Indianapolis War Memorial

Went to the Indiana War Memorial.  General John Pershing laid the cornerstone of the memorial on July 4, 1927, saying he was "consecrating the edifice as a patriotic shrine".

Indiana War Memorial

This is the Shrine Room, built to honor the veterans of World War I.  It is clad in materials from all of the allied countries.

Shrine Room

Happy 4th of July

At the Carmel, IN  4th of July parade.  Scottish bagpipe to celebrate American Independence - don't see the connection, but I like it anyway.  Pretty sure that if the Highlanders were involved in AWI, it wasn't on the side of the colonies.  A couple of A-10s did a fly-by at the end, so that was cool.

Johnny Lightning (Part 3) M16 AA halftrack

This is Johnny Lightning's version of the M16 halftrack.  More toy-like than some of their other offerings.  It is close in scale to Matchbox's M16 kit, so it appears to be around 1/76 scale.

Johnny Lightning (Part 2) Trucks

Here are two examples of the GMC CCKW made by Johnny Lightning.  I got the open cab variant recently from Wal-Mart, and I'd like to get more, but supply is iffy at best.  I have only seen the one model at the 3-4 stores I have checked.  Also, I can't seem to find model numbers on-line for the various Johnny Lightning models.  These models appear to be around 1/87 scale.  The details are good for a toy, and I appreciate the fact that they released the open and closed cab versions.

CCKW with open cab.

Johnny Lightning (Part 1)

Some examples of die-cast cars by Johnny Lightning.  If I remember correctly, these were released to coincide with the release of Pearl Harbor back in 2001.  That would explain the markings for Wheeler Field and Hickam Field.

1940 Ford truck, Wheeler Field, with FoV figures and a FoV CCKW in background

Dimestore Models

I've picked up a few slush cast vehicles at toy soldier shows.  I believe that these were manufactured by Barclay and Manoil.  Barclay is still in business, and are issuing (or re-issuing) the lead soldiers reminiscent of the 1930s as Dimestore Doughboys.

Barclay toy display (from their website)

Below is a Barclay tank, markings U.S.A. 4562.  The manufacturer's info, on underside, states "Barclay # 43" and "Made in U.S.A."