Parts are missing from the trail legs..

We happened to be in Lille, France on the way back from visiting the Ardennes battlefields the other week, and hey, it's got a proper model shop near the Musee de Beaux Arts! Of course I had to go in, and didn't get out unscathed, but managed to keep it down to this gun kit.
Now I've put it together, and I'm left feeling slightly let down. Firstly, this is definitely a "parts bin special" (bit like the real gun then), to the extent that none of the sprues are actually identified as belonging to this kit!
Like some other correspondents when this kit was reviewed on Armorama, I was a bit dubious about the wheels, as Dragon chose to put in those for the SIG 33, which I thought were plain wrong. To check up, I googled said weapon, and the first dozen photos that came up all had wheels of a different pattern to each other! The old Hogg book on German Artillery shows the early type pressed steel wheels on this gun, but since the example in the photo is a museum piece which also lacks the muzzle brake, I suspect it was built from parts. So I'm provisionally going to let DML off on the wheels.
However there's some oddities in the instruction sheet (DML instructions, surely not?!). Firstly the recuperator support bracket is clearly labelled not to be used, despite this it miraculously appears on the finished picture of the model! Rest assured, it does need to go on. Also there is supposed to be a box and what looks like a short ramrod fitted to the trails, both Ron Volstad's artwork, and the instruction sheet show them, but guess what, they aren't supplied in the kit! Finally the lower folding section of the shield is also "blued out" on the instructions. I wondered about this, but the Google pictures show guns with and without, so take your pick.
But my real issue is with the crew. They are just plain wrong. They are all wearing early war marching boots and M1936 tunics, so are inappropriate for a late war weapon. They also betray their ancestry as an anti-tank gun crew as they are fully geared up with webbing and kit and rifles. This I just can't see except perhaps in a demonstration (Lehr)unit.

The AFV gun is the basic interim style with the wooden spoke wheels and the round muzzlebreak. The early style had no muzzlebreak,square trails and the stamped wheels included in this Dragon kit. AFV also has this style in a kit.

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The AFV gun is the basic interim style with the wooden spoke wheels and the round muzzlebreak. The early style had no muzzlebreak,square trails and the stamped wheels included in this Dragon kit. AFV also has this style in a kit.

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Yes you're right Jerry, I also think the AFV Club gun is a better bet. In fact AFV Club have kitted a total of three different versions of the LeFH18; the first type with no muzzle brake, squared trail and pressed wheels; the interim type (LeFH18M) with muzzle brake and wooden wheels (to save on precious steel); and the 18/40. The interim type seems to be OOP ATM, which is unfortunate, as that's the only one I haven't got, and guns used by 9th SS in Russia and Normandy were of this type! BTW the initial steel wheels are completely different to both the SIG33 in the DML kit and PaK40 wheels.
I too like Dragon kits on the whole, and find it exasperating when they do things like this - they did the same sort of thing with their SIG33, which I also bought.

I just started this yesterday and it goes together quite well, but mine looks to have a slightly bent barrel.