I am building a SKIF brand T-55 and I am going to burn it out. In a nutshell it is going to be a destroyed Iraqi T-55.

The question I have is the engine. I want to add to the engine via styrene, wire, etc as it is very plain. I've seen some pictures of other engines but it looks nothing like what was given.

I have also scoured the INet looking for Soviet Tank Engine pictures and have had no luck.

PS. If you type in "tank engine" you get more pictures of Thomas the Train than ever!

Seriously...I've tried every combo of words and got very little.

The engine block in the SKIF kit has almost no detail. Any suggestions?

Ask and you shall recieve...

T-55 engine

and

T-55AM2

If photos from the links Jacques posted are not enough I may be able to find illustrations from operating manual of T-55 for you, but...
Actually, there are several "buts":
"But" one -
Do you really need the wiring? If engine was burned, I think the wiring would all melt down.
"But" two -
T-55 were upgraded, refitted, and modernized well into the early 1990-s. Which engine would be on your particular tank? Not to mention that Iraq probably produced their own engine for this tank.
"But" three -
Who will even notice that some wires are little bit off? Well, unless you build it for some rivet-counter, who will notice even wrong spark plugs. Actually, there are no spark plugs on diesel engines, right?

Three "but"s... I count them all...

Hi

First thing.. why do you want to use the naff Skif kit?.. even if you are going to "burn it out". Dimensions are all over the place, seriously a much better looking model would be to use the Tamiya kit, which seems to have come down in price. Get hold of the CMK engine set, which is the best on market, although lots of innacuracys are included, but its a good starting point. They also do a full interior, but it would depend how far you want to go and how much funds woill allow.

Andy Taylor

The SKIF kit was on sale for $15. The Tamiya kit was more expensive. I completely agree with you on the other points. If I was building a T-55 w/o "destroying" it I would have gone for a higher end kit. This is my first "burn out" attempt so it will not hurt as much if I make mistakes or it comes out lousy as it would with a $35 Tamiya kit.

The MIG burned out road wheels that I ordered are more expensive than the actual kit.

I am using the Extreme Modeling book with the title T-55 Barbaque as a guide. It is the Tamiya kit and the MIG burned out T-55 upgrade in that book. The modeler adds some wiring to his burned out engine so I want to get it close to his.

Perhaps it is an older style engine but I am no rivet counter either. I'll do my best and post some pictures and let's see if you folks like it.

The lines in the engine are NOT spark plug lines, they are fuel lines. They are made of metal, not plastic or plastic coated, so they would most likely still be present after a fire.