Tamiya
3018

In spite of what the big print on the box says, this is indeed an M4A3E8. I built this kit with my son in 1999 or 2000, and it's for this purpose the kit is best suited. It does bear a passing resemblance to an "Easy Eight" to the easy eight-year-old. I built most of the suspension and he did the rest. There are not too many parts and they are all easy to work with.

If you still see this on the shelf, it's probably overpriced ($28 in 1999) for what you actually get in the box, but it possibly would be a more enjoyable build for the youngster than taking on a DML or even Academy kit. And if it's going to command a carpeted battlefield, it's clunkiness will stand up to abuse better.

A good version of this tank for the serious model is the M4A3E8 Sherman "Major Albin F. Irzyk" available from DML.

-tss-