Im an armor newb as well. I have the Dragon M1A1 AIM in the stash and it is a beaut, really cant wait to get working on it. Its a fairly recent release and has some really nice detail. Tamiyas kits should also be very nice, and probably a lot easier to build too.

Armorama Dragon M1A1 AIM review

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=1911