RichJohnson

If you want to build it as an accurate model I can walk you through all the really awesome detail upgrades to do to it to make it look right. It will cost you probably another 100-150 bucks or so from shapeways and East Coast Armory to detail it out properly. Tamiya really left alot to be desired with that tank model. Its a great place to start, but they just didnt do it right. Just please, do not follow the instructions and glue the tamiya brand K rats boxes on the side of the tank, it looks so horribly dumb.

Here are some pictures of the M51 I helped my friend properly detail out. You will notice the changed out rear deck, very easy to do if you have any model skills at al. Then the barrel travel lock on the rear, the stowage basket, the tool boxes on the sides, the proper jerry can racks (HL), and if you look beneath he scratch an engine door properly and scratch made the infantry call box on the rear. Note the spot light as well as well as the spare wheels are mounted on proper brackets available.
All these details take the model from looking very plain to very detailed.