also I found the skinned mesh improvement mod on this (Russian?) website https://modgames.net/load/fallout_new_vegas/sushhestva/skinned-mesh-improvement-mod-smim-creatures/216-1-0-25763
I started a few days ago, and was having the same issues as ozyman. I got all the files together now, but the game was crashing a few seconds into loading if I enabled the STEP conflict resolution patch. It had all the masters and was sorted. Through trial and error I narrowed it down to Creature -> Pack Brahmin (0014CF65) in the STEP patch. If I deleted it in xedit the game would load.