Museum of Military Equipment (Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia)

[fromSalekhard]

Verkhnyaya Pyshma. Autumn 2024.

This year I have already visited Yekaterinburg 6 times, but these were transit visits: train station – airport and in reverse order.

So, in order to keep the tradition of visiting the museum in Verkhnyaya Pyshma every year, I had to go there specially.

On each such visit, I not only admire the available exhibits, but also notice the changes that have occurred since the previous visit.

I was immediately interested in the construction work behind the fence and the openwork structure, which was clearly not for industrial purposes.

Expansion of the exhibition? We’ll wait and see.
In the meantime, let’s go along the pavilions.

From the main entrance, the pavilions are numbered in reverse order. The sixth pavilion is still closed, but interesting things can be seen through the glass.

In the fourth pavilion, everything seems to be in place, only a couple of newcomers are hiding in the corner.

Now it turns out that you need to look not only into the pavilions, but also between them. If I hadn’t looked back, I would have passed by.

They even started using the ends of the pavilions!

I exit this alley into the open space and see a BelAZ. Well, I’m thinking, they’re not too lazy to carry it back and forth.

I took a closer look but it was another BelAZ. Much bigger than the previous one!

This thing cannot even be called a machine. This is some kind of mobile factory. Like in the movie “Dune”. I googled it – the height is 8 meters and a quarter!

And the previous one is in place, there it is behind the monument, in its place. Baby.

The Soviet space shuttle Buran even appeared here. This is the third one built and it never actually flew.

Yes, for now it is behind a fence and in this condition. But the condition of the exhibits here has a tendency to improve. The almost finished An-12 is a witness to that.

Only the chassis is in shoe covers. They are probably finishing painting it.

There is still plenty to repaint there.

Thank God, the steam locomotives have finished being painted.

Although, that one in the distance needs to be updated again. Especially since it is the original from Trumpeter’s model,

which I have.

And it turns out that they don’t always do a major paint job. They can also just tint it cosmetically.

Further, in the tanks columns, there seems to be no change.

And it’s good that I took a different route back. There in the exclusively cannon zone

two historically significant tanks were added.

Damn, I’ll have to go again next year to see for myself and tell you.

That’s excellent!

[BootsDMS]

I am staggered, just staggered!

[Karl187]

That is one awesome display and collection- the Buran is spectacular- I had no idea there was one in a museum. Also nice to see a Yak-38 in such a good condition!

[fromSalekhard]

The first flight vehicle of the program, Buran (product 1.01), made its only flight on November 15, 1988. In 2002, it was completely destroyed when a hangar collapsed at the cosmodrome. The second flight vehicle, Burya (product 1.02), did not participate in flights and was placed in storage at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The third spacecraft was delivered to Verkhnyaya Pyshma on August 5, 2024. This is the only flying example preserved in Russia.

In 1994, it was supposed to fly in a manned mode with a crew of two cosmonauts and stay in space for 24 hours. But, unfortunately, the Energia-Buran space program was shut down. In 1993, the ship’s readiness was estimated at 50%.

The shuttle made most of the way from the Moscow region by river, and then by roads. The length of the spacecraft is 36.4 meters, the wingspan is about 24 meters, the height of the ship on the chassis is more than 16 meters. The weight of the fuselage and wing consoles is 56 tons.

In the future, a special pavilion will be built for it and a unique exhibition dedicated to the Soviet space program “Energia-Buran” will be opened.

[Karl187]

Thanks for the extra info .

[BlackWidow]

Thanks for the report and all your work with it, Yuri! Much appreciated to see inside this huge museum!

@Karl187

I had no idea there was one in a museum.

Karl, there’s a Buran in the Speyer Technical Museum in Germany. I’ve seen it quite a few times already and had even a model show below it. The museum is not far away from my door. Just click the thumbnails to open the photos …
Spaceshuttle Buran | Technik Museum Speyer | Germany (technik-museum.de)

[Karl187]

Well that is pretty cool- it is in such pristine condition as well!

[MoramarthT]

@BlackWidow

I’ve seen it quite a few times already and had even a model show below it. The museum is not far away from my door.

