Hello Paul!
Welcome to the forums and thanks a lot for your interesting remarks. The difference you’re writing about, while definitely something to pay attention to is not so easy to spot, unless you have a side by side comparison like you did here.
It’s no wonder Dragon and Dynamo kits have a halftrack style design in them - the Dragon kit was a way to repurpose halftrack sprues, you even get a halftrack windshield on the clear parts sprue.
I have to compare the Dragon shield with the AFV Club shield, I think AFV Club shield would be different style and maybe could be substituted here.
Here are some photos of my Dynamo kit build. I added an extra ring to the base, made from leftover AFV Club parts:
Thanks for looking and have a nice day
Paweł