Kubinka is on the hit-list of every serious armored vehicle enthusiast due to the variety of rare and unique vehicles on display.
We’ve come here to look at a few of them, and we’ll be starting with the Object 704.
The Object 704 was originally built as a conversion of an old IS-3 chassis.
The vehicle was designed to be the ultimate of the ISU-152 series with an emphasis on protection.
Compared to its predecessor, you’ll see that it’s a little bit lower and a little bit wider,
and the front is dominated by the very large front slope about 32 cm thick.
As is normal in our process, we’re going to have a look at the exterior features of the vehicle first,
and then we’re going to have a look inside and see what the inside is like.
Being a very simple assault gun, the exterior is actually fairly sparse, this isn’t going to take us very long.
On the front left you’re going to see the service light, for driving.
Above it, to the right, is a small marker light, for tactical movement, and the round black yoke to the bottom left is a horn.
The mantlet, you will note, has a very large hole cut in it, this is for the optic to be able to see out.
It’s arguably a weak point, but it’s not that big compared to the size of the vehicle.
Because the front of the vehicle is so smooth, the designers were nice enough to install a handle to help you climb up.
The running gear is pretty much pure IS-3.
Six pairs of wheels per side, torsion bar suspension, three sets of support rollers per side.
The tracks: The typical wide single pin designed to give you great flotation over soft terrain of which there is much in the area.
The wheels are on a torsion bar suspension system.
As typical for torsion bars, you’ll find that they are a little bit off-set.
The ones on the right are a bit further forward than the ones on the left, and you’ll see this if you look horizontally through.
To adjust the track tension, idler wheel, as per normal, there is a simple screw hex-nut here,
you basically get the biggest wrench you ever saw, plug it in and leverage it up or down,
and that’ll send your idler wheel forwards or backwards, tensioning or loosening the tension applicably.
The tracks. Single pin.
There are about four different types, that I’ve counted, of track link on this vehicle.
Some are short, some are long.
Some have holes in them that you can attach extra grousers for slippery conditions, some appear to be solid, some are cast.
No rhyme or reason, the excuse that was given was that it was a prototype vehicle and they used whatever they happened to have at hand.
There certainly is enough clearance on the back end between the hull and the link for the extended grousers on both sides so no issues there.
The pins are held in place by way of a simple washer and clip, nothing fancy here at all, but it works,
and the last thing I’ll mention while I’m down here is that this here is just thin sheet metal.
As per the IS-3, the main armor plate is very heavily sloped inboard and it meshes in where the vertical lower hull side is.
Nothing too amazing about the sprocket wheel, the only thing to note in here is the scraper to get all the mud off.
Moving to the upper hull, you can see the vehicle is not substantially taller than I am.
Very helpfully, they put the number 704 on the side just in case you didn’t realize you were actually looking at the only 704 in existence.
External fuel tanks, as always, not directly attached to the fuel system,
the fuel has to be siphoned or pumped from the tank into the fuel compartment,
and you’ll notice, of course, easily jettisonable, the idea was not to go wearing these things in combat.
Just behind it, one of your two exhaust pipes, there’s similar on the opposite side.
Now, we’re going to move a little bit more to the back.
The rear of the vehicle gives us no great surprises, there are marker lights up at the top corners, the two access ports for the transmission,
and to open them you actually have to unbolt the things and then swing them down, it’s a little inconvenient, we can’t do that right now.
Underneath the rear hull you have the two tow hooks and mounting points for spare track links.
So that’s it for the hull, now it’s time to climb up and have a look at the deck and the roof.
That was easy enough.
The engine deck is, frankly, wholly uninteresting.
The only items of note are the two fuel filler ports, one on each side,
there is a single port for the oil, and in the center there’s the coolant.
Beyond that, everything in here is bolted down and very heavy.
I’m kind of wondering how one is supposed to do any reasonable maintenance without taking it to a depot, or at least something with a crane.
The only thing you can lift up really is the central engine compartment cover, and believe me, this thing is not light.
Moving further forward, this is the loader’s 12.7mm machinegun, the famous DShK.
Which, I have to say, is very, very evenly balanced on the equilibrator here.
It takes almost no effort at all to elevate.
To aim it, he’s got a simple blade sight, or under here you can also find an optical.
It is located on a ring mount, which goes quite literally around a ring, it’s not a skate mount.
That ring mount itself is pivoted so that it can swing on top of the loader’s hatch when the hatch is open, the 12.7 can then spin on the pintle,
and by the combination of the one, two, three axis, he has a pretty good field of fire to most anywhere.
Moving up onto the superstructure roof, you can see that the designers were very nice.
They’ve given everybody a hatch of their own.
Starting at the bottom left,
there’s the loader, the driver, the gunner, commander (front right), and the assistant loader behind me to the right, there.
Most of the crew hatches also have a periscope which is rotatable.