So can we expect photos from this years’ show (Saturday 16 and Sunday, 17 November 2024 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) then?

Cheers,

M

[HermannB]

Another one Buran is in the Technikmusem Speyer. A really huge spacecraft!

[BlackWidow]

I have to disappoint you, Tom …
The model show is every year over the Easter Days (Sat to Mon) but I haven’t there in the last years …

[fromSalekhard]

I have repeatedly witnessed heated verbal battles over the issues of soiling (weathering) equipment and causing realistic signs of wear. I recently encountered this again: the color of the tracks of tanks from the First World War.

I will not duplicate the arguments of the parties, I will only note that they are numerous and from various fields of knowledge. I will do the opposite: I will tell almost nothing, but simply show.

The museum in Verkhnyaya Pyshma is a place where original equipment from the period of the WWII, as well as, possibly, their copies, replicas and other products with reduced, but not zero, historicity, march several kilometers once a year on Victory Day

(photo below – 2022. Photos from the 2021 parade at the beginning of this epic.).

Sometimes more than once a year – also on Tanker’s Day (the second Sunday in September). The mileage can be even more – running-in, checking and other preparatory work remain outside the scope of observations. The key: tanks are not repainted before and after the race.

Of course, it is necessary to take into account that it is located in a covered and heated hangar.

Tanks drive on asphalt, not on the ground, and at the same time the lugs are leveled (that’s why I took less pictures of the outer side). Otherwise the asphalt will be damaged. Plus: I’m a mediocre photographer, the camera is so-so. The lighting in the hangar is bad, and the flash distorts the colors.

After such an optimistic introduction, you can look at the photos

[fromSalekhard]

Verkhnyaya Pyshma. Summer 2025.

Reports on the Verkhnyaya Pyshma museum complex are incremental. And now I will show you the visible changes since last year’s visit

For those who remember, and for those who don’t, I will show you, from the entrance you pass six pavilions. As in some trains, the numbering starts from the end.

The sixth pavilion is still closed to visitors and serves as either a repair shop or a warehouse for blanks.

One of the clearly new ones is the helicopter.

The fifth pavilion, within the framework of the established global concept – cars of the USSR, continues to change the composition of the exhibition (left – before, right – after),

There are even fewer changes in the fourth pavilion. They just rearranged the exhibits a bit. The cabins were on one side, now they are on the other (on the left – it was, on the right – it is).

Here the third pavilion is completely filled with exhibits
.

The second pavilion is about engines. There are no changes there.

But in the first pavilion there may be changes, but it is covered with a veil of uncertainty!

Leaving wide scope for imagination, provoking it with a deliberate demonstration of the two extreme poles of passenger car manufacturing.

The Yak-38 was removed from the area behind the pavilions and replaced with an airfield sweeper.

And they found a worthy, no less strange replacement for the strange MoAZ:

buckets of huge excavators!

I have encountered a walking excavator once in my life – as a student, when I was building a railway next to a coal quarry in Siberia. The sight of a bulldozer cleaning the inside of an excavator bucket and maneuvering quite freely has been etched in my memory for the rest of my life. I dream of finding such a miracle in the vast expanses of my Motherland and admiring it at least once more.

Something like this.

Stairs were attached to the monstrous BelAZ, obviously for excursions around the body – the size allows, but the entrance was closed in my presence

Over the past year they managed to complete the An-12.

And here is the “lost” Yak-38.

The fences have been removed from all the planes – apparently all the repair work has been completed,

and now you can wander under them as much as you like.

They reformatted the helicopter parking lot (on the left – well, you already figured it out…).

But now you can clearly understand the differences between the Mi-24 modifications.

Who is struggling with choosing the colors of Soviet military equipment? Here’s a painting guide for you.

In the place where Buran was “hiding” behind the fence, there was no longer a fence or Buran, but a ready-made site with exhibits that were not yet ready.

Is the museum encroaching on the plant? Maybe it’s a more profitable establishment?

Maybe they’ll drag the An-12 there and create a corner of civil aviation? We’ll see.

