I recently picked up an Eastern Express KV-85 that I am looking forward to putting together. I have never built any of their models so I do not know what to expect. My experience has been primarily with Tamiya.

There does seem to be some amount of plastic 'flashing" on some of the parts that I am not accustomed to. I am however pleased that the tracks are the one piece vinyl like Tamiya. I have not taken to individual track links, even though they show more realism if done right.

Anyone have any experience with Eastern Express models that they can share? Any recommendations in building them?

The KV-85 is not a bad kit. A few sinkholes, and lots of flash on the suspension sprues, but the detail is generally good. The bolt detail on the drive wheels is a little weak. The biggest disappointment was the tracks, but even they are not too bad. It'll depend on your luck, on one the holes have a bit of flash around each one, on another no flash at all. These are very hard to clean up as there are so many of them. Take another look at your tracks. I think you'll find they are two piece.
In general the quality of EE kits is about the same-accurate but soft. They do make a lot of kits otherwise unavailable, like the BTR-152 series, which are actually pretty good kits.

I also HAD the KV 85.I noticed much of the same flash as you have.I was not too happy with it,I recommend carefully dry fitting everything before you commit to glue.The tracks are stiff,you may have sag issues.

Although I do not have this kit,what others have said is that it is not Tamiya -like style.Flash,sinkholes,some fit problems,and possibly more than a few instruction mysterys :-) . The GAZ-AA and AAA kits are ex Toko mold pops and are of very good quality.Still,dry fit and study of the instruction's logic is the rule.
cheers!

The engine deck needs some mesh for the engine air intakes--Eduard has done a nice little set for those who just want the screens (the cheapest set has mesh but no mounting frames, but the next set up has the mounting frames). It's intended for the Trumpeter KV-1 kit, but will work equally well on the Eastern Express KV-85 version. Speaking of the Trumpeter kits, they come with two sets of tracks, a nice link and length styrene set and a very flexible vinyl set, so if you pick one up, you can use the spares to dress up your EE kit. As for comparisons, Trumpeter and Eastern Express offer most of the same versions (and hopefully Trumpeter will complete their series with a KV-1S and a KV-85). The prices are similar, but Trumpeter's accuracy and tooling are really amazing, while the EE kits are pretty rough. The Eastern Express kit hulls are also about a quarter inch shorter than the Trumpeter kits, and the Tankograd 1/35th plans support the Chinese kits. Still, it is almost unnoticeable, and for now, if you want a KV-1S, KV-85 or SU-152, Eastern Express is the only choice available.

my son built this same model ,and others by eastern express ,mainly ,because they can be found on ebay ,and their price ,isn't thru the roof,it took him awhile to clean up the flashing ,model went together real nice ,painted it the standard dk. green ,and then dry brushed a well worn whitewash ,came out super!,i'd add some pics ,but dont no how.but those D#m tracks ,thier bad!! they are two piece tracks,thick and heavy looking ,and quite stiff ,he's hoping to remove these vinyl tracks ,replacing them with individual track links.

I have the SU-152 and a variety of other EE kits. Depending on the kit, they can be excellnt or so-so. Details are generally accurate and good, but can be soft.

Tracks are a pain...the advice to replace them with Trumpeter KV tracks is VERY GOOD.

Otherwise, it should be a fun build with a bit more challenge than a Tamiya "shake and bake". :-)