Over the complex’s first ten years, the military vehicles and field structures displayed outdoors lost their original appearance. A programme of restoration work was therefore carried out at Stalin Line ahead of the 70th anniversary of Victory.
Alongside personnel from the engineer troops, private companies were also brought in to restore the exhibits to a suitable condition. The most challenging exhibits in the military display area were entrusted to sole trader Vikenty Yurkevich. He used abrasive blasting equipment to remove the old paint thoroughly from the surfaces of the military vehicles. Its generator produces a powerful jet of air which, combined with an abrasive material (sand), strips all paint from an object’s surface, including the primer. In just half a day, an entire self-propelled artillery system can be stripped to a silvery shine! Amid the cloud of abrasive dust, the operator wears a brightly coloured, fully sealed protective suit. Breathing air is supplied through a special BAF air-purification system. The abrasive sand, a production waste material, is purchased from Belarusian manufacturers of building mixes. The quality of paint removal achieved by abrasive blasting is remarkable: when touching the cleaned surface of the Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer, it feels as though it has just left the factory production line and is about to enter the paint shop! Vikenty Yurkevich then paints the vehicles using an airless spraying system, which consumes 30% less paint than a conventional compressed-air spray gun. Abrasive blasting followed by repainting preserves even the finest details of a vehicle’s surface texture. This is particularly valuable when restoring military vehicles from the Great Patriotic War. In this case, it is the ISU-152 heavy self-propelled gun. Any other method of removing the old paint and applying new coats would inevitably have erased or covered the battle damage left by shell fragments and bullets. This method has even preserved the ISU-152’s factory ‘ruler’ intact — a kind of identity record for the fighting vehicle.
Over ten years, the trenches, landing stage and low-water bridge had deteriorated badly and, in places, become completely unusable. Personnel from the engineer troops undertook their restoration. Once their military service is over, the soldiers will return home, but the structures they built will continue to serve visitors. In time, these former military builders may enjoy returning to Stalin Line as husbands or fathers and proudly showing their families the results of their work. The bridge built by the soldiers makes the route to the Aircraft Display, Air Defence Systems Display and Military Engineering Equipment Display shorter and more interesting. Visitors can hire a rowing boat or pedalo at the landing stage, while the trenches, dugouts and artillery positions are firm favourites with children.
Stalin Line also gained a spacious shop selling magnets, souvenirs and booklets, as well as books on the Great Patriotic War and the Soviet–Afghan War.
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