I say build on
The replica haters, IMO, are a very short-sighted bunch. As shocking as it seems... WW2 will be 100 years ago before we know it. Bovington no longer runs their original WW1 tanks out of fear of damaging irreplaceable parts.
WW2 tanks have superior metallurgy and engineering which will keep them running longer than their predecessors but lack of spares will eventually park them all without new-production components. The very original, rare tanks will likely gather dust in museums and the more common ones will continue with increasing amounts reproduction parts. At what point is it no longer "grandad's axe"?
And let's not forget the cost factor... when I was a teenager (had I known in early internet days) I could have bought a tank project for the price of low-end used car. Now as I barely approach middle-age people want 100k for shot-up wrecks and nice tanks cost more than most people's homes.
For people like me in the USA we also have a geographical disadvantage. There are very slim pickings here... the US for the most part didn't bring back any tanks or spares... getting projects from Europe has become prohibitively expensive. When I first started project shopping, getting a container shipped from Europe was 6-8k, last time I looked it was 20k. Even I was to obtain one of the "scrap-price wrecks for the brave restorer" I'd probably be looking at 30k before it even got to my shop. How much of a Swiss-cheese wreck would actually make it into a finished restoration?
I'm doing my best to try take some of the heat off of you buy starting my own replica build... I've spent the last 3 years working to obtain documentation from archives in half a dozen countries.