Time. It's a b**ch.
Here's where I finished up today. I had hoped to get the road wheels on but as the astute observer will, ummmm, observe I had to re-engineer the mounting of the front sprockets after I lost a part to the great god PING!. I also had to find one axle to replace the one that wasn't in the sealed bag and a second one to use instead of the supplied too long one that proved immune to my pincers (it was easier than looking for a hacksaw with a blade that didn't support Collingwood or Richmond* and then skinning my knuckles using the vice).
*ie one that wasn't missing any teeth.

T-80 AEV WIP 08-06-2019 03 by
Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
It's as much a scale thing as anything else. In 1/48, that level of detail is good; in 1/35, armour modellers prefer the hatches, etc., to have the appropriate gaps & the suspension to look reasonably accurate (even if it is hidden behind a skirt - kinda like girls back in the 1940's/50's
).
Maybe. But the other 1/48 armour kits in my stash (Hobby Boss and Tamiya) have more separate parts and less moulded detail. Having it all moulded in is great for a fast build like this one but not so good if you are doing a serious kit bash.
I would quite like to build a Stug type tank destroyer from the Kitech T-72 I got from the nice man

at the same time as this one but cutting the hull down is going to be tricky with all that stuff moulded in place.
While putting this together I was musing what good tank country the Hay Plain is. Victorian armoured forces could cross the Murray at Robinvale and then sweep North and East into New South Wales.