well, I have to admit, Studebaker is one ugly looking truck.. but the model is nicely done.
as for the shields, there are hinges on top of them, so I guess it should be possible to open them.. and I don't think we'll see the Kate on Zis-5, it is just a different platform for the same weapon and it was replaced by this one later in the war which is the current focus of the devs regarding EF
Don't say we wont see 1941-42 maps. They were important years so we have to see maps from those years!
Ill throw a question to the devs: Whats so hard with the early maps? The only difference to late war maps is this: The vehicles were like t-26, t-28, panzer 2, 3 and 4 etc. I understand that mapping is hard but why couldn't you make maps from all those years from 1941 to 1945. Not just focusing to one period. Time shows what we see in EF.