History

The Russian military industry has developed numerous upgrade packages for the old T-55s. These are sold to Third World states and others who need a modern tank fleet but haven’t the money to buy a new T-80 or T-90.

The T-55 M5/M6 package was developed in the late 90's. It uses the new "Kontakt 5" ERA, new fire control system, a thermal gun sleeve, new road wheels and some other upgrades. Rumors claim that the M6 version uses the 125mm main gun. All these should give the old T-55 firepower and protection equal to the T-80.

Contents

The AEF kit contains 29 pieces of grey resin plus a complete set of T-72 six-spoke wheels. The overall quality is good. There are some big and some small air-bubbles but these are easy to fill.

The conversion kit contains a new, reworked Tamiya T-55 turret with the Kontakt 5 ERA, the new gunsight and the reworked commander's and loader's copula. Other parts are the side skirts for the 902 Tucha smoke discharger system, the new NSVT gun, a new wind-sensor and some minor parts for the storage boxes, the 100mm thermal sleeved main gun and other things. The instruction sheet is clear but it doesn't contain any information on building the NSVT machine gun.

While inspecting the parts I found several faults:

1. The side skirts are as thick are as hull armour plate and the detail is very simple.
2. The main gun is 12mm too short according to my references.
3. The Tucha smoke dischargers are in my opinion unusable.
4. The NSVT and the loaders hatch are very simple.
5. The T-72 wheels are not correct for this tank as the diameter of the T-55 wheels is bigger than those on the T-72.

The only parts I found useful are the turret and the frontal Kontakt 5 ERA.

Advantage
* Good basis for an impressive looking conversion.

Disadvantage :
* Numerous faults.
* Quality is sometimes a problem.
* No parts for the upper rear side skirts.
* The NSVT machine gun is best replaced with a better one e.g. from DML or Zvezda T-72.

Conclusion
It is hard to rate this set because I like this T-55M6 and I'm happy that someone make conversion for this impressive tank, yet the quality and casting of the kit does not match other resin producers like CMK, Panzershop, or New Connection. After all, I like this set but it requires a lot of work to make a complete and proper T-55M5/M6.