Sofilein Thread Of....tankess....

[nitflegal]

12 hours ago, R011 said:

Worth saying twice. I'm not a gamer, but I have to give it to WoT, there aren't many organizations out there spending money to make high quality tank videos like they do.  As far as I'm concerned, the main qualification their presenters need is to be good presenters.  That doesn't just mean people who are subject matter experts ans scholars, it also can mean people who look and sound good who ask good questions.

If some here think they can do better, then they can send a resume to WoT or contact the museums, hire a production crew, and see how many views they get.

 

Thanks!  I'd reiterate that a huge part of her charm is that she is a true geek about this stuff.  It's not an act, she's not a vapid instagram model pretending.  That comes through in her videos and creates a connection with her audience who are usually also geeks about this stuff.  I'd also point out, as a geek about this stuff, that as an interviewer she also has a secret weapon that often gets overlooked; she tends to ask the questions I would in that same situation.  It's why a lot of fakes in every area, regardless of their fame or attractiveness, flame out.  If a viewer is yelling at his screen "ask about this!" they will stop watching.  She asks the questions we hope she does and that makes her a worthwhile person to watch.

[bojan]

1 hour ago, nitflegal said:

...Unofficially, and it goes hand in hand with the former, is simply staffing...

Yeah, ultimately it often comes to this, all around the world. Locally, there is a number of "unit memorial rooms", for all purposes mini-museum that army would not mind being open to public. But it is always a fact that if it is open to public it has to have dedicated stuff, has to fulfill all civilian standard fire/sanitary inspections, weapons have to be secured vs just standing on the shelves, etc, etc. So in the end lack of money and stuff prevents that.

PPU (ammo manufacturer) has kick-ass small arms collections, including extremely rare stuff (7.62x39mm AR-10, Stoner 63, local 1969. rework of Type 3 AK to 5.56 etc), again money and people have to be dedicated to open that to the public. So it is "in the works" for the last 10 years or so...

Edited March 27, 2022 by bojan

[sunday]

I wonder if the risks of visitors getting hurt while crawling over tanks, even in breach of the museum regulations, could be another factor in Fort Bennings' case, considering that American phenomenon of ambulance-chaser lawyers.

[nitflegal]

6 minutes ago, sunday said:

I wonder if the risks of visitors getting hurt while crawling over tanks, even in breach of the museum regulations, could be another factor in Fort Bennings' case, considering that American phenomenon of ambulance-chaser lawyers.

I dunno.  If you get liability insurance you are pretty well covered from what I've seen. There have been private and public armor museums for decades in the US and I haven't really heard any horror stories.  We do have to keep people from climbing but it actually doesn't happen very often.  Part of it may be that tanks are a lot taller and harder to climb on than people often realize.  That said, we always have people in the area on the floor so people kind of know they are observed.  It also probably helps that when we see someone staring and drooling at the tanks we go over and chaperone them to see it more closely and not keep them at arms length.  It helps that our tanks have full interiors to look at similar to what Knox had (and hoo boy did the army frigging hate that that they restored those vehicles!) so there's plenty to keep them interested.

[sunday]

Thanks. I've known to caress one or two Corsairs or Sea Furies myself...

[Manic Moran]

7 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Thats very forward thinking of the British Army. Do they still do it?

Accountant Rifles has a nice ring to it...

Oh, of course not. Apparently it stopped about ten years ago. I have not found out why.

[Stuart Galbraith]

If it was about 10 years ago, it was probably part of those stupid defence cuts David Cameron made.

 

[JWB]

2 hours ago, bojan said:

..........Stoner 63.....

I never knew it even existed:

[bigfngun]

22 hours ago, Tim the Tank Nut said:

The education part of the Museum system is important.

Further, the OPSEC thing on tanks that have made it to the Museum system really isn't an issue.  Even talking about OPSEC for current issue stuff doesn't seem important to me after we donated an army's worth of current gear to the Taliban.  If OPSEC isn't important to the military why should I worry about it?

Answering the question from above about three man crews:

In my opinion that's just nuts.  You'd have to have one serious traveling maintenance circus to make that work and the machinery would always have to be pretty new.  Older stuff breaks more.  In a four man crew the workload is split 4 ways with the TC often doing stuff that pulls him away from the tank (briefings and whatnot).  The three man crew isn't enough to cover basic duties in a combat environment.

I wouldn’t mind a ride in an in service Abrams. Look through the imagers, etc. Depends on the security winds & how much of a snob the staff is I guess.

Do we know how the French have been getting by on their 3 man tanks as far as maintenance?

 

 

 

[bigfngun]

21 hours ago, Manic Moran said:

I don't see the exact nature of the objection here. 

Are you saying that pedigree is more important than product and capability, or is your position more generic that military musea shouldn't be giving non museum folks with a camera and youtube channel access under any circumstances? 

I subscribe to your channel very much because of pedigree. I’ve seen you on Tanknet for a long time, even remember some of the Iraq videos. I like to listen to authors who may not be tankers (Zaloga) but someone with a deep research background and/or actual experience appeals to me. 
 

If I watch your Hatch vids I must be ok with musea giving folks access.  But I did find access to an in service Abrams tank like Sofi had was surprising.
 

I first saw her on one of your videos (I don’t remember which) and she was just there, like everyone should know her from way back. Maybe my fault for never playing the game but there was no real introduction, just poof, here she is. 

[bigfngun]

18 hours ago, nitflegal said:

I can only speak for American Heritage Museum and discussions with staff at Bovington, Saumr, and Muenster.  AT AHM we get 250-350 people in a day and at least a third of them are late teen to low-20's.  Almost all of the time that I talk to them they got their interest through WoT and they usually know and watch her.  They also all know Chieftain and less often Challenger.  Talking with staff at those other three museums they all have seen their visit numbers explode and demographics change way younger because of WoT.  Before WoT I went to Bovington and Saumur on weekends.  Bovington had less than a hundred and Saumur had less than 20 all day.  Prior to Covid they were getting hundreds and with a much younger skew.  Who also, BTW, buy a crap ton more merchandise.  

I have also heard anecdotally that many of the new crewman who go through the "museum" at Benning mention getting interested in armor because of WoT and they also know Sofilein.  I think you really underestimate how good the PR for tank museums and perhaps even actual tank crews have been positively influenced by her and WoT.  You might also consider that people at museums tend to be proud of them and want to show them off.  Hundred thousand eyeballs on the thing you want to show off with pride is a pretty good reason its own to bring her in and let her geek out on camera.  I would also add that both from meeting her and hearing from others she treats the museum staff extremely well, is very supportive and friendly, and is just a really pleasant guest.  Why wouldn't they roll out a bit of a red carpet for her?

Excellent explanation. I grew up in a book/movie world so those were my introductions to things like tanks. I guess the new generation is much more gaming based, I don’t know. Wasn’t Battlezone in the early 80s supposed to be a recruitment tool? Maybe it’s not of new as a tool as we think.

[bigfngun]

18 hours ago, R011 said:

Worth saying twice. I'm not a gamer, but I have to give it to WoT, there aren't many organizations out there spending money to make high quality tank videos like they do.  As far as I'm concerned, the main qualification their presenters need is to be good presenters.  That doesn't just mean people who are subject matter experts ans scholars, it also can mean people who look and sound good who ask good questions.

If some here think they can do better, then they can send a resume to WoT or contact the museums, hire a production crew, and see how many views they get.

 

I didn’t know she hired a production crew. That’s hard core. 

[R011]

It likely isn't a big crew.  There's at least a camera man using a proper camera, not a camcorder or phone.  

[bigfngun]

6 minutes ago, R011 said:

It likely isn't a big crew.  There's at least a camera man using a proper camera, not a camcorder or phone.  

Similar to Manic. Likely subsidized.

[Sardaukar]

I fail to see any problem.

Except possibility of Nick Moran in bikinis...that'd be a problem...

[Manic Moran]

6 hours ago, R011 said:

It likely isn't a big crew.  There's at least a camera man using a proper camera, not a camcorder or phone.  

Normally she just hands her iphone to someone standing around*. Personally, I invested in a good camera, tripod and lights so I can be a true one-man-band.

*In fairness, she may have gotten a tripod since. Ian (Forgotten Weapons) is another iphone user.

[DogDodger]

13 hours ago, nitflegal said:

I dunno.  If you get liability insurance you are pretty well covered from what I've seen. There have been private and public armor museums for decades in the US and I haven't really heard any horror stories.  We do have to keep people from climbing but it actually doesn't happen very often.  Part of it may be that tanks are a lot taller and harder to climb on than people often realize.  That said, we always have people in the area on the floor so people kind of know they are observed.  It also probably helps that when we see someone staring and drooling at the tanks we go over and chaperone them to see it more closely and not keep them at arms length.  It helps that our tanks have full interiors to look at similar to what Knox had (and hoo boy did the army frigging hate that that they restored those vehicles!) so there's plenty to keep them interested.

And for what it's worth, the First Division Museum in Illinois lets people climb on the vehicles in its outside tank park. Soft padding is around the vehicles, but I'm still surprised by it. Great place to get some unusual pictures, though.

[shep854]

22 minutes ago, DogDodger said:

And for what it's worth, the First Division Museum in Illinois lets people climb on the vehicles in its outside tank park. Soft padding is around the vehicles, but I'm still surprised by it. Great place to get some unusual pictures, though.

Why I like National Guard/VFW lawn sentinels...no one around to tell me I can't climb on them.

Edited March 28, 2022 by shep854

[R011]

3 hours ago, Manic Moran said:

Normally she just hands her iphone to someone standing around*. Personally, I invested in a good camera, tripod and lights so I can be a true one-man-band.

*In fairness, she may have gotten a tripod since. Ian (Forgotten Weapons) is another iphone user.

I am surprised and impressed.  I figured at least a cameraman, maybe a sound tech.

[Stuart Galbraith]

15 hours ago, JWB said:

I never knew it even existed:

Used a lot by the Seal teams in vietnam. They liked the firepower, but it jammed a lot.

[Coldsteel]

20 hours ago, Manic Moran said:

Oh, of course not. Apparently it stopped about ten years ago. I have not found out why.

It is a little known fact that towards the end of Great Financial Crisis that the Queen's Own Accountant Rifles suffered irrecoverable losses in a hostile takeover by the Crimson Permanent Assurance. Their ledger was closed after that.

[bojan]

4 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

...They liked the firepower, but it jammed a lot.

Manufacturing quality was crap, from engineering (wrongly radiused bolt lugs), manufacture (badly heat threated firing pins), to wonky materials (receiver stretching).

[Stuart Galbraith]

Yeah, from what ive read, the Seal Teams figured out they would be better off bringing an M60 and M16's, which had less than stellar reputations themselves.

Interesting idea though, im surprised that its a concept thats not been revisited.

[shep854]

The SEALs also had the benefit of on-site armorers who could rebuild guns immediately, so the SEALs could really abuse them.

[Samson]

On 3/27/2022 at 1:20 AM, Sardaukar said:

Sofilein is cute and smart. That is reason enough for me to watch.

Simple As.