The Museum of American Armor

 Last post I mentioned that my next post would be about the Museum of American Armor, and this is that post. I didn't expect it to be so long until I got it written but the weather turned warmer than expected and I went back to modeling...and had another adventure that would not only lead to two more forthcoming posts, but even saw a return to Long Island! But that's for future posts...

Driving in 

Vietnam era missile

Tanks outside including a Flamethrower Sherman. Since I visited there I did most of the building of a 1/72nd scale Sherman although not a flamethrower version.

The outside of the museum which is pretty cool in and of itself.

This is a Weasel. Seriously, that's what they called it.

Although the vast majority of the museum's collection is armor and military they also have Old Bethpage's old fire engine, a 1954 Ford. Old Bethpage is the town the museum is located in. 

Something a lot of people probably don't know is that while all civilian automotive production ended in 1942, a small number of trucks were made for the military and essential homefront efforts, like farming. This is a 1942 Chevrolet, but the 1943-45 models would have looked exactly the same and the tooling used to make them was not changed at all. The war years era trucks are extremely rare due to their extremely limited production, I've seen a grand total of one in my entire life, despite more than 30 years of attending car shows and car musuems. 

a "follow me" Jeep. This color scheme was used at airports or airfields and helped guide aircraft on landing. I love it! I will build one of these in scale at some point. 

I was quite surprised to see models for sale at the museum. I bought two of them.

My father's father took part in the Battle of the Bulge.

Rations, what the soldiers ate in the field.

a GMC.

The Model T is sadly the only WWI era vehicle in the museum. WWI era armor was not saved, even for museums, so it's rare.

a replica of a German tank. One thing about this museum- every vehicle is operational. Not only is it a museum, it's also a working restoration shop. In the summer, they drive the vehicles out and do parades and reenactments. And you can't tell the story of WWII without the enemy.

An actual "Dragon Wagon". This was the truck and trailer that carried tanks around, and it's so large I couldn't get it all in one photo! The size of it is not conveyed well, but keep in mind the tank on the back there is about the size of two suvs, and the tires are about 5 feet tall. 

A half-track!

There's lots of signage and fun things to see that aren't armor.

Here's the front of the Dragon Wagon. 

another replica German tank. The American armor is real, while the German is replicas, except for the German half track, I believe. 

I've always loved half tracks. It goes back to the Hot Wheels version I've had forever

A staff car, this a Plymouth, and a LaSalle behind it.

A Dodge based Ambulance. The large white squares with red crosses on them were generally recognized as something to not shoot at, but they were occasionally attacked as well. 

Soldiers have to eat as well

The Military used tractors as well

You can see one of the plaquards as well here, all of the vehicles are well labeled.

A genuine Higgins boat. These were used on D-Day for getting ashore under heavy German fire, and you can see how little armor they had on them...not to mention the fact that the tops are open. I can't imagine how scary that must have been. 

These three are either on the property or on the HBO filming lot next door. 

Don't know exactly what they film up there but it looked interesting. Unfortunately not open for tours and there is a guard there to keep you away.

Here's all the pictures I took, nearly 500. Museum of American Armor. Thanks for reading!