The Type 59 is a Chinese built version of the T-54A, the Soviet Union’s Cold War medium tank. More than 10,000 were built between 1959 and 1980 and it saw combat across the world including in the Vietnam War, Gulf War, the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, Iran-Iraq War, as well as in Sudan and the Congo.
HobbyBoss’ latest version of the tank represents the modernized Type 59-1 with an improved cannon and laser range finder.
With a bathtub-style hull and 330 parts — excluding 186 individual track links — the kit builds easily.
Assembly starts with the body and moves quickly. I ran into an issue fitting the rear plate (Part No. E12). It seems to be just a bit short and produces a small gap where it meets the engine deck. Fortunately, it was easy to hide.
The running gear and main body built smoothly and with no real issues.
The individual-link tracks needed little cleanup, fit well, and went together quickly, so don't let them scare you away from the model.
The only modification I made to the model was to the unditching log that goes on the rear hull. The kit part is perfectly smooth, so I added texture by dragging the teeth of a razor saw along its length. The finesse of the scale thin brush guards for the headlights and gas lines impressed me and the parts fit precisely.
Turret detail includes beautifully molded cast texture, a slide-molded, single-part barrel, and plenty of scale thin grab handles and other small details. Fit for these parts was great and I had the turret together in no time.
There’s a discrepancy in the color instructions with the hull color called out as Tamiya No. XF-20, a medium gray. Instead, I matched photos with a mix of Tamiya dark green (No. XF-26) and a little wooden deck tan (No. XF-78). The decals laid down over a little clear gloss.
I spent about 15 hours building and painting HobbyBoss’ Type 59 and can easily recommend it to anyone with a couple of kits under their belt.