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Armor/AFV: British Armor
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Does the FV103 Spartan have cupola/turret?
AotrsCommander
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England - East Anglia, United Kingdom
Joined: May 03, 2017
KitMaker: 9 posts
Armorama: 9 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2019 - 08:34 AM UTC
I have been working on a Spartan model and I have been struggling to work out whether it has a movable cupola/turret, specifically as regards to the MG mount.

From the (admittedly mostkly poor) photos I have found, it looks like the MG mount isn't on a pintle except for up/down - it looks like the elevation/depression mouting unit is fixed solidly to the side of the hatch unit. There is a bit of a line in the hatch it is mounted on the side of, but I can't work out and have found no pictures to indicate that the hatch is a proper cupola.

(Best photo I've found below.)



If isn't, it would suggest that the Spartan's MG is a fixed mount. (Granted, that would make it easier to model, but seems a bit odd.)

Can anyone shed any light on this?
maximus8425
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England - North East, United Kingdom
Joined: May 12, 2006
KitMaker: 331 posts
Armorama: 320 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2019 - 08:47 AM UTC
Hi Alex,

Yes the cupola does traverse. Basically everything above the prominent line just below where the wiper arms are mounted rotates. Thats the hatch , vision blocks, GPMG mount and sight, everything. There is a small traverse gearbox inside on the left with a handwheel for the commander to move it. On the right is an elevation gearbox and handwheel for elevating/depressing the GPMG. It is surprisingly accurate once everything is adjusted and tightened. This set up is used on Spartans and Strikers with a pintle mount being used on Samsons and Sultans.
AotrsCommander
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England - East Anglia, United Kingdom
Joined: May 03, 2017
KitMaker: 9 posts
Armorama: 9 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2019 - 11:57 AM UTC
Ah, excellent, thank you! I had my suspicions when I looked at the MG mount, but I couldn't find any photos showing it rotated.

That makes is a fair bit easier to deal with than a pintle mount. And a little easier than the FV432's turrets, even, as the cupola is a little bit chunkier (both in terms of height off the deck and width); at my scale (144th), every little bit counts!

Much appreciated!
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