Today, the Southern California Chapter of the Armor Modelers & Preservation Society (AMPS), of which I am a member, took a field trip to Camp Pendleton and a few of the display museums located on the post there. Thanks to our intrepid leader's liason and co ordination with a facility member of the Mech Museum in particular, we also we privleged to have a more hands on and back scenes "interactive" tour of the facility.
Our first stop was the Mech Museum which has a few vehicles outside, and a few dozen inside a large warehouse sized shed. I was not sure of what to photopraph, but here a a few of the vehicles that caught my interest...
A few shots of a HMMWV Avenger turret
front left 1/4
left rear 3/4
rear view
right rear 3/4
some "scout" bikes
a rocket launcher truck of the type seen in newsreel footage from Iwo Jima. This is the sole surviving example of this vehicle type known to exist. Only one rocket rail is original and the rest were recreated to match by museum volunteer staff. The rockets were also created by them to match de-miled examples provided to them by EOD personnel.
DUKW carrying a 105mm Howitzer
More to come soon...
Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
- Stikpusher
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Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."
FLSM
FLSM
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Re: Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
After our visit to the museum itself, our guide took us to the restoration facitlity where thje work is done on these vehicles to get them in shape to be displayed in the museum itself
in their motor pool a ZSU 23-4 Shilka sat next to a 2S1 Gvozdika. Both were in very run down condition.
This is the interior of the drivers compartment of the ZSU-23-4
and the Iraqi bumper marks and lights on the right front corner of the 2S1
Then we walked over to teh building where the vehicles are repaired and restored... outside sat this LVT(A)-4. You may have seen this vehicle in either of the Clint Eastwood films "Flags of Our Fathers"/"Letters from Iwo Jima", or the HBO series "The Pacific". Although this is actually a Korean War version of the vehicle with overhead cover on teh turret and other post war modifications
Our guide said that we were allowed to climb aboard, so I climbed up top and too these shots of the drivers compartment
and this photo looking down the hatch into the turret at the turret basket
Then we went inside the building where an Ontos is undergoing restoration.
left wall of the interior seen thru the rear
right rear interior sidewall
rear view thru hatch
106mm ammo compartment
drivers compartment sidewall
then our guide asked us to ID this particular vehicle that they had just obtained, but he did not know what it was- one M29 Weasel
afterwards it was time for a walk around the motor pool area for the restoration facility where I found these vehicles along the back corner of the fence
a Dodge Ambulance
and this M42 Duster
stay tuned for more...
in their motor pool a ZSU 23-4 Shilka sat next to a 2S1 Gvozdika. Both were in very run down condition.
This is the interior of the drivers compartment of the ZSU-23-4
and the Iraqi bumper marks and lights on the right front corner of the 2S1
Then we walked over to teh building where the vehicles are repaired and restored... outside sat this LVT(A)-4. You may have seen this vehicle in either of the Clint Eastwood films "Flags of Our Fathers"/"Letters from Iwo Jima", or the HBO series "The Pacific". Although this is actually a Korean War version of the vehicle with overhead cover on teh turret and other post war modifications
Our guide said that we were allowed to climb aboard, so I climbed up top and too these shots of the drivers compartment
and this photo looking down the hatch into the turret at the turret basket
Then we went inside the building where an Ontos is undergoing restoration.
left wall of the interior seen thru the rear
right rear interior sidewall
rear view thru hatch
106mm ammo compartment
drivers compartment sidewall
then our guide asked us to ID this particular vehicle that they had just obtained, but he did not know what it was- one M29 Weasel
afterwards it was time for a walk around the motor pool area for the restoration facility where I found these vehicles along the back corner of the fence
a Dodge Ambulance
and this M42 Duster
stay tuned for more...
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."
FLSM
FLSM
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Re: Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
After the restoration facility we had lunch on post and then headed over to the Amtracks Museum
Parked nearby were these LVTP-5 variants
and finally outside the Museum itself was this LVT-3
it was a bit too tight inside the musuem to get any good photos of the LVTs inside, but I must admit by this point I was truly akid in a candy shop seeing and climbing into or up sairs to look into the LVT-1, LVT-2, LVT(A)-1, LVT-4(A) and LVT-3 inside. Those are some very big vehicles up close and personal.
finally afterwards we visited some of the areas on post that had captured war trophies
A Type-63/YW-531 Chinese made APC near the Amtrack Museum
Parked nearby were these LVTP-5 variants
and finally outside the Museum itself was this LVT-3
it was a bit too tight inside the musuem to get any good photos of the LVTs inside, but I must admit by this point I was truly akid in a candy shop seeing and climbing into or up sairs to look into the LVT-1, LVT-2, LVT(A)-1, LVT-4(A) and LVT-3 inside. Those are some very big vehicles up close and personal.
finally afterwards we visited some of the areas on post that had captured war trophies
A Type-63/YW-531 Chinese made APC near the Amtrack Museum
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."
FLSM
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Re: Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
Then finally it was a trip across post to near School of Infantry where they have a nice park of more captured stuff
a BMP-1 MICV
T-62 MBT
Type-59 MBT
ZPU-4 AAA
S-60 AAA
and that's all folks.. thanks for looking in
a BMP-1 MICV
T-62 MBT
Type-59 MBT
ZPU-4 AAA
S-60 AAA
and that's all folks.. thanks for looking in
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."
FLSM
FLSM
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Re: Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
Great pics! I can't help but notice how similar the rockets on that rocket launcher truck, look to the "hedgehog" anti-sub weapon. Wonder if it's the same concept, just one for sea and one for land.
Joe
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Illegitimi Non Carborundum
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Re: Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
They very much could be. A gut feeling tells me that this could have started out as a field improvised system using the same racks and rockets off of LCI(R)s and LST(R)s used for fire support during amphibious assaults.
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."
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- lawman56
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Re: Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
Considering how resourceful they were, they probably salvaged a beached LST fire support vehicle, stole the hedgehogs, and mounted them to a scrapped Duece.....
Joe
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Re: Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
That looks like a great plpace to visit. To bad that some of the stuff could relaly use some paint. But then again, almost every museum is understaffed and underfunded.
Re: Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
Stik, Thanks for the pictures and sharing. Some amazing items.
To make each build less crappy than the last one. Or, put another way, "Better than the last one, not as good as the next one!"..
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Re: Camp Pendleton visit (many photos)
Lyle, it was a great day for me, and truly my pleasure to share a part of what I saw there.
Borg, the outdoor stuff is indeed subject to the sunshine and salt air of the So. Cal. coastal regions and has weathered quite a bit. The caprured stuff has been painted a few times and we were looking underneath that for the original Soviet, Chicom and Iraqi paint colors. But the stuff indoors in the mech and amtrac museums was very well restored, painted and preserved.
If you guys are ever in the San Diego California area, I highly recommend a visit here to the museums.
Borg, the outdoor stuff is indeed subject to the sunshine and salt air of the So. Cal. coastal regions and has weathered quite a bit. The caprured stuff has been painted a few times and we were looking underneath that for the original Soviet, Chicom and Iraqi paint colors. But the stuff indoors in the mech and amtrac museums was very well restored, painted and preserved.
If you guys are ever in the San Diego California area, I highly recommend a visit here to the museums.
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."
FLSM
FLSM