Some Cold War Research...Canadian Kit (pic heavy)

Hello hello...

Definitely one of my favourite things about this hobby is the chance to go out and research the topic, the history, vehicles, people, etc...I totally love the research...and with the need for research, another excuse to go the Canadian War Museum...

This was a very quick trip to the CWM...long enough to check out Gallery 4 (cold war era)...the Lebreton Gallery (vehicles)...and a chance to get a bite to eat courtesy of the War Museum...I've also included a few other pics from previous visits.

Enjoy.

Close-up-ish of Leopard C2...this is an uparmoured version of the Leopard C1.  If I recall correctly, the Canadian C1 equates to the Leopard A3 or A4.  You can see the lighter green external armour pieces on the turret that were added around 2005 (?...I think)

 

Not so close-up of the C2...

 

A couple more angles of the front end...the Leopard's were operated by the Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD's) until the mid/late 1980's and then the 8th Hussars took them over...I believe until the return of the brigade to Canada.

2 shots with one...shot...M109 155mm Self Propelled Gun and next to it a Lynx Command and Recce APC...although it looks to have been named the 'M113 1/2' from the manufacturer...to me it was just the Lynx.  Very similar design and 'look' to the standard M113 but a lower silhouette...the forward hatch mounted a .50 caliber mg and the rear hatch mounted a .30 caliber mg...

 

Great view of the BIG GUN...during the Cold War, Canadian artillery units fielded the 109 in the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery regiments...If I recall correctly, 1RCHA was in Germany, 2RCHA was in Petawawa as part of 2CMBG with E Battery designated a jump battery (using pack howitzers), 3RCHA was in Shilo, and 5RALC (RCHA en francais) at Valcartier.  For the most part, RCHA regiments were mechanized, and RCA (Royal Canadian Artillery) were Reserve/Militia units using the 105mm howitzer.

 

105mm Howitzer, used by many Militia units across Canada...this gun occupies a special place in my heart...I earned my capbadge as a young gunner in Shilo some years ago...

 

Front profile view of the 109...NATO tricolour paint scheme

Various views and angles, in and out of light conditions to show the overall colour and a few details for those who OCD over their mini's trying to get all the colours right.

 

Lynx with a 113 on either side...

 

 

M113 in UN colours...

 

side profile of the Lynx...without flash...

...and with flash...on a sunny day there is definitely an abundance of lighting in the Gallery...

 

 

 

front profile view of the Lynx...

close up of the vision blocks at the rear hatch...

close up view of the vision ports at the commanders hatch...

light colours and configuration...

side profile, close up of the paint scheme and the wear pattern...

rear shot of M109 (in background) and a M113 TUA tow under armour (in the foreground)...as you can see with the external tanks, this 113 is an A3 variant 

M577 command track...fairly bare bones...hasn't been fully restored yet 

rear pic, same track...

 

missile turret on the TUA... 

shot of the TUA from the third gallery (ww2)...

close up of the drivers hatch and view ports... 

Team Yankee? To the War Museum!

Howdy folks,

As one of my main objectives for the year, Team Yankee has been much anticipated!! Now, Santa was kind enough to find room in the budget this past Christmas for the Soviet starter box complete with 2 x Mi-24 Hinds and 9...uhm, I mean 10! yes, 10 x T72's (sometimes product delays aren't all that bad)...

While I had some familiarity with Soviet kit and these beautiful pieces in particular...I do recall a sleepy morning sitting down near a field kitchen resting my C7 next to me while the cooks radio broke news that there had been a coup in Moscow...what I really needed was a kick ass excuse to go on a roadtrip (okay, not much of a roadtrip...only 30klicks away...) to the Canadian War Museum.

While the daughter-unit was away at winter camp, I managed to convince the wife and young lad to accompany me, at great risk of history lecture (as said by the lad), to the museum.  My main goal was to get some pictures from their Cold War section of the Soviet vehicles...the Canadian War Museum has a T72 and a Chinese copy recce-BMP (BRM...if memory serves me...)

So anyhow, I thought I'd share my photos...there's only about a dozen or two...maybe this will help anyone who may be painting up Soviet kit as well...

Cheers.

One of many great displays in the Cold War pavilion...the Soviet T72 and RPG infantry.

Soviet small arms display with 125mm tankshell at the bottom...

Front of the T72...the CWMs tank was previously in the service of the East German army...

When the full light is on this tank it is very bright in comparison to pics you see online or what we had in recce class...the shadows certainly show a much darker shade of green, but I tried to get a good picture to represent how much brighter the lighting was making the tank look.

Bright light --- bright coloured fender...not so bright light --- a little darker, still not as dark as I recall in pics

Stoic commander in the hatch...East German tanker suit...

alternate view...

 

View of the IR light mount and gun mantlet cover

Smoke dischargers, wiring and tube covers...

T72 exhaust port...deflecting downwards towards the hull...paintjob not so new anymore...

 

blackout light at the back of the tank, mounted on the side of where the external fuel tanks would go.

 

Left side of the turret, storage tube if memory serves me...

 

Tank track and road wheels...

 

Rear view of the T72...complete with log...cause everyone loves a log...

 

RPG equipped Soviet soldier...NATO had much to fear with the T72's 125mm gun, quick speed, and low-profile...throw in a pack of troops jumping out of their similarly fast and hard to see  infantry carriers with plenty o'RPGs...

 

Carriers like these...although technically this is the BRM recce version 

 

View of right side looking towards the rear...you can see the smoke dischargers and viewing devices on top of the turret...

The museum staff let me go behind the line to get some up close views of the vehicle...they were pretty awesome, so I got up close on the right side...

 

Inside view of the rear-right hatch...

 

Much closer look at the track and road wheels...apparently I was obsessed with the tracks that day... 

 

Looking towards the front of the vehicle from the rear...I did not have to stand on anything to get this pic...I am always impressed with how low this vehicle is...I stand at just over 6 feet and the top of the deck is around my forehead...very impressive...and cramped. 

 

At the end of the day...another great visit to the Museum...no prison break attempts from my captive audience...they were great...we got to speak with a Korean War vet...a fellow gunner, so life was pretty good...

no break attempts, but a little bit of hiding behind the 72...