I remember years ago seeing the instruction sheet for Italeri's M47 Patton tank kit, and remember there were decals for US< French, Italian, and West German versions, There must have been more differences between the different versions of this tanks besides markings though. Also, the US replaced this tank with the M48 quickly (from what I read in Wikipedia), but other nations held it for a bit longer.

The early tanks were rushed to US troops to replace the M26 and M46 tanks in service in Europe (units in Korea got them much later), and they differ in some details from Italeri's, which is based on a late Italian Army tank.

Early versions had some minor differences. The periscope guards were the same type as used on World War Two tanks, while the (rather heavy) plastic guards in the Italeri kit depict the more complex final version. The commander's periscope was likewise protected by a similar but larger wire guard, while the Italeri kit depicts the sheet metal surround and top cover for the commander's periscope seen on later tanks. The baggage racks on the turret side were simpler originally, being simple sections of metal rod bent into a squared off U shape, then bent at the ends to provide welding surface to weld to the turret sides. Some late tanks feature welded rain gutters on the turret sides.

The shape of the rubber track chevron was simplified and beefed up on the late tracks (as included in the kit) because the small dogleg on the outer corners of the original pattern kept breaking off during turns. AFV Club offers the original pattern.

Eduard's photo etch set missed an opportunity, as their designers couldn't decide if the wanted to do an early or late pattern tank, and they have a mixture of early and late parts, meaning you can't build any one correct tank using their update. It does offer the otherwise hard to depict headlight guards, though.

In addition to the manufacturing differences stated by Gerald, there were numerous changes made by the users over time. The extent of the changes increases, over time as you might expect with some of the last in-service vehicles I think sporting 105mm guns and new engines (Turkey comes to mind, but I'm not sure).

You need to pick a time and a user to have a chance at fixing the actual configuration of the M47. The French M47s used for Operation Musketeer (Suez, 1956) had changes and a rack added to the rear engine deck.

HTH

Paul