M48A3 by Tamiya

Great kit. One of Tamiya's early bests. I have heard that it sits about 3 scale inches too high. Lowering the road wheel arms by about 4 mm is the fix. I have one straight from the box and it looks great.

I does build into a nice kit. The Tamiya chevron pattern tracks have the center guides (guide teeth) on the middle of a track block and not straddling two adjacent blocks.
If you use the shark teeth, I've never been able to get the two decal halves to meet without a gap. Paint the seam red to cover up the gap prior to applying the decal (if you make this variant).

Thanks guys. I will keep all that in mind. Should probably finish my LAV-25 before I open the Patton!!

I agree this is one of Tamiya's better offerings from the 80s. The suggestion regarding the suspension is correct also. I get the feeling Tamiya took its measurements for the kit from a tank without anything in it... including the engine! That's the only thing I can think of for the suspension being so high. Also you need to fill the gap between the gun mantlet and the turret. They give you a nicely molded covered mantlet, but you need to fill that space. I have used facial tissue moistened with diluted white glue to make this cover. It's a little tricky but it looks good. You could also use Miliput to sculpt the cover as well; this takes more time. Either way you end up with a gun that won't move, so be sure you have it posed the way you want it to stay.