Hi guys,
OzDazza here for a quick blog report and a few pictures for
the blog competition announced by Tanitha before the World of Tanks SEA server meet
and greet. There are many more I wish share but for my first post I will be
only putting up my 10 most memorable or special pictures of the day. The rest
will go up in another post soon.
I have been meaning to get myself down to visit the RAAC
Memorial and Army Tank Museum for the past couple years ever since I visited
the Bovington Tank Museum. The chaps there highly recommended making the trip
to visit and check out a number of unique vehicles.
Lo and behold Wargaming.net decided to host a World of Tanks
meet and greet and Puka so I made sure I came down from sunny Brisbane to check
it all out and meet all you fine folks!
I was very excited to get in and check out the museum and
was a very happy man when first laid eyes on the front security gate to begin
my day of fun!
The security staff processed everyone really quickly imho and we were away to the museum.
Just outside the front of the museum were a number of tanks including a WWI Male tank. However I was really pleased to see the Leathality Plate. This displayed the various effects of different ordnance including:
- 76mm HESH (High Explosive Squash Head) from a Saladin Armoured Car (number 1)
- 20 Pr APCBC (Armour Piercing Capped Ballistic Cap) from a Centurion MBT (number 2)
- 20 Pr APDS (Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot) from a Centurion MBT (number 3)
- 20 Pr HE (High Explosive) from a Centurion MBT (number 6)
- 106mm HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) from a 106mm Recoilless Rifle (number 4)
- 130mm HEAT from a ENTAC Wire-Guided Anti-Tank Missle (number 9)
I will post other images in the future showing how many several inch thick plates the various rounds penetrated. It was pretty scary the power these weapons.
Just on the other side of the indoor museum I found this memorial to the Australia Light Horse. I have a bit of a soft spot memorials like this so I made sure I got a good picture and wanted to share this one.
Here is a Type 97 Te-Ke Tankette. This was one of a the rarer pieces that I was told to check out as there are very few specimens still kicking around. I was very stoked to get to see one in the flesh.
Although this doesn't really look like much, it is a Japanese Type 1-47mm Anti-Tank Gun. Again this is another pretty rare piece of kit.
Another vehicle that really stuck out for me was the Stridsvagn 103 from Sweden. This modern tank destroyer has fully adjustable suspension that can independently raise and lower the front and rear of the vehicle. Check out some further info on this quirky TD here on Wikipedia.
Here is Lance Corporal Hale from the School of Armour. I was fortunate to be part of a group that a personal little tour by Lance Corporal Hale around a number of the tank sheds. In this image Lance Corporal Hale showing us the engine and the bow wave 'plate' that assists the M113 when wading through deep water.
One of my other favorite little bits of information I learnt from Lance Corporal Hale was how quickly the Leopards could have a engine swapped out. Here is a picture of one of the engineering/recovery vehicles with a spare engine on top with a crane. Apparently the base record is a compete change in 10 minutes!
One of the other great things to see at the museum was a big collection of Matilda variants including a mortar support and flame thrower variant. I love my Matilda's in WoT so I had to get in on a photo.
The final picture for my top 10 has to be the Type 59. I am a lucky owner of this beast in WoT so I was really pleased to see one in the flesh for the first time at the museum. It was definitely a highlight for me personally.
In summary, I had a fantastic day meeting the Wargaming.net staff and fellow gamers. Thank you very much Jasper, Kenny, Tanitha and all the other WG.net staff that organised the day. I would like to also say a special thank you to Lance Corporal Hale for the tour around the museum during a mega hot day.
I am really looking forward to the next one!
