Thread: FV499 Hover APC
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Old 10-26-2017, 06:59 AM
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StainlessSteelCynic StainlessSteelCynic is offline
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Taking the point of view that the artist looked at different military vehicles from the 1980s for inspiration (including the SR.N6 hovercraft used by RM), I'm going to hazard a guess or three...
Keep in mind that I've only read the first few novels of The Zone series and I don't recall any of the descriptions of the APC.

The various objects below the driver's viewport could be any of the following: -
A. Large box shape -
1. additional armour plate for protection of the driver
2. hatch cover for maintenance access of the driver's controls etc.
3. hatch cover for access to the NBC filtering system - something like that on the FV432

B. Small rectangle -
1. hatch cover for external switch for halon fire suppression system
2. hatch cover for the battery box
3. hatch for the infantry telephone like that found on the rear of some tanks so that troops can communicate with the tank crew - I'm speculating that with a ramp in the front of the vehicle (most likely in imitation of the accessway on the Royal Marines SR.N6 hovercraft), squaddies would want a phone near the main entry/exit rather than placing the phone at the rear of the vehicle

C. Large rectangle -
1. hatch cover for winch (if fitted?)
2. hatch cover of tool box
3. hatch cover for some other maintenance access e.g. for the front ramp

D. The two small round-ish objects -
1. night driving lights

The two pods on the hull below the engine intake grills look as like they could be either exhausts or combined exhausts/smoke screen layers (like the Soviet practice on older tanks, inject diesel vapour directly onto the hot exhaust). I'm assuming due to what little I did read, that the FV499 wasn't meant to traverse large bodies of water like the hovercraft used by the Royal Marines and thus doesn't need the inflatable liferaft pods that the RM hovercraft do (besides, they look too small for liferaft pods). But it's also possible that the artist took some inspiration from those pods on the sides of the RM SR.N6 hovercraft.

The turret looks too much like it's inspired by the turret from the West German SPz Lang (AKA Schützenpanzer 12-3) to "look" like a British design.
The turret on the 12-3 is definitely a one-man setup but it has the same sort of angled front so could very well be the inspiration for the FV499.
However it does look as though there are vision ports for the gunner (behind the spotlight) and also vehicle commander on the FV499. Given the width of the vehicle and its role as an APC, the turret would be big enough for a two man crew.
SPz 12-3 turret can be seen here : -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3...uiza_HS_30.jpg
Wiki page for 12-3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3...zer_Lang_HS.30

From the image, it seems as though the driver has a side vision port, which then assumes that the cupola is for someone else, like the vehicle commander (as you mentioned) but if their is a commanders position in the turret then this cupola could be for the Infantry Section leader to view the outside. Can't think of the vehicle offhand but there were some APCs from the 1970s-80s that had something like that. For example, the earlier versions of the German Marder had an infantryman's seat behind the driver that was equiped with a periscope.

It's really frustrating that there was no other art for the Iron Cow so we could get a side profile. I think that would have helped determine if the cupola was an "extra" so to speak and the turret was a two-man job with gunner and commander. Guess I'll have to drag out my PDFs of the series and read them again... any excuse hahaha
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