Hey folks. I’m a bit late to the draw but I finally got around to building the Hobby Boss Type 59-1 kit. Here she is, ready for primer. I did a bad job with the tie-downs in the rear of the turret, I will be hiding that with a bit of stowage later.
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Looking good.
I might have missed it earlier in the tread. What scheme and markings are you going for? A lot of choices for this version I think as it was widely exported.
Looks fantastic Nigel.
Thanks Jesper and Peter. There seems to be not a lot of info on the Type 59-I actually. It was a modernization of the Chinese Type-59 and received an improved gun with a laser range finder. I don’t think they saw service out of China and there aren’t many photos of it. The Hobby Boss seems to be missing a few parts to properly build the 59-I though - there ought to be some IR/Night Vision headlamps on the left fender.
Anyway. I managed to lay down some paint and decals on her the other evening. Will weather soon. Apologies for the rushed photo
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I think the Type 59 has been used in Iraq and in Africa. But I could be wrong.
In any case your scheme with the bring red/yellow star looks very nice - looking forward to see more.
The basic Type-59 and many of their derivatives was extensively exported indeed. However, the Type 59-I and II seem to be only used by the Chinese 
quite a bit of progress on the Miniart t54-2 1949 this weekend. Turret interior weathered, upper turret added to lower (leaving roof off to see “some” detail… dont know if I will get any more done before the Christmas break (lose modelling area for all of December) but next is the second run of tracks… also included some better shots of the hull interior
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And I’m done! This was a no fuss quick build, with only a few fit issues here and there. I could live with the missing IR headlights on the left fender too. Added tarp made from rolled up tissue paper to hide the bad job I did with the tie-down straps at the rear of the turret.
Hobby Boss 1/35 Chinese Type 59-I. Thanks for looking! I might do another T-55 soon if I get a hold of a Takom kit
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Looks great, Well done!
Rob, very nice job on the interior!
James, very nice build! Congrats on finishing!
A question about my T-54 for the forgotten wars build (looking forward to getting started on my T-55 for this build) and hoping someone here knows. I ordered Eureka cables for both. The cable is a little longer than the one in the mini-art kit. I don’t know who is right, or if they both might be right - were the cables a standard length? (Now, I’m not sure it matters much really, but curious).
Phil, Eureka give you a bit of extra cable in case you need it. Most manufacturers that do separate ends and cable do.
I usually put a cable end in place with a bit of twine taped or Blu-Tac’d to the outside to hold it in place Then I place the other cable end in place and tape the twine onto that. Then using a felt tip pen, mark the twine where it touches the inside end of the of the cable ends. That gives you the inside length. Now slip the eureka cable in the cable end end and mark that. Place the end of the cable onto the twine and mark from the original twine mark back out by the length of the cable mark on both ends. Now you have the full measurement the cable needs to be to fit inside the ends and fit your kit.
most likely the last build session of the year sees me end with this on the Miniart 1/35 T54-2 (plus both track runs)… new year should see the final details added then time for painting (aim next year is to (1) clean my airbrushes and (2) get more proficient at using my airbrushes)…
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Okay, managed to get the first light coat of primer down. Was hoping to be able to paint more on the weekend, but SWMBO had other plans for us.
The Aber barrel looks great:
@phil2015 I used the technique I mention above to measure the cable for this build.
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Posting the start pic for my Polish T-55.
I’m not actually starting on it really, just putting together enough to see how the gun assembly attaches to the turret. The gun on the T-54 I’m building for Forgotten Wars wasn’t straight. I managed to maneuver it so that it was but the turret was all sealed up before I noticed so putting together enough to make sure the gun is straight on the T-55 and figuring out what I did wrong. Won’t do much beyond that on it until the new year.
These kits really are beasts. There are so many sprues. But I loved building the T-54 and am looking forward to the T-55. I could see doing a lot of these.
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I have a love hate relationship with the T-55 series. Have built 3-4 all tedious fiddily builds but in the end they look great. did the Polish production as an Iraqi vehicle captured and used by the Iranians. The Libyan scheme is the coolest but they don’t give all the decals for the Arabic script. Good luck.
Nice choice, Phil.
I am probably going exactly the other direction and digging out an old 1/35 ESCI T-55.
My clamps had a good workout today but the hull is all together. When I built the T-54 I had trouble on the joins on the back deck and it was hard to apply clamps because of having the running gear on already, so this time I put all of the hull bits together except for the little bits that stick out and are destined for being knocked off. There are a couple of small joins where I will add a little plastic putty to make them not look quite so far apart, but overall it’s in good shape.
Next up is the running gear. I have the wheels all put together and sanded. I guess I need to get my hands on some Friul tracks. Does anyone know if they fit the mini-art kits? I would like to use the new t-rex offering but who knows how long it will be for them to make it to these parts.
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