G is for Gilmark . . . again!

I posted two of these back in 2017 after a nice exchange with Ed Burg over at Toys & Stuff, but another exchange had then already been in gestation since about 2009, to wit a pair of first version Airfix Attack Force Patton's leaving these shores in a swap for 'something nice', well, that something-nice was finally settled-on the other day, and here, courtesy of Ken Taylor (who doesn't have a Blog I can link to!) are the other two Gilmark's.

I say the "other two" as I believe they only did the four military models in their wider range of dime-store vehicles, although some of the 'space trucks' come in a  metallic khaki which could pass for 'army man' colours and may find their way into the collection at some point!

But today we're looking at the White's scout car and Priest SPG, both equipped with a 105mm gun. technically a Priest should have a 25lbr and be in UK service, this being a Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC) M7.

While some of the US half-tracks were fitted with guns for close-in infantry support, I don't think a scout car was ever so fitted, and this has limited traverse depending on which side the out-worker has heat-welded the plug-in - on mine he can sit on the right-hand corners and fire out of the left-hand corners . . . I'll look for one with the opposite configuration; they were only a dime!

The Gilmark with a far more recent offering from late 'Hong Kong' or early 'China', the method of attaching the gun is very similar, a plug-in, whose spigot is melted back, underneath, to provide a permanent washer or hub to prevent it being pulled out. They were common enough at toy soldier and war-games shows in the mid-1990's for me . . .

. . . to hoover-up three of these un-attributed/generics for what was pennies! My gun line with the gun-less one we looked at back at the start of the Blog being used as a 'defrocked' ammunition-carrier, command vehicle or forward-observation-post . . . in the rear!

What I like about the cheapie, is that it pays full homage to the older one (possibly without knowing of the Gilmark at all) with no metal parts, it's 100% plastic and a worthy successor to the dime-store toys of the past.

While putting them away I was reminded of the thermal-printing on some of them. This post ought to be accompanied by a few Spencer Smith troops, especially as both the 'here' and the 'storage' lot have been combined now, but since the Ed post I have discovered I already had an armored car, located the gun-less hull above and lost both the two in that post!

When they all turn up (they haven't got far) I'll do a 'final' post, maybe next summer in the garden with enemy and such-like, these dime-store toys always look better en mass! Cheers Ken!