Hi avuo. I have done the British Challenger 2 lately. What I did was assemble the main turret and the hull before I painted it.
Here's the link to my previous work if you want to check it.
http://www.geocities.com/ddta_ala/BC2.htm
As for the dio, you can make one depicting a NATO exercise, tank with crews at rest, tank halted with crew trying to check directions on the map...actually there are lots of possibilities.
Good luck.