And where did they put the Buran? Intrigue.

[jfeenstra]

Looks like a really fantastic museum! I could spend hours there, particularly with all the construction equip and civilian trucks.

In the second to last picture of all the Grads - they have a BM-21V (9K54 Grad-V), a Gaz-66 with soft top. Quite rare as it was only issued to the airborne forces and the only export outside the Warsaw Pact (Ukraine and Belarus) was to Iraq. Don’t suppose you have any more photos? Have the GE Model conversion for the Zvezda GAZ-66

[fromSalekhard]

Yes, indeed, cars are not my priority in such museums and I do not strive to photograph such exhibits from all sides.
Just in case, I looked through my archive, but did not find anything.
At the same time, if there is interest on your part, then I am ready to search the Russian part of the Internet for some materials on this topic.
P.S. By the way, GE Models literally the other day announced the termination of its independent activities and the liquidation of the company. In connection with which it is selling off the remains with a 20% discount. Before this, I had an order for Leopard tracks (with wear) and STZ-5, and then I additionally ordered a T-29 tank from them (it is the same as the T-28, only with a wheeled chassis like the BT series tanks).

[jfeenstra]

That is too bad about GE. They are quick to release conversions and updates for new Zvezda kits. Hopefully they pass on their 3D print files to someone else. I do understand though as, like everywhere in the world, the 3D print market is getting very saturated.

And definitely appreciate anything you can find on the BM-21V as it is hard to any details on it.

[fromSalekhard]

@jfeenstra

BM-21V

Here are a couple of hundred photos of this very machine from this museum: dishmodels.ru
In general, this is an excellent source of detailed images of many, many units of equipment.
True, the search is in Cyrillic!
From what I saw in the search results: all modern reviews show exactly and only this car. Apparently there are simply no others in free access.

[fromSalekhard]

True, it won’t last long.

They are building a separate pavilion for it, and that is right. At the same time, taking advantage of the opportunity, they are running electricity somewhere. Hopefully to new exhibition venues.

I propose to take a closer look at armored cars, armored railcars and other armored vehicles on rail tracks.

I didn’t know before and didn’t notice that the wheel wasn’t replaced, but a rim was simply put on it.

I wonder what these brushes are for?

The range of German equipment seems to have not changed.

However, I didn’t count them carefully. But opposite and in addition to them they placed a lonely Tiger.

And behind it is a very interesting unit of a class never seen before.

I accidentally stumbled upon a cache of wheeled vehicles in a secluded corner.

But then I got upset. Looking at a row of tanks from afar, I decided at first that they were primed brown for painting.

But then I realized that only the green paint had turned brown, all the other colors remained in place.

This is the effect of burning.

At the same time, the column of heavy tanks sparkles with summer green.

This time I decided to visit the automobile museum, because I haven’t been there for a long time. There will be a separate series of reports about it. Of the new items, I’ll show you this dissected Volga GAZ-21.

And finally, to understand the size of the museum and just to admire it: several general views from the windows of this building.

[Dioramartin]

Thanks Yuri, another spectacular tour and we didn’t even need to pay the entry fee – as a matter of interest what is the standard adult ticket price (Roubles & US $ conversion) ?

[fromSalekhard]

@Dioramartin

what is the standard adult ticket price

At the current rate

P.S. Sorry, extra

Parking space $2.5 per day (Tour buses are accommodated free of charge).

[Dioramartin]

Thanks again Yuri – fairly comparable to western rates, in fact quite low compared to some museums/art galleries I’ve been to! I recall you mentioned in the past that at least one of the museums you’ve showed us was privately financed by a wealthy oligarch i.e. not administered by a/the government. Is that the case with this museum?

I’m asking because I’ve had some experience with museums. The majority (in the UK and Australia anyway) are government-funded (by national or local governments), and gladly accept private donations (or loans of items) from members of the public. Some are completely free entry, others charge a (generally) modest admission which never comes close to covering overall running costs. Unless the visitor numbers are huge, I assume the Verkhnyaya Pyshma is subsidised by whoever owns it?