Talking about safety features, there are those escape hatches on the top. They have a second feature–being used for ventilation. You just pop the front of the forward one and the back of the rear one to get an airflow going through the stuffy bus. Great when the weather is warm! The use of a bracket on the rear emergency exit is great for the small door handle. There’s even the stop sign that extends to let others know the bus is going to be picking up or dropping off someone. There’s a great deal of attention to the details of the model–you could say Allen really schools us on how to build a replica of a school bus.