I know Iraq used a number of Chinese tanks in the Desert Storm war, but I am not sure which specific types. Hobby Boss makes the whole range of Type 59s I know.
During the 1980s, China sold hundreds of Type 59 (T54A copy) and Type 69 (Type 59 upgraded to T62 standards) MBTs to Iraq. By the Persian Gulf War of 1990 and 1991, western analysts claim that Iraq had upgraded some Type 69s with a 105 mm gun, a 60 mm mortar, and a 125 mm gun with an auto-loader. All of them were reinforced with frontal layer armor welded on the glacis plate. All these versions were known as Type 69-QMs.
The question was about Chinese tanks. The T-55 is Russian/Soviet produced, upgraded to the âEnigmaâ by Iraq, so not Chinese.
Correct, Iraqi army used Chinese Type-59 and Type-69II tanks during the Gulf War and also Iraq-Iran war prior to this.
According to NORINCO, Iraq signed up for 2800 Type-69II in May,1981 and all were delivered by 1984. Additional 280 units are ARV/Engineering vehicles based on the Type-69II chassis, known as the industrial designation of WZ-653.
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I never saw any of those where we were.
There were only 1 or 2 examples of the enigma tank.
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Sorry, but that is incorrect. There are at least 4 Enigma in museums, and even MiniArt has two kits, one based on a Russian built T-55 and the other Polish built. At least 5 were built, and possibly as many as 10.
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I saw one on the roadside near the Kuwait-Saudi border.
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I donât think youâd want to recommend that kit to anyone 
Itâs from about 25 years ago, when, if Iâm not mistaken, they were moulded in ABS rather than polystyrene, and you got a little tube of ABS cement in the box so you could actually put the kit together
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Iâm going for the Hobby Boss Type 59, I donât like Trumpeter or Takom kits.
LOL!
Sorry
Hobby Boss is part of the same parent company as Trumpeter. Compare kits by the two (and by I 
Kit) and youâll see theyâre very similar in parts breakdown, moulding quality, instructions, etc.
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This is not true for the Type 59. Hobby Boss has made entirely new tools of T-54, Type 59 and Type 59D in recent years, nothing to do with the obsolete T-54/55/type59/69/79/80/85/96 family of Trumpeter. Probably Trumpeter created the Hobby Boss mark when she had to produce new kits of Type 96 and 99, to avoid confusion with the earlier Trumpeter kits that were of very bad quality.
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Later Trumpeter kits are better than the earlier ones but that is not saying much.
I didnât mean to suggest that the Hobby Boss T-54 etc. kits are the same as the Trumpeter ones. What I meant is âI donât like Trumpeterâ probably means you (thatâs a generic âyouâ) also wonât like Hobby Boss kits.
The remark about comparing kits is, again, intended as a general comparison, not of these specific kits.
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I have the Hobby Boss Type 59 on the workbench. Itâs a decent kit - accurate, with good fit and with some nice details. You can see the parts here:
PLA Type-59 Medium Tank Early Hobby Boss 84539
I think thereâs a certain amount of âbrand-biasâ that goes on which doesnât take account of the fact that manufuacturers often improve their products over time; and even the âbestâ manufacturers make mistakes which people often overlook because they assume they are the best or get dazzled by the number of PE parts or whatever reason.
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I have the Takom T 69 and it appears to be a good kit. Each company had its turds. Companies that consistently put out good kits build a following. I like RFM as a consistent company. Tamiya (not the reboxed offerings) is another consistent company. All kits should be vetted before you buy. I have gotten good, consistent responses when I ask about kits before I buy. I sometimes laugh at what we grumble about some kits today. I started building kits in the 60âs and todays bad kits are better than the kits I started with.
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From people I know on Facebook,there was never any Type 59 tanks used by nether Iraq or Iran during the 1980âs.Just Type 69 tanks only.
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Thatâs a quote from 1982, and aside from the bit about clockwork motors that I deleted, its sentiment is still spot-on today
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