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I was in Brussels today and dropped by both the Royal Museum of Armed forces and Military History as well as Autoworld. I got 250+ pictures there, but here are some of the highlights.

Note that I don't have a clue what most of this hardware is called and/or does, so if anyone wants to identify some of this stuff, feel free.

The museum site itself in the Jubelpark



Army stuff

The tank for people who can't really afford a tank



1920's prosthetics



Various artillery



A Mark IV (?). Battered but very cool.



Browncoats in WW1!



Pocket tank of some sort



Tanks, various











I imagine this one got picked on a lot



The airplane hangar:







Russian hardware (I think)





Upper levels of the hall, mostly pre-1918







----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Autoworld

Coolest car by far on the floor



This thing is certified as boat. Seriously.



Left: American car. Right: British car. No trickery, I swear.



Believe it or not, this is electric:









Callebaut makes chocolate. You figure it out.



This car was intended for the Shah of Persia. The amount of woodworking detail is amazing.



And finally, the car of my dreams in all it's aerodynamic glory:

Looks like it's a fantastic museum.


I want to go to the IWM in London sometime, since I've been to Bovington tank, Portsmouth Naval* and loads of other museums.... I'm off to the Civil War** museum in a few weeks. Woo!



*HMS's Victory and Warrior, other than the headaches, are AWESOME.

**The Roundheads and Cavillers one

Dartzap wrote:Looks like it's a fantastic museum.

The stuff on display is great, but the army museum is a maze of half-finished halls and dead ends. It's being renovated, but because it seems like the museum just added rooms as it went along, you can't really navigate it smoothly. Also, parts of it were in a bad state of disrepair and the planned roof over the naval and armour sections is long overdue.

Autoworld was better, but it lacked post-1960 cars. There were a few token ones, but most of the collection was from the interbellum. Gorgeous cars, don't get me wrong, but I really missed the more modern examples.

ETA: I forgot this little gem. The caption says

"Against that, vote Communist!"

Bounty wrote:

Dartzap wrote:Looks like it's a fantastic museum.

The stuff on display is great, but the army museum is a maze of half-finished halls and dead ends. It's being renovated, but because it seems like the museum just added rooms as it went along, you can't really navigate it smoothly. Also, parts of it were in a bad state of disrepair and the planned roof over the naval and armour sections is long overdue.

Autoworld was better, but it lacked post-1960 cars. There were a few token ones, but most of the collection was from the interbellum. Gorgeous cars, don't get me wrong, but I really missed the more modern examples.

This place is a fantastic place as well, if you ever happen to go through the chunnel for a prolonged stay. Some of the cars they have are pretty amazing and in great condition.

(The Massive Fucking House is not half bad as well although the cars are the main attraction)

Quick question for the HAB'ers or other armour lovers: what is this thing? It was in a corner of the armour lot. I've never seen a cannon put in the nose like that, but then again, I don't really know tanks.

Big pic

Jagdpanzer Kanone.
The Wikipedia article on it is rather brief, but acceptable.

wish i had the money to travel. that place looks fun

Bounty wrote:Believe it or not, this is electric: [snip pic]

The Owls Head museum near my house has a 1912 Woods Electric Brougham which very closely resembles that car, though it's six years older. Performance was comparable as well - the charge was good for 80-100 miles, and both cars couldn't go much faster than 20 mph.

The museum trotted out its collection of non-gasoline cars during its Wings and Wheels Spectacular last summer, as a part of the Alternative Fuels section of the show. The Woods, along with a Stanley Steamer, took laps around the rest of the automotive lineup. Having become accustomed to the sound of gasoline engines, it was almost eerie to see the Woods' navy-blue coachwork gliding around the display in near-perfect silence.

That looks like an awesome museum, by the way. What is that building in the first photo?

That looks like an awesome museum, by the way. What is that building in the first photo?

The Cinquantenaire, a monument built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Belgian State that wasn't completed until twenty years after the festivities.

It looks pretty, but remember it was built with the blood of Congolese slaves.

Pictures of the park. These are a bit too dark since I accidentally left the camera on night shooting mode:





Military wing of the museum, outside:



And the Arch itself:

Lucky.

Mother.

Fucker.

In my opinion, the Brussels museum has the finest collection in the world.

I think I'd literally give my left testicle for unlimited access to that place, it's a storehouse unlike any other; so much of what they have is in it's original condition, no conservator's interpretations to fuck things up...like the Whippet and Mk.IV, beautifully original.

They have a Halberstadt C.V in totally original condition, including the fucking fabric!

Priceless, absolutely priceless....

BTW, for those that don't know, electric vehicles were far more popular during the last two decades of the 19th century than gasoline powered; electric buses especially.
By the early 20th century they were marketed to women in particular for ease of operation and silence.
By 1920, they were almost totally extinct...

The Whippet is the Firefly tank, right?

If you're going to visit, I suggest waiting another six months or so. They're adding roofing to the outdoors armour vehicle sections, the medieval weapons wing was closed for renovations and the WWII exhibit was only half-finished (uniforms, propaganda and small arms were open, but the resistance and timeline sections were not).

And it's free entrance. Didn't even know that before I walked in.

ETA: I'll see if I can get some more photos online. I've got a few more plane pics and maybe some other vehicles. If you need big versions of any pics, just let me know.

Yup, Firefly is a Whippet.

Thanks for the tips, but the chances of me making it to Europe in my lifetime are in the unpossible to ludicrous range, truth be told.

I've got a metric ton of aircraft and a few extra shots of the Whippet and Mk IV coming up. It'll take a while to upload though.

ETA:

They have a Halberstadt C.V in totally original condition, including the fucking fabric!

I'm not *quite* sure, but I think that one's just been dismantled for conservation. It's going back on display, but unless I'm very much mistaken, the brown fuselage in the background of this picis all that's left of it.

Yup...hope they don't fuck it up too badly, not like they don't have the original materials to base an accurate conservation on.

The Smithsonian Albatros D.Va is a case in point for fucked up restorations.

Brussels Halberstadt C.V in 2003

Ah yes the Amphicar.

Its was a pretty good boat but not that great of a car. as it was sealed it was heave for a car its size so drove better in the water then on the road. Of course its nothing compaired to the DUKW 2.5 ton truck from WWII.

Itr too bad the Amphicar wasn't a better vehicle as it had alot of potential. Did they have a rarer oddity the Areocar?

Uploaded a few dozen more pics, they're in the album here:

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y61/ue ... /brussels/

And a few close shots of the vintage tanks. The staring-down-the-barrel on was actually quite chilling to take, considering what used to come out of those guns.

MK IV


(The rear panel of the left gunport was clear plastic to show the interior)







Firefly:



Again, if you need any of the album at a bigger size - they're all 10 or 6 megapixel - just let me know.

GO USA!!

Frank Hipper wrote:Lucky.

Mother.

Fucker.

Seconded.