I got all excited when I saw it come out in the hobby stores in the eighties. But I noticed after a few months that the same stores started putting them and the T-80 kit on sale. When they were about 4 dollars snagged a couple. At the same time ERTL started marketing T-72s and those were on sale also.
I finally started gluing the thing together. Alot of sanding was required. Suffice it to say that most of them ended up being wrecks in Desert Storm dioramas. The ESCI kit can be purchased for the same price and will give you a better build, after fixing the fuel tanks, engine deck etc.
Overall the reviews are not too kind to pre-Tamiya T-55 kits. ESCI is probably the best, Trumpeter has problems but at least includes Chinese and Iraqi versions, dozer blades, mine rollers, etc. From what I understand the worst is the SKIF version T-55A(M). However if the hull is easily fixed there are certainly plenty of conversion sets out there, like A.E.F. Designs. Twelve bucks plus a cheapo resin AM scored on Ebay would put you in the price range of the Tamiya kit, though those tracks will have to go....