Shape is fine. The issue is with the height of the hull. Tamiya used a museum tank for its measurements. The tank they used had been stripped of its interior; engine, transmission and crew compartments. This takes quite a bit of weight off the tank and it allows the suspension to rise up. The Tamiya suspension needs to be lowered about 2.5mm to be correct.
Here is a link to an article that explains the tweaks you can do on the kit.
http://www.msnusers.com/armorama/Documents/Tamiya%20M48A3%20Tweak%20List%2Edoc
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