I got the Hobby Boss Type 59 and remembered how when I was a boy and heard about China invading Vietnam in 1979, and got the idea that now Vietnam was about to really suffer. Ironically, the kit, though made in China, shows several marking versions but not what was used in which year or action. Anybody know what the proper one was?
That was he Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979.
The Vietnamese were still fresh from winning the Vietnam War against us, so they had tons of leftover American equipment that they put to good use defeating the Chinese PLA.
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These pics are a Type 62 light tank.
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but the markings all right. Type series tanks used same markings.
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It also helped that the PLA was still weakened from the Cultural Revolution. Thanks for the info.
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Anti-commie VietNamese here. The answer is yes and no. Yes their did invaded my country but pushed back north after one month, with very high casualties on both sides. They open that operation mainly for help their ally Khmer Rouge who struggling with PAVN in the south.
No. There are no Type-59 recorded in that war. PLA only mobilized their Yun Nan & Guang Xi army sections for the operation, and due the fights are ocurred on high, mountainous area of northern Viet Nam, only small and light vehicles are suitable. Chinese used their T-62s, when VietNamese used PT-76s and T-34/85s. The main fleet of our T-54, Type-59 , captured M-41, M-48 still fighting in the south with Khmer Rouge and cannot quickly deploy to the north, and a small reserve number of them deployed around the capital city of Ha Noi to protect it, incase the PLA break through the northern defense
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Great information, thanks!
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Indeed, great info there. Also welcome along to the forum.
I believe, as you mentioned, the PLA had developed a plan for a mass assault (Armor and infantry) on Hanoi but their initial set-backs in the invasion made them realise that they would suffer extremely heavy casualties if they attempted it.
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Thank you for the information, Ryu. Very helpful. 
And welcome to the forum. 
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Welcome from me too. BTW I did read in a book about the PLA that even though their ground invasion failed, they still caused a lot of trouble for several years afterward simply by firing artillery over the border. Wonder what they used and how it worked.
Skirmishes along the border continued until 1991. Some pictures from the 1980s. (All Chinese forces- I’ve never been able to find pictures of the PAVN forces from this period.)
This one I have no info for, but I think it is PLA Special Forces during the 80s.
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You can see the Type 56-2 clearly on the hands of the PLA commando in the back, but the one in the front is a bit trickier. Is probably a Type 85 submachine gun, chambered in 7.62x25 Tokarev.
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I think I just saved these and kind of forgot about them until reading this thread. Never even noticed the odd shaped gun in the foreground!
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I actually gave the rifle in the background a second look… Not a Type 56-2…
Look at the rifle in the image and compare it to the image below:
It has features that more closely resemble a Type 56 carbine (SKS-M), which is an SKS designed to use standard AK47 magazines. I was not aware that they were military issued.
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Note that the reciever, the rear sight block/trunnion are different that the usual AK style. Also the cut out at the top of the top cover, and the bolt carrier are different. My thought is that it’s a Type 81-1 rifle.
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Indeed, I think you’ve got that spot-on @35thScale_Bro.
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Thought you guys might appreciate this photo.
I think it is a staged photo (no helmets, clean hands, faces, uniforms and suitably ‘determined’ looking poses) but the weapons are interesting- a Type 56 carbine (SKS copy), a Type 56 assault rifle with the original production wooden stock and the LMG version in the foreground.
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Should we assume China used tanks as artillery? Both sides did that during the Korean War. It would be neat if a Type 59-2 was used this way, a relief from all the “Tank Man” depictions.