78 replies to this topic

[cipher12]

Well they certainly look alot more intimidating in real life than ingame XD
Question in the first photo what is the object 120 on the far right? it looks like some kind of Russian FV215B.

[Pikerock]

Jealousy is an ugly emotion and I'm the ugliest person on Earth.  Dude.  Awesome!  

That place is seriously on my bucket list.  No chance in hell of ever getting there w/o a bizarre adventure fraught with no money and cultural ignorance.  Thanks for sharing your visit with us all, yeah, knew it was coming.  Many thanks!

P.S. -- They have the Karl Morser ( which I see in the background of the German pavillion shot ), as funky as the Maus and it was actually used in battle.  Yeah, exactly, how DID they get those things in there?  And you mention the T-35's ridiculous size but not photos of it's ridiculousness ( that tank was really ridiculous )  

[CommanderCaldwell309]

Funny this was here. Im at school and was just at Wikipedia and seen that the Maus (aka Monster) had only two in production with 1 incomplete, meaning the one you seen was either the only one ever made, or the second was recently finished. Still, its a coincidence this was here while i just looked it up.

[Dominatus]

CommanderCaldwell309, on Feb 02 2012 - 16:14, said:

Funny this was here. Im at school and was just at Wikipedia and seen that the Maus (aka Monster) had only two in production with 1 incomplete, meaning the one you seen was either the only one ever made, or the second was recently finished. Still, its a coincidence this was here while i just looked it up.

There were two made actually, but the Germans scuttled both of them. One had its turret destroyed, the other its hull. Therefore, the Russians captured to two wrecks, stuck the worknig turret on the working hull, and then made a single working prototype. The Monster's a different tank.

[BoredSights]

Deleted

[ryuusader]

Gigaton, on Feb 02 2012 - 11:00, said:

Remember that they basically improvised that Maus together from parts Germans didn't blow up.

(EDIT: the story on the plaque at Kubinka says:)It was put together from 2 different Maus that had been knocked out in combat, than had its armor tested on by the Russians - there is actually holes all over the front of the tank and a few in the side due to the armor tests and where it looks like the hull was strafed by aircraft.

I was really happy to go there last June with the Ural Steel Championship group. Everyone I was with loved it, especially the German tank hanger - it took some of our group several hours just to get to it and several more to get out of it.

[georgewashington1775]

Wow that was so cool. I love seeing pictures of unique tanks. That SU-100U looks so sweet. Thank you for sharing.

Any chance on a part II with more pictures?

[Eliminateur]

ryuusader, on Feb 02 2012 - 20:53, said:

I was really happy to go there last June with the Ural Steel Championship group. Everyone I was with loved it, especially the German tank hanger - it took some of our group several hours just to get to it and several more to get out of it.

i see what you did there, hahahahahahaha

your kubinka pictures where great since you had an awesome cam. We'd have HD recording if dorklance had actually set his cammera to "HD" instead of "HQ"

george, we can post tons of really nice pictures....

[ForcestormX]

I was going to ask, more pics please?

It seems all I have to do is keep checking the thread on occasion and they'll be there.

[Harlech]

To be honest, the apparent lack of logic in the displays, the manner in which they are displayed, and the upkeep and layout of the facilities is fairly (and sadly)indicative of musea in the FSU. Policies were laid out by bureaucrats whose sole job it was fell under 'protecting state secrets' or who were given a pittance to run a museum and where much of the money 'evaporated'. Not saying that was the case always, but appears to have been the norm. Actually, the BEST museums I visited were the pre-soviet. The Imperial Russian museums were well thought out and very well constructed. Compare the pictures of the "Panorama" Museum (Crimean War) to the "Diorama" (both Sieges of Sevastopol). The Diorama was every bit as ambitious as the Panorama, but was hampered by a lack of funds, motivation, and Soviet-era propaganda. It comes off as very “slapped together”. The actual display is only about a 20' arc. Contrasted with the “Panorama Museum that actually took over 20 years to build. ( much of it was time spent by the artist Franz Roubaud and his staff researching British, French and Russian accounts and memoirs of the battle)

One very interesting thing to note, on a human level. The "Diorama" Museum is actually built on the battle site at Sapun Hill. (Sapun-gora) You can see the German fortifications still. You would expect that, given history, and the bitterness, that the "Valiant Soviet soldier" would be elevated above the "dastardly Nazi lackey". Nothing could be further from the reality. I was struck by the egalitarian nature of the displays. There seems to be a realization that no matter the side, they were all soldiers, and they all fought for their country.. no matter the flag. The day I was there, they were removing the remains of a soldier. There was a priest, and representatives of the Russian Army and the Bundeswehr. I talked to the curator and he said this was a fairly common occurrence.

Anyways, for anyone that is interested in seeing some more pics, you can check the link below.

Harlech's Pics of the Ukraine

[Tecumseh_Sherman]

whitedragonking, on Feb 02 2012 - 03:27, said:

... but i do feel annoyed on the big Russian logo on the Mark 5...

That Mark V has a Russian logo because it's most likely a Russian Mark V - the Ruskies captured some during the Russian Civil War, and then used them for a while after that. Interestingly enough, the Germans probably stole some of these stolen Mark V's, and then used them against the Russians during the Battle of Berlin.

