I've seen it for sale at Hobby Lobby. Does it happen to be one of those good kits (like their M47) that aren't famous?

Good kits? The “Love Bug” is a “classic kit” that’s for sure. To my knowledge, Monogram never released an M47, unless you’re thinking of the Revell-Monogram retread of the old Renwal M47 kit. The M48 is ok for a beginner, or as a “for fun” kit, or nostalgia. With a lot of work it’s pretty decent, but there are more modern kits by other manufacturers like Tamiya, Revell, or even (choke) Dragon.
VR, Russ

No, not really. It has all the detail parts molded on and is not very crisp on details. It is 1950s mold technology. It can be improved using newer parts from more modern M48s (Tamiya or Dragon), but needs most of its parts replaced.

It's not bad for its day. Main details that need replacing are on the fender, the cast on stowage rails on the turret, and the headlight clusters. Obviously the wheels could be replaced, but then you might as well get a more expensive kit. The track is very noticeably inaccurate, with the end connectors on the end of the track links rather than between them. You MIGHT possibly get some Tamiya rubber band tracks from someone who used aftermarket track. And you'll definitely want to cover that mantlet. Well worth the price if you use Hobby Lobby's perpetual 40% off coupon.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll find something more expensive then.

Try the Tamiya kit. Avoiding building that three piece hull is worth the price of admission.

Ultimately it boils down to what you want to build. The old Monogram kit has a different engine deck and cupola.

??? Don't the Monogram (M48A2) and Tamiya (M48A3) kits both have the IR suppressing deck?

KL

Hi Kurt, not sure what an IR suppressing deck is, but the A2 used a different (but fairly similar-looking) engine deck lid casting to the later A3, as well as slightly different side grilles because it did not have the A3 air-filter boxes. These parts were altered for the A3 due to the change-over to diesel power, and are just different enough to bug my AMS tendencies.

But if you want an A2 the best bet is either the DML Magach 1&2 kit, or the Magach 3 kit, as these have the A2 deck parts in them! (In fact, they have all the engine-deck parts for an A1, A2, or A3 hull!) And they are much, much better M48s, as befits half a century of improvement in the hobby.

I'm building the old Monogram M48A2 for the Shep Paine Tribute campaign, but it's purely nostalgia - I'd give the kit a swerve if I was looking for modern details or accuracy. But these oldies make good test-beds for trying out new paint techniques if you get 'em cheap enough!

Revell: Better than Monogram, cheaper than the ones by Dragon but the ones by Dragon are better:
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/11792

http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/modern/revell03206reviewcs_1.html

Back in the day (probably around 10-15 years ago) I utilised a Monogram kit to make a Bundeswehr A2; I had a little help such as filching the searchlight box and smoke dischargers from the long defunct Lo Models conversion set, but it was an opportunity - not that I had much option - to bring to bear those skills such as detailing with plastic card (fenders), stretched sprue (fender reinforcements) brass rod (grab handles) and Milliput (mantlet cover), even thin wire for all sorts of extra details.

I was pleased enough with the result; I recall I used some Tamiya M48 tracks - these days I'd probably go for the AFV Club separate links, but to me it was actually quite fun to get the most from it. I set it off with a Bundeswehr crew modified from the Dragon LAH at Kursk set - more Milliput and fuse wire!

Robin recommends the Revell kit but they do come with - to me - a horrible overdone "pebbly" finish on the turret and hull; I still have a spare Monogram kit in the stash and my plan now is to use a Revell kit as a donor to produce a US tank; both models are pretty cheap so I don't feel I've lost out here. Some of the above practices may still be needed but I get great satisfaction from modifying and detailing older kits.

Brian

I didn't recommend them as such, I linked to two reviews which both comment on the overdone cast surface, especially when there is a cast surface on parts made of rolled steel which should be smooth.

The kit is from 1957. It's way more work than it's worth.
Track link connectors don't connect the track links. They are centered on the blocks instead of in between them, The tires on the road wheels are too thick, making the wheels appear oversize. The drive sprockets are molded onto cylindrical drums, whereas the real drivers had tapering conical sections with a pair of rims either side of the track center, to guide the track teeth. The shock absorbers are molded onto the hull sides. Spare track links are molded onto the fenders, as are the shovel and other tools. The headlight and headlight guard are molded as a a solid chunk, and the lenses are raised styrene cylinders. The turret hatches have oversize, workable hinges. The stowage rails are depicted as raised rectangles on the surface of the turret. No casting texture of any kind. Periscopes are all molded closed. The cupola windows are solid green styrene, and there is no window detail on the inside of the commander's hatch. Exhaust grills are very thick, and tail light details are chunky.