I am doing a past and present build theme of of China and other major tank Producing countries China is next on my list
the theme is past and present tanks have to be produced in the country I already have a type 99 (ZTZ99 ) but for the past i was thinking about a Type 59 or is there another tank that preceded the type 59
as for as the Type 59 can one be built from Tamiya's T55?

Hi;

Chinese Tanks that they made in the past is hard to ident; some were copies of Soviet Design for the most part.
Other than what you already listed, the type 54 as for MBTs, some other types were the type/54 ! They made A foray into the export with the type/85 for there own use they made the ZTZ series with the 96,& 2000 !! The ZTZ series were more linked to the T-72 with A longer Hull ! Your Best choice would be the Miniart Type/59

CHEERS; MIKE.

There are several Type 59 kits available from Miniart and Takom, so there is no need for a conversion. And Hobby Boss just released a brand new version.