Anyways, great review Chieftain. I recently went to an armor museum in Los Angeles, and despite there being a good collection of Shermans, Priests, and Sheridans, it was mostly the same story with the restrictive view angles. There was, however, one of only two M43's there, but it was facing away from the aisle. I should probably put those pictures up sometime...

[yak_v]

Here are the photos of pretty much all of the tanks in Kubinka that I took during out visit there:
http://svsm.org/gallery/kubinka

[Winston_Churchill]

Really awesome review/tour/inside look of the museum Chieftain!  Would be really awesome to go visit there someday.  But now it is time to visit the largest collection of tanks in the world (not armored fighting vehicles, that belongs to the  Musée des Blindés), The Tank Museum in Bovington, United Kingdom! Many, many, many tanks there a ton of prototypes as well, and awesome place to visit, unless of course you are waiting for this years Tankfest!  Went last year, it was brilliant.

[The_Chieftain]

Winston_Churchill, on Feb 03 2012 - 00:57, said:

Really awesome review/tour/inside look of the museum Chieftain!  Would be really awesome to go visit there someday.  But now it is time to visit the largest collection of tanks in the world (not armored fighting vehicles, that belongs to the  Musée des Blindés), The Tank Museum in Bovington, United Kingdom! Many, many, many tanks there a ton of prototypes as well, and awesome place to visit, unless of course you are waiting for this years Tankfest!  Went last year, it was brilliant.

What makes you think I haven't been there yet? (Several times....)

[Romanski]

Very nice review sir.
I've been there when I was younger and living in Russia.

So whats next? St.Petersburg museum of Artillery?
Its an amazing place as well Chieftain

[Xlucine]

The_Chieftain, on Feb 03 2012 - 01:17, said:

What makes you think I haven't been there yet? (Several times....)

So where's the review?  

Their tetrarch is far better than the one in КУБИНКА - not only can you see the back (even if there is some hamilcar in the way), they even left the drivers hatch open!

[Chopa]

Thanks for the excellent article and pics Chieftain, Yak-V, Harlech, and all others who posted. This truly is a huge collection including some very rare and even unique vehicles. It's a privilege and a pleasure to spend hours browsing all your pics, and has really whetted my appetite to make a trip to Russia.

  Nice to see that Bovingdon is in the pipeline to be covered, as may be the Imperial War Museum. Have you also had the opportunities to tour the overspill storage facilities at Duxford and Wroughton?

[The_Chieftain]

Chopa, on Feb 03 2012 - 03:24, said:

  Nice to see that Bovingdon is in the pipeline to be covered, as may be the Imperial War Museum. Have you also had the opportunities to tour the overspill storage facilities at Duxford and Wroughton?

Actually, it's been quite a while since I've been to Duxford. Put it this way, it was the year before they opened the American hangar.

[ZverMohnatyj]

A couple of quick footnotes.

1. As far as the "state secrecy" - it's not the museum itself, it's the active tank testing ground and hangars next to the museum. [Granted, at this point it's hard to figure out exactly what the various design bureaus are doing there, but that's a separate subject - the testing grounds are still labeled as "active" and, hence, are a classified site.]

Some photos, by the way (in Russian, but basically the guy was part of a charity event where kids from the local orphanage - see the first two photos - were going to be driven around the testing grounds in Soviet-era jeeps - most of what you see are actual testing courses, e.g. incline climb, cross-country speed trial, etc.).

2. According to the museum staff and website, basically, RU citizens can come and go at will during working hours (as long as they have state ID on them). Foreign visitors have to register 3-4 weeks in advance to receive a pass which is "active" for one month. "The site commanding officer has the authority to deny permission to entry to anyone without explanation," etc. etc. And, obviously, even RU citizens typically can't get themselves into the "testing grounds" portion of the site (one exception in #1 above).

3. As far as the "maintenance" issue...it's an Army facility, and, without getting into a long-winded (and personal) rant, suffice it to say, they're lucky to have enough funding to actually put the roof over (most of) these vehicles.

For "museum-museums" (as opposed to Army sites), I recommend places like the artillery museum in St. Petersburg. [Obviously less interesting for pure tank fans, and not as extensive a collection, but at least closer to the Hotel des Invalides feel...]

4. Just to give you all a taste of...how things are done over there, here are directions to the Kubinka museum, as posted on the official Russian-language website of the Kubinka museum (and thus directed at prospective Russian visitors), and as translated faithfully and pretty much word for word by my magnificent self. [And yes, in Russian it sounds exactly as it does in English. We're just more used to dealing with this sort of thing.]

By car. Minsk highway, 64th kilometer. Look for the IS-3 tank on the left side of the highway. From the tank, take the road cutting left across the field for 400 meters to the entrance checkpoint and ticketing. [Note - left turns are FORBIDDEN, drive straight 400 meters, up the ramp into the "figure eight" and back towards Moscow until you reach the tank.]

By foot from the Kubinka train station: proceed on foot in the direction of the Minsk highway, then towards Moscow until you reach the tank. From the tank, take the road for 400 meters to the entrance checkpoint (approximately 20 minute walk), or take the taxi from the train station (120 rubles).

Obviously if you see a KV-85 tank, keep driving until you see the IS-3, and make sure to turn left except there is no left turn...I may sound like I'm laughing, but I'm actually crying on the inside. A little.

[Colddawg]

Anyone who wants to see more tank photos go here.