Sunday 1 December 2019

Youtube for the tank-obsessed

I havent been doing much modelling this year, except for an F-16 and Takom's new PL-01 (pictures later), but what I HAVE been doing (a LOT) is watching Youtube videos.

In June, after Tankfest 2019 (The Tank Museum, Bovington, UK), I kinda got obsessed with tanks. I discovered the Tank Museum had a Youtube channel, where they do 5-10 minute talks about the various tanks (300+) they have in the museum.

During browsing, I discovered various more people/channels who are personally or professionally obsessed with tanks.

After viewing several 100 hours of Youtube, I thought maybe some of you may be interested too, but be unaware of their existence.

So, here's my short list of recommendations:

1. The Tank Museum

Definitely worth a visit, if you're even slightly into tanks. Since it was a 7-8 hour drive (+ boat) for me, I incorporated a visit into a 4 day long weekend to that part of the UK with the missus.

Try going in June, in the weekend of Tankfest, when everything that still drives is taken for a spin, together with a lot more visiting vehicles from various countries.

The Youtube channel hosts tank chats, top 5 tanks by famous tank know-it-alls and other interesting information.

Link : https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTankMuseum

2. The Chieftain

Used to be a tanker, now works as historian for Wargaming (the makers of World-of-tanks) about anything tank-related.

Most of his talks are "Inside the hatch", where he visits a specific vehicle and goes around it in a lot of detail. 10 to sometimes 40 minutes going over the outside, inside, suspension details, ... I like details, so I watched them all (still working through the list :-))

May also be interesting if you're modelling one of the subjects and like extra detail, or are looking for interior shots.

Link : https://www.youtube.com/user/TheChieftainWoT

3. World of tanks (North America)

As employer of the Chieftain, I checked out both the game and their Youtube channel.
The game is okay, but I no longer spend hours gaming like when I was younger, so I'm not heavily into it.

The Youtube channel spends a lot of talks about in-game features or announcements, so I guess hardcore WoT-gamers will already follow. All the Chieftain's inside-the-hatch videos are duplicated here, so you need'nt bother looking for them through the loooong list of video's.

I filtered out the non-game related videos in a separate playlist here, if you're interested.

4. Lindybeige

General know-it-all about war, history and other stuff. I started out watching his tank-related video's, but ended up more and more watching random videos about historical warfare, specific weapons, general fighting techniques and what not.

Link : https://www.youtube.com/user/lindybeige