The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum

The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum display armoured vehicles and artillery from the late 1800’s onwards. Open 7 days!
2 Skyrail Drive, Cairns 4878
(910)

The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum opened to the public on Saturday the 6th September 2014. The museum is privately owned and is the largest museum of its kind in the southern hemisphere. We are located next door to Tjapukai and Skyrail in Smithfield, a suburb of Cairns, North Queensland. We are dedicated to the collection, preservation, restoration and display of Armoured Vehicles and Art

illery from the 1800’s to the present day. Our collection includes armoured vehicles and artillery from both world wars with a particular focus on WWII. Currently our collection consists of over 200 armoured vehicles and artillery pieces, many of which will not be found anywhere else in Australia. We are constantly on the lookout for additional pieces of equipment that will make our museum a richer experience for those visiting. INSTAGRAM:
TRIPADVISOR: https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g1152915-d7129046-Reviews-The_Australian_Armour_and_Artillery_Museum-Smithfield_Cairns_Region_Queensland.html

30/08/2026

A bit of rain? The tanks don't care. 🌧️ Day 3 of AusArmourfest is FAMILY DAY and the vehicles are out on the track RIGHT NOW, running rain, hail or shine.

🚨 TODAY ONLY: Kids under 12 ride FREE with a paying adult. 🚨

Raincoat up, grab the kids, and come get on tanks tearing up the track. Honestly, they look even better in the rain.

📍 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns
🎟️ Tickets: https://bit.ly/aaf26

29/08/2026

Day 1 of AusArmourfest was an absolute spectacle. Over 30 running WWII vehicles, Sherman, Cromwell, T-34, Panzer IV, Wespe and so much more, all thundering past the crowd. This is what living history looks like.

Day 2 is happening RIGHT NOW. Tickets still available. 🎟️

📍 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns
🎟️ Tickets: https://bit.ly/aaf26

27/08/2026

A minute of everything the Chieftain threw at us this week. Corroded solenoids. Sludge in every filter. Oil where oil shouldn't be. And one single dead circuit buried somewhere in fifty years of Cold War wiring, quietly stopping the entire gearbox from working.

Nobody said reanimating a British main battle tank would be easy. Did we win? The full episode is up now.

🎟️ AusArmourfest is THIS WEEKEND: https://bit.ly/aaf26
🔧 Full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lA03UKZPWKM
📍 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns QLD

🚨 TOMORROW. FRIDAY 28TH AUGUST. 🚨⭐ AusArmourfest 2026: WWII Vehicles in Action ⭐The majority of these vehicles are exclu...
27/08/2026

🚨 TOMORROW. FRIDAY 28TH AUGUST. 🚨

⭐ AusArmourfest 2026: WWII Vehicles in Action ⭐

The majority of these vehicles are exclusive to Friday only, they will NOT be on display Saturday or Sunday. Sherman, Cromwell, T-34, Panzer IV, Wespe and over 30 more running WWII vehicles across the day. If you want to see them in action, tomorrow is your only shot. 🔥

Full schedule below 👇

📍 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns
🎟️ Tickets: https://bit.ly/aaf26

See you there! 🔧

26/08/2026

The mission: get the Chieftain to the other side of the museum in one piece. The risk: 55 tonnes of Cold War Britain, brakes that were never much chop to begin with, and a structural pillar in the way. Steve's plan if it went wrong was to shut everything down, climb out and run away very fast.

He made it. Smoked the clutch a bit on the way, and reckons it's easily the angriest tank he's ever had to drive. Then he opened up the transmission, and that's where the real trouble started.

🎟️ AusArmourfest is THIS WEEKEND: https://bit.ly/aaf26
🔧 Full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aKJMTam47ck
📍 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns QLD

25/08/2026

Everyone assumes the hard part of restoring a tank is the engine, or the turret, or the gun. For Ron this week it was a battery box. Eight hours. One panel. Everyone else clocked off and went home, and Ron was still there, alone in the shed, beating it into shape. If you've ever lost a whole day to a job that should have taken twenty minutes, this one's for you.

🎟️ See this Grant at AusArmourfest: https://bit.ly/aaf26
🔧 Full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZIaNShJRLgI
📍 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns QLD

25/08/2026

The ball bearing race in this Grant's turret ring has been seized solid for decades. Ron brought out the jackhammer. The jackhammer lost. So he cracked it open another way, and that's now three Grant turret rings he's successfully freed. When you've done something three times, you stop guessing and start knowing.

🎟️ See this Grant at AusArmourfest: https://bit.ly/aaf26
🔧 Full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZIaNShJRLgI
📍 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns QLD

25/08/2026

There's no supplier for 80 year old Grant tank hatch hinges. So Ron built a jig and made his own, identical, from scratch. This is the part of restoration nobody sees: the hours spent making a tool so you can make a part. The Grant Rustoration rolls on.

🎟️ See this Grant at AusArmourfest: https://bit.ly/aaf26
🔧 Full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZIaNShJRLgI
📍 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns QLD

🐆 PANTHER RIDE AVAILABLE🐆A ride in our Panther Ausf. A has become available for Sunday's Grand Parade at AusArmourfest. ...
25/08/2026

🐆 PANTHER RIDE AVAILABLE🐆

A ride in our Panther Ausf. A has become available for Sunday's Grand Parade at AusArmourfest. We only ever sell three of these a year, and this is your chance at one of them.

This Panther Ausf. A is one of only two surviving examples in the world - restored by Combat Dealers Nick and Phil (who will be your driver and guide!)

You won't stand next to it. You won't watch it drive past. You'll be in the Commander's Cupola leading the Grand Parade.

$3,000 AUD. One ticket. Sunday only.

🎟️ Secure your seat before someone else does: https://bit.ly/4s6ogRZ

📍 AusArmourfest, Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns

23/08/2026

After 517 days, the Wespe is finally loose in the wild.

Every restoration is special, but this one hits different. The level of detail the boys have gone to has exceeded anything they've done before. Suspension, wheels, cooling, engine, transmission, final drives, and all the details people will hardly ever see. Stripped back, cleaned, restored, and perfectly refitted.

A very special thanks to Daryl, Jesse and Steve for their spectacular work preserving this fascinating vehicle, for AusArmourfest punters and for everyone watching wherever you are. If you've come this far with us, send the boys your best wishes.

What a vehicle.

🎟️ AusArmourfest is on. If you haven't got your tickets, now is the time: https://bit.ly/aaf26
🔧 Full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zudfyjvc75o
📍 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum, Cairns QLD

Address

2 Skyrail Drive
Cairns, QLD
4878

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Saturday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Sunday 9:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+61740381665

Website

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