H for HO

What scale is Oxford Diecast's Citroen H van supposed to be?

Here's a brief word of warning to my model-making friends - don't always believe the scale a model is claimed to be! You're probably all familiar with Oxford Diecast's large and ever-growing range of mostly excellent 1/76 OO scale models, but I've discovered to my cost that one recent addition is not actually anywhere near this scale at all...


Among the latest batch of releases is a Citroen H catering van, which has already been seen in Coca-Cola colours and a couple of liveries for Jamie Oliver's various businesses. Converted H vans are now a ubiquitous sight vending food and drink pretty much anywhere in the country, so this model should fit in well on any modern image OO scale layout, but there's one serious problem.

The model is advertised as part of the 1/76 range and coded 76CIT, so I ordered one naturally assuming it would be 1/76 scale as stated. I was in for a bit of shock when it arrived as it seemed rather small next to other 1/76 vans but the H van in reality is quite a large vehicle, and other modellers agreed with my thoughts.

Thanks to the encyclopaedic Citroenet website, I was able to find out that the H van came in numerous different sizes but the standard short-wheelbase version represented by the model is 4.26m long. Dividing that by 76 results in a length of 56mm, but I measured the model to be only 48mm or a full 8mm shorter than it should be, and the other dimensions are similarly far too small. That may not sound like much but 8mm in this scale is 2ft in full size so it makes a big difference.

You're probably thinking this is an unfortunate mistake made somewhere in the development process, but the really interesting thing is that this length is almost exactly correct for 1/87 or HO scale, which seems too coincidental to be an accident. If the model has indeed deliberately been made to 1/87 scale, that is a shame as H vans in this scale have already been available for years from continental manufacturers yet none have ever been made in true 1/76 scale.

Some people have suggested Oxford may be intending to introduce a range of HO scale models to suit European railway modellers and complement the existing HO American car series, but if so it is disingenuous and misleading to code this one as part of the 1/76 range and advertise it as being that scale when it clearly isn't. Whatever the truth, this model is a huge disappointment and should be avoided by OO scale modellers although it may unexpectedly be of interest to their HO counterparts.

I'm now stuck with a model I don't really know what to do with. The quality of finish is up to Oxford's usual high standards but it's completely the wrong size. I don't collect HO scale and the H van looks too small and out of place in my OO collection so it is of little use to me. I hope this serves as a warning to any other OO modellers who might be considering buying one of these vans and will help to avoid the inevitable disappointment when it turns out to be too small. Don't make the same mistake I did...