Tamiya’s new kits have the best fit I have seen. You can leave the putty in the drawer when you build a newer Tamiya kit, but you will have to pay $$$ for that advantage.
I recently purchased the Dragon Panther G for $15.00. Dragon’s panther has many details that Tamiya just left off and for less than half the price. True, Dragon’s fit is usually not as good and the builds are a bit fussier than Tamiya’s, but from what I have seen, the detail is usually better. Plus, Dragon has come out with a LOT more goodies for us to build lately.
I also recently got through building the AFV Club M10. I don’t know much about allied vehicles, but from what I could tell, the kit had superb detail, and even came with an aluminum barrel, working suspension, and working gun recoil. It was a fussy build though.
In conclusion, if you are looking for an easy kit to build with good detail and don’t mind paying extra for it, go for Tamiya. If you are looking for the best detailed kit, I would suggest Dragon. Plus you will have enough money left over for a sheet of PE and maybe even an aluminum barrel as well.
just my $0.02