Best WWII Tank Models?

Fair enough: very good options are:

Stug III ausf G, early production: DML 6320 

StuG III F/8 DML 6644

 Basically anything from 2012 onward.   There are older DML kits that aren't that builder friendly.  Ask before purchasing, I'd say.

Alternatively,  Tamiya's StuG III G is great too (kit 35197) or StuG III Ausf B (35281) 

Fair enough, I tried to narrow it down a bit more from previous broad questions I've seen before, but obviously not enough so.

After some thought, I've decided that I'd like to start with a StuG, and being the person that I am, I'd like something a bit more challenging, so something with more detail is preferred.

Since you're a beginner in 1/35 tank models, let me make these suggestions of accurate and easy to build models.  

Tamiya 35346 M4A3E8 Sherman tank 

Tamiya 35350 M10 Tank Destroyer

Tamiya 35254 M26 Pershing tank

Tamiya 35219 Willys Jeep

Tamiya 35213 Kubelwagen

Tamiya 35345 Panther ausf D

Tamiya 35340 Jagdpanzer IV L/70

Tamiya 39292 Panzer II B/C tank

Under no circumstances should you ever buy Tamiya 35065 Panther A -- one of the worst kits still being made.  Easily available.  Dog. Dog. Dog.

Some good advice from the others. As far as German armour goes, on average, and as Rob says, you can't make a generlisation as all companies have good and bad, i would suggest dragon and AFV club for detail. But with Dragon especilaly, be prepared for some headbanging as some of their instructions can be confuseing and they have lots of unused parts. Its hard to go wrong with Tamiya. Generally not as detailed, they will ahve one part where Dragon wil have 5 or 6, but much easier to build and still look good.

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Asuka (formerly Tasca) is likely best bet for Sherman tank family, though Tamiya of late has come out with some nice American subjects.

For German, you will have to ask about specific vehicles, or look up reviews.  David Byrden has kept a pretty up to date list on Tiger I kits, offering suggested fixes:

http://tiger1.info/kits.html

regards,

Jack

Here's a place to start. http://www.cybermodeler.com/reviews.shtml  

This site has kit reviews that you can look up based on subject or manufacturer. It also has a lot of reference photos as well

Definitely narrow down to subject matter. Sometimes there are multiples of the same subject out, with the pros and cons listed above. Sometimes there is only one game in town on that subject in that scale so the choice is made for you. 

M4 Sherman, lots of choices in 1:35.

M22 Locust, only one out there in 1:35.

This question gets asked every week...and gets the same answers every week. what is "best" depends on what you want.  Do you want a kit that goes together easy? That is accurate? That has the most detail?  It all depends on the subject.  Kit A of of the subject might be the easiest to build.  Kit B it of the same subject might me more detailed but harder to build. Kit Cit of the same subject might be more accurate.  Rarely do you get all 3 in the same kit.  All manufacturers have decent kits as well as terrible ones.  It depends on the kit.  You will get better answers if you pick a particular subject then ask a more specific question.

For ease of assembly, you can't go wrong with Tamiya. Problems that you'll encounter with their products are fittings for electric motors and such, and on the Shermans, some have open spaces above the tracks in the sponsons which have to be blanked over with sheet styrene (an easy fix). 

AFV Club's tanks are nice as well and have one piece rubber tracks which can be a plus if you don't like to do individual links. Academy's models are easy to assemble and some have interiors (check accuracy with the Stuart!). I also found some shape problems with the M18 and would go with AFV Club if you want a Hellcat. 

Hope this helps. 

Ron