American School Bus LEGO Ideas Project Review

Overview
This project is an American style school bus designed by chenhongmai. I imagine many people are familiar with these yellow school busses, but for those who are not in the United States, one of the ways children can get to school is to ride what we call a "school bus" instead of walking or being dropped off by their parents. For more information, you can visit this project on LEGO Ideas by clicking here.

Appeals of this Project
Let me begin by saying I really like this bus! There are so many details that make this an accurate representation of a typical school bus and I will not be able to mention all of them in this review. Though, I will try to talk about my favorites. Let's start on the outside with what is probably my favorite detail: the side windows. I really like how they are shown as being in different positions, some open, some closed. (School bus fun fact: the air-conditioning system on a school bus depends on the length of the bus. This particular bus would have max A/C capacity of 22/40. That is 22 windows open traveling at 40 miles per hour.) Another feature that I really like is the functioning doors and luggage compartments. I think this adds nice playability to the model, especially as it is built to minifigure scale. Though the luggage compartments are not standard on most school busses, it does offer the option to use this as a charter bus instead of a school bus if desired.

Going around back, we find the engine compartment which, when opened, reveals a detailed engine in addition to the many other mechanical parts needed to power the bus. The engine compartment is even detailed to the point of including vents on the side and back of the bus. Another nice feature is the functioning stop sign that all school busses have to warn other vehicles that there are children walking too and from the bus. Remember, safety first!

Taking the roof off allows us to peer inside the school bus and to see the interior details. Inside the bus, there are the typical brown bench seats for the passengers, while up front there is the driver's seat equipped with everything from a functioning sun shade to a sloped dash to a gear shift lever, and of course, the steering wheel. Another nice detail is the inclusion of walls in front of the forward most seats to keep the passengers from coming out of their seats if the breaks were to be applied too quickly.

Areas for Improvement
There are a couple of really minor things that I would add to this model. It would be nice to include glass below the closed windows, maybe using two 1x1 bricks stacked on top of each other on their side. Inside, I would like to see a second lever for opening and closing the doors and the large mirror that is usually above the driver. These are really minor, but I think they would take a great model and make it even better.

Conclusion
This American School Bus is a fantastic project with many wonderful details. I believe this would make a great set, both for children and for adults, if it reaches 10,000 supporters and passes the Official LEGO Ideas Review Process. To see more pictures and offer your support to help this become a set, you can visit the project on LEGO Ideas here. Not sure how LEGO Ideas works? Click here to find out more.

Photos used and review completed with the permission of chenhongmai.