Purpose of this blog

Dmitry Yudo aka Overlord, jack of all trades
David Lister aka Listy, Freelancer and Volunteer

Friday, April 11, 2014

[WoT] Maus Reconstruction

As a part of history/vehicle-honoring campaign, Wargaming in cooperation with the Kubinka Tank Museum is going to reconstruct the legendary "Maus" tank. The current model in Kubinka is almost empty inside. The parts will be customly reconstructed at factories around the world in close cooperation with experienced military vehicle restorers.

So, this is likely to be a costly adventure.


56 comments:

  1. Very Cool stuff. I hope they have a tank day like Bovington where we'll be able to see it driving around!

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    1. They do have similar events. I personally saw T-34 and MS-1 driving around.

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    2. here you go http://overlord-wot.blogspot.com/2012/09/wot-doyle-kubinka-and-much-more-part-3.html

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  2. Hi Overlord, is it possible to contact somehow the Kubinka Museum on this case, as I am quite interested in this project?

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    1. Hi,

      Interested how exactly? Like offering help?

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    3. Well I would like to write about the future progresses and some interviews with the people, who are working on the project. I would publish these on the WoT forums, related fan-sites and in some Hungarian news sites, because this initiative is more than outstanding in my opinion :)

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    4. Well, contact information is here - http://mbtvt.ru/contacts/menu/kontakt
      Email is the following - mbtvt@mbtvt.ru
      Not sure how good those guys are at English

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    5. Yea I found that before, but had in mind the english issue as you do. Will give it a try, but if things go bad I will call my buddy, who speaks native russian. Thx for your time! :)

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  3. Very cool, this is what I would call bringing history to life! Respect!

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  4. Hey could you tell Kubkinka that not a Object 432 but an Object 435, you can tell by the fact that it has an extra cupola and the IR sight is on a different side. If you look inside of it you will see that it's missing an autoloader.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Object_432_%28T-64%29.jpg

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    1. Yup, checked with Yury Pasholok, you are right.

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    2. Hey BTW where did WG get their copy of ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННЫЕ БРОНИРОВАННЫЕ МАШИНЫ 1945-1965 гг. because mine seems to be missing all the cool info on the Object 268 and other SPGs.

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  5. Maus reconstruction should be awesome, Hopefully they will cover it as well as they did with the T-34 reconstruction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ARy-2oyfMo

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  6. How much will this awesomness cost?

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  7. Hi.
    A very cool and nice idea! How will you do that? Could we help you in any way?

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    1. Unless you possess any special tank restoration expertise, you can help and support the project by playing WoT. The project is company funded, so donations are unlikely, I guess.

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    2. Okay. Thanks for the answer and... good luck :)

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  8. When I heard about it I got some warm feeling in me. Very nice initiative guys. I hope you will cover the reconstruction detailed to make a "movie" about it, even longer that the T-34 one. Hope you will have as little trouble as it can be.

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  9. Awesome! :)
    I’m glad they’re putting the money to good use. Restoring tanks with money from a tank game is the best thing ever, and I hoped they’d do that. And they did. :D

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  10. I am very pleased with this idea, I am looking forward for this but I must ask, does WG have any plans to make a TV series/reality show out of this reconstruction? Or maybe a documentary? Or is it too early?

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    1. I guess it's too early to be specific on this, however I'm almost sure our guys will keep audience informed on the project in some way.

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  11. Really nice. This is the sort of thing that makes me happy to spend my money. As a student of history with a warm appreciation for archeology and reconstruction of historical objects, I can only be very happy indeed.

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  12. Will the Maus book WG published also be translated and distributed in English? Looks like a nice read, but my Russian is limited to one word.......

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    1. As far as I know, it can eventually come out via digital distribution.

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  13. Maus is my favorite tank ever, I can't die without seeing it. I value what the Russians did with the Maus, keeping it in a museum and not having it scrapped.

    We need to know what happened to the Char 2C too, it's a monster just like the Maus, is it hidden there? :P

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    1. Maus is beautiful. I so badly want to see it restored

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  14. You should also restore IS-7 and 430/140 :D
    Maybe 704 too :D

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    1. I'm sure they (the Kubinka crew, I mean) can repair most post-WWII vehicles to fully working condition, since all Russian tanks are "distant relatives" of each other ;D

      But I'm not sure if they can repair IS-7 or not, 'dat tray autoloader looks complicated.

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  15. You waste tons of money for no real good.

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  16. Fucking Awesome!!! I hoped something like that would happen when i read that WG bought the Maus blueprints.

    Actions like this always remind me that the makers behind WoT/Wargaming are real tank enthusiasts and not just some stock corporation managers.
    It reminds me about the first interviews with victor kisly about WoT: one could literally see and hear how much this guy loves his game and how much he loves tanks. Those interviews alone made me try the game.

    I honestly think my money is better spent at WG than on EA or Blizzard etc at this point. A running Maus will be awesome, not only for wot players, but for everyone visiting that museum even when the wot servers are long shut down.
    This news makes me buy a 1-year-premium account for me and one for a friend as well. (very handy that it will be 15% off thanks to the anniversary though :) )

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  17. I'm not a champion at English. Is WG going to attemtp to restore the existing Maus to running order or actually build a Maus from scratch? If the latter: I didn't know SerB wanted his own tank for doing groceries ;)

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  18. How about a camouflage for the in-game Maus to make it resemble the one in Kubinka, as a commemorative camouflage for this project? If it were sold for gold, I would buy it in a heartbeat!

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  19. It would be interesting project but I would expect a really costly one too.
    I used to watch a show called Tank Overhaul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Overhaul).
    I watched them overhaul the Ferd. One of the main problems with restoring it was the size and weight of the tank.
    They even had an bender fender accident when simply transporting the tank.
    The Ferd is 66 tons (lol got this off the WOT wiki, so game stats but same idea) the Maus is 192. I remember reading somewhere that the building the Maus is currently in, was actually build around the maus.
    Even though I believe this project is cool and interesting, but I really worry about the price tag. Is it worth it? Im am a little skeptical.
    Would be cool if u have special sale or something to help fund this. Maybe if u make a TV show about it (like tank overhaul), ull get more of that money back.

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    1. A suggestion the sale: Maybe just release that T54 light variant (http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/01/05/t-54-model-1949-light-tank-variant/)

      I got $$ in my pocket right now that I am willing to throw at you for one of those. Grinding up the T-44 line. Need a crew trainer and fun medium. T-34-3 was great. bet the T54 will be nice too.

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    2. They've already made alot of money from bundles like the Pzkpfw IV Hydro. Other gift shop specials like the KV-5 never fails to attract buyers. I'm sure they'll be fine.

      Though I wouldn't mind giving them a little more funding if they release more premiums like the Pzkpfw T-34 which Overlord talked about ages ago but never came. Release the Sherman Firefly, on the other hand, and they got themselves another paying customer.

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    3. I realize they are getting lots of $$ off those deals but still, im not sure if thats even enough. I remember reading on some other post that the restoration is estimated to cost about a couple million euros. According to wikipedia, WG's net revenue 2012 was 6.1 million euros. So based on this, restoring tank will cost a pretty large chunk of WG's revenue. I just dont want to see WG go bankrupt over this project because that means we lose WOT.

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    4. In fact, no financial report published by WG for 2013, though different independent experts estimate revenue between 370 and 500 ok that year. So they are quite capable to fund Maus, Ratte, Grotte's tank. And even martian tripods

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  20. Overlord, how are they going to drive it outside the hangar?, i know that it's been built around it as the tank is bigger than the doors.

    Are you going to do part by part documentaries?, i'm really interested in the electric drivetrain reconstruction....

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    1. 1. Will have to do smth with the wall obviously.
      2. I'm almost sure there will be something.

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  21. Don't see what the big deal is restoring a prototype that never saw service or combat. Guess it's just the fame it gained from playing WoT.

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    1. We don't know if it saw combat or not, and no, it's fame came from the tank itself, not from WoT, Maus was well-known even before WoT added it.

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  22. Could you imagine showing the finished project to the modern Porsche company in some capacity? I'm certain the Antonov An-225 could transport the thing with relative ease (How about bringing it to a gaming convention in the future via An-225, at the shipping cost of a few hundreds of thousands of euros/dollars/etc.?).

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    1. It's not that easy to bring shermans and stugs to expos. Not even talking about Maus.

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    2. Now you know why they build the Antonov 225 Mriya

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  23. This is the most awesome thing i have ever seen in my life. Seriously, taking on something which is well, impossible i think doesn't give it enough credit.

    So when they are talking about reconstructing it. To what level of detail are we talking about? Are we for example only going to see it driving about, or will it also have a rotating turret and functional radios etc?

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  24. Awesome! It really made my day. I love the Maus. Thanks, Wargaming! :)

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  25. Will they let you do some live fire tests agains IS-4M and IS-7 ?

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    1. During testing of the IS-7 they did live fire tests with a 12.8cm.

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