Hi all

Does anyone have any experience working with the SKIF KMT-6 kit? I've been looking for reviews or comments on it and the only one I've found so far in English is a review by Cookie Sewell who describes it as a "gem" giving a positive review. However on Missing Lynx in a build gallery one guy who used it said that it was corrected due to numerous inaccuracies. However he doesnt say what any of these are...

From what I've been able to work out on Russian Forums it seems to have it's faults but I haven't been able to find/translate what they are exactly.

Given what I know of SKIF kits I wouldnt be suprised if it was pretty bad, however its really cheap, so even if I corrected bits and did some scratching it's not too bad. I just need to know what exaclty NEEDS to be corrected.

Hello Jon. Here's a quick overview of the construction of mine trawl. Try to use an online translator, if you do not understand, try to help.
http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18601&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&s

Hi thanks for the help.

Actually this is what I found before, the guy seems to make an okay looking KMT-6. There doesn't seem to be much specifics though on what needs to be changed?

Theres a link there for some technical plans but it no longer works...

Hey Jon, I have the very kit you are talking about and plan to use it on a prodject I'm working on. The kit does have some problems with it, but is a good starting point to work with and it's worth buying. Some of the details are over simplefied, overscaled, or just missing. As you can see from the picture the hydraulic ram used to raise and lower the plough need to be improved a little, hydraulic line added, pully wheel needs to be made like a wheel and the retain bracket for the cable needs to be drilled out and cable put in place.

From this picture it looks like some sort of control rod and another pully system is missing from the base of the kit and some of the parts need to be thinned down some.

Also seems like a serious of nuts and bolts and grab handle are missing too. All this seems like it will be a easy fix and compair the kit against the photos I have, it seems to be a very close copy of the real thing. But for now the skif kit is the only thing on the market right now that I know of or you can try to scratch build a complete new. If you have any questions just like me as I have a bunch of photos in my files, just no line drawing of it though.
Chris

Thanks Chris thats much appreciated!

I may end up picking your brains later or asking for some photos!

sure just like me know what you need, I'll be more than happy to send what info I have so far.
Chris

I think I found the place you got these pictures from, was it off a walkaround at Prime portal?

I've also found a great walkaround of KMT gear from the Stalin Line Museum in Belarus. Actually I'm planning to go there myself soon to check out what they have.

What vehicle will you be mounting your KMT-6 to?

The T-62 I'm currently working on with the bar armor. I've seen one picture with is being mounted during the Russian-Georgian conflict and I thought it would look awsome on it. If you find anything great while at the Stalin museum, let us know. By the way you wouldn't happen to have any descent pictures of the ERA blocks used on the T-80 UDK by any chance? My next prodject to work one after I finish my 62 to to build skif's kit with SP dsign set, but the kit has some minor flaws in it and plan to rebuild the armor on it.
Chris

Here is a shot I found showing a KMT-6 on a T-80. The file says it is on a T-80UD. And there is no reason it could not be put on any T-series tank right now. Even if the T-80U is not deployed for war anywhere, I am sure they load it on the T-80U for training purposes.

I'll let you know Chris, I plan to take a load of photos and maybe do a feature about the museum for military modelling website or maybe here at Armorama. I'm not sure but do armorama do features on museums? I know MM do.

The Stalin Line Museum is really interesting as its all about the Stalin line defences that run throughout Belarus. So much like Normandy its full of pill boxes and defensive positions. They also have numerous tanks and aircraft on display.

Jacques thanks for this. I thought this might be the case. I actually came across a photo last night that showed a KMT-7 rigged up on a T-80U so I'm glad I can go ahead and model whatever KMT rig I want without having to worry about accuracy!

Are all T-80U now in reserve with the Russian Army or are some still in active service? Im not sure what tanks they regularly use these days. They dont seem to use T-90 much and most of the shots I've seen from Georgia have been modernised T-62! I guess though they are using T-72 regularly still? Most of my images of T-80U's are from the late 80's and early 90's either late soviet or just before the first Chechen war. Presumably they wrote off T-80's after Grozny and all the loses?

I'll have a look through my books and let you know. I got a bunch that cover T-80 recently. Including the old Concord T-64 and T-80 book by Zalgoa. I've also just gotten Fred Koch's book on Russian AFV's from 46 to late 90's.

Hi Christopher,
this link will show you some good pictures of a -UD with Kontakt3 blocks. The -UDK shouldn't be that different.

Olivier