Can anybody shed some light on SKIP's MT-LB Armored troop-carrier .
Does it have one piece vinyl track or individual links? Good or bad detail.
All openable hatches or not ?

Pierre
It's not like you have any choice, it's the only game in town. The kit needs work but isn't that what modeling is all about?
There are some after market accessories for the MT-LB, Tracks and P.E. sets
Have a good day!
Mrosko

Okay Pierre This is what we have. I have this particular kit, and will describe it to you.
Skif MT-LB 1/35 scale:
There are 5 sprues of plastic parts, and 2 of PE. the trackes are in 4 parts, and are more of a rubber type so I would go AM for those.
A sprue is the road wheels and suspension.
B sprue is the hull. 4 part bottom.
C is exterior, hatches and such
D is exterior, hill rear, and front. these are for the top.
E is the four part tracks
F is the interior. Yes it comes with a basic interior. I do mean basic.
M and G, are the PE.
The detail is fair, and my kit has no flash what-so-ever.
For the money I paid it is a good kit IMHO. 12.00 You will need to do research on the beast, and it needs a major overhaul for the interior. PE, and AM would do it justice as well, but OOB, it will resemble what you want. I am going to start mine this weekend. The directions are a bit confusing as well. Study them, and problems should be easily averted.
Hope this helps. I think you would enjoy this kit.

Hi

There was a resin kit by Armo years ago that was not too bad but nevertheless the Skif kit is basic. The details are simplified and overscale.

If you want an MT-LB and are willing to put in a lot of work then you will have a nice kit on your hands. If you do not want to put in a lot of work then at least you will have an MT-LB ....

Tom

As stated, it is the only plastic kit in town. Both ARMO and SP Designs had full resin kits, but they are both OOP.

I can describe it two ways:

1. OOB, the kit will look good to anyone who is not a real big fan of Red Armor. Military Training and Equipment ID people love this kit is that once built it looks like what it should and it is robust due to the thick plastic and the large glue surface areas. It will look like a decent MT-LB. Any of the SKIF MT-LB derivatives will look good. The tracks are a little wierd in substance (Not sure what kind of vinyl they are made of) but they will look just fine...I used them on my MT-LBu 1V14 just fine. But...

2. If you are going to detail the kit, like for a competition, then you have some work on your hands. SKIF made the kit a little too simplistic. You will, at the very least, need to add a Eduard PE set to it. I think it would also do you well to get some new tracks, preferably Masterclub (from ModelpointUS for now.) Additional work will require looking over many of the excellent walkarounds on the internet and adding detail as you go. There are other bits and pieces you can add depending on your imagination, wallet, and what you want to build.

But OOB it is just fine as long as you know what you are getting. Think of the old Renwal armor kits, or Monogram. Kinda like those.

Thanks for all the good info. I will go for it since it is more or less the only player in town.

its the only game in town.
Skifs stuff is a bit sub par but there is plenty of aftermarket stuff to make thier kits into somthing great.
the mt-lb ( I think skif makes 3 versions, regular, one mounting a zsu-23-2, and the gopher/strela AA missle carrier).
most of the hatches open, the detail is ok ( not as bad as some of zvezdas stuff) .
there is plenty of refs. out on the internet and you can check out MINIARM, they make track links and wheels for it.
anything else you need, drop me a line.
I have some photos of an iraqi specimen and a SNAR model as well.
again, just ask.
jh

Sent you a PM...

Oh yeah, for Pierre -

In case you missed it, here is a build log of the SKIF SA-13, based on the MT-LB. I don't know what happened to Jurjen's progress, but it might give you some ideas.

Uncritical review with sprue shots

http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/skif/kit_skif_mtlb.shtml

Slightly more critical review without photos

http://www.track-link.net/reviews/k613

David