Thanks to an interest in military history spurred on by, of all things, video games, attendance is up at Tank Land, a place where one man’s private collection turned into the American Military  Museum.

L.A. Tank, a group of RC hobbyists, meet once a month at the American Military Museum to race remote controlled armored vehicles.

Craig Michelson is the owner of Tank Land as it’s become known and he’s been letting them meet here for the last 4 years. Curator of over 180 exhibits including military vehicles from the First World War to Operation Desert Storm, he encourages groups to visit.

"This is a Sherman, an M4A3 E8 Sherman. If all you guys saw Fury, this is the style tank that was used," says Michelson, standing proudly in front a battlefield behemoth dating from the Second World War.

With so many vehicles on site, most conversations with Michelson starts with a bit a trivia.

"This is meant for little tiny guys," he says as he folds his legs into a World War II era Jeep.

Opening in 1965, the American Military Museum was started by his father, Donald Michelson, but it started more as a personal collection.

"This museum was a dream of my dad. He retired out of the out of the  service and wanted to preserve the military heritage," says Michelson.

That collection grew once Craig’s father started working with Hollywood and provided military vehicles to movie sets. One familiar-looking WW2 ambulance was used on the set of MASH.

"Our Museum used to do a lot of work with Hollywood but unfortunately, there's a lot of runaway production so this is a piece of Hollywood history" says Michelson.

Thankfully, attendance has been steady, but the crowds have changed. They’ve gotten younger.

"My son specifically likes about soldiers, WWII, so he's very interested so I just wanted to come and check it out," said Erick Palomo, a visitor to the museum.

Visitors used to be primarily veterans, but now kids and students are coming inspired by playing video games and watching movies. They want to see and feel the real thing.

"This particular helicopter was shot down in Vietnam in 1968. The reason we know that is we actually have the log book," says Michels.

Tanks are meant for war, but Craig’s museum inspires children, engineers and artists. Let’s hope they make a different future with it.