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Here's a light armored vehicle I finished not too long ago. I was thinking of something that would have an internal security role or maybe scouting. But like, whatevarrr, here it is;

Your post and the picture make me think it's designed to provide security in a coal mine. Cuz, you know, internal security... and it reminds me of those little cars in old coal mines on the rails.

Then I got a sense of the scale of the thing. Knobby tires would look awesome. Or tires like this:

Phantasee wrote:Your post and the picture make me think it's designed to provide security in a coal mine. Cuz, you know, internal security... and it reminds me of those little cars in old coal mines on the rails.

Then I got a sense of the scale of the thing. Knobby tires would look awesome. Or tires like this:
"Snip John Deere awesomeness"

Ha, internal...it's the proctology police's MRAP! But seriously, knobby tires are just what I was thinking of adding. There is such a wide variety of military and industrial tires I could add, it is kind of overwhelming