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When the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) was about to dispose of over two hundred thousand original factory specs drawings from the 1930s to 1980s after digitizing what they needed, the Military Vehicle Preservation Assoc. (MVPA) stepped up to oversee this important archive which chronicled the development of American fighting vehicles and artillery.

This vast trove sat in storage in Kansas City for a few years until the Kruse Foundation offered to house it at their site in Auburn, IN. Dean Kruse saw to it that the archive could be stored and the attempt to catalogue the millions of documents could begin. MVPA board member Art Pope was appointed the head curator of the documents.


As the documents were originally destined to be destroyed, when they were taken from the TACOM vaults, there was no attempt to keep them organized. Here's Art, shortly after the documents were transfered to Auburn. Pallets and boxes of uncatalogued drawings lie strewn about.



After several years of volunteer labor, we see how far it's progressed. While only a small portion of the documents have been entered into databases, at least they have been sorted through by size. The majority of the documents have still not been unfurled to even be catalogued.


All this has been made possible through the generosity of the MVPA which pays for the expenses of the volunteers and of Dean Kruse and the Kruse Foundation with its commitment to preserving history.

The documents range from small (A4 size) drawings to huge 1/9 scale factory layouts. It was quite a thrill for me to unfurl a six foot factory drawing of an M48 Patton tank and to thumb through the huge but incomplete database.

Many of us in the modelling community are unaware of these documents but Art Pope and the MVPA will have a table displaying what Art said were "very interesting" drawings for the 2008 AMPS International Convention held at the WW2Victory Museum, part of the Kruse Foundation site in Auburn, IN.

Come meet Art, learn about the huge cataloguing project, see some fantastic drawings, and enjoy the AMPS convention on April 11-12. The goal of the catalogue project is to have a database of the more significant drawings (there are many, many drawings of minutae). For research and restoration purposes, members of the MVPA can request photocopies of extant drawings. If this interests you, talk to Art about becoming an MVPA member (very inexpensive).

Also, if Auburn IN is within reasonable driving distance to you, consider joining Art and the other volunteers as they visit quarterly to spend several days working on the archive.

For more information, go here: www.amps-armor.net/amp...;ShowID=21


Roy Chow
AMPS 1st Vice President
2008 International Show Chairman
April 10-12, 2008. Auburn, IN
www.amps-armor.org

Fascinating stuff. One of my other hobbies is modeling the Union Pacific RR. I have been a part of the Union Pacific Historical Society since 1984. The UPHS is a non-profit organization. The Union Pacific donated about 10,000 drawings to the UPHS for archival purposes. These cover anything from painting/lettering diagrams to complete sets of erecting diagrams for certain types of steam locomotives. Many of the drawings were very old and in questionable shape. Fortunately, the Union Pacific Historical Society was able to purchase a large blueprint scanner and software. Teams of volunteers have been (and still do) spending weekends in Cheyenne, WY putting plans into the scanner and cataloging the results in a database. The Society has thereby 1) preserved these old drawings and 2) made them more readily available to researchers and/or model companies. The Society charges a modest fee for providing the drawings which then goes back into supporting the archival project. The UPHS also sells CDs of sets of drawings for certain types of steam locomtives, again with a modest profit put back into the archive project.

Maybe someday the Museum, or AMPS or some such group could look at a similar project with the old ordnance drawings. Then model manufacturers would have all the correct angles for tank hulls, etc.

Gary

- binder001

.... Fortunately, the Union Pacific Historical Society was able to purchase a large blueprint scanner and software.

What model scanner? I'm looking into this and would be very interested in knowing which type they aquired.

...The Society charges a modest fee for providing the drawings which then goes back into supporting the archival project. The UPHS also sells CDs of sets of drawings for certain types of steam locomtives, again with a modest profit put back into the archive project.

Maybe someday the Museum, or AMPS or some such group could look at a similar project with the old ordnance drawings. Then model manufacturers would have all the correct angles for tank hulls, etc.

Gary

Have you been hacking into my computer ...?

I can't really comment on anything right now, ( ) but your above statement,

some such group could look at a similar project with the old ordnance drawings.

is one of several ideas that is under consideration by a little known business venture, in this area.

Regards
Don

Hi Binder: having the drawings scanned and made available in that sort of format would be wonderful. Note however that the custodian for the archive is the MVPA and not AMPS -- we just happen to be having our convention at the WW2 Victory museum where the MVPA houses the archive. I'll direct Art Pope to look over your suggestion. Having the items scanned would make so much sense.

Dontos,

I contacted the UP Historical Society office and found out that the software is Spicer's Imagination. It was installed with the scanners from the beginning. We have two models of scanners. The older heavy duty models are Vidar Tru Scan 800's and the new lighter weight higher priced is Graphtek IS200.

Hope this info helps.

Gary

- binder001

Dontos,

I contacted the UP Historical Society office and found out that the software is Spicer's Imagination. It was installed with the scanners from the beginning. We have two models of scanners. The older heavy duty models are Vidar Tru Scan 800's and the new lighter weight higher priced is Graphtek IS200.

Hope this info helps.

Gary

Thanks,

That is a great help.

My past experience with the 'nasty' Diazio (sp?) blueprint copier, was a period of time I would like to forget.

While in 'The House of Pain' ( Battalion S-3 NCOIC) and doing overlay copies during BN OPORDS at NTC, me and my asst ops NCO literally made copies until we were on the brink of passing out. The ammonia fumes so intense, I know accounted for many dead brain cells ( insert joke here ). We learned that there is an ammonia filter which filters this, upon return to homestation,....duh!!

Anyway, theres got to be an easier way....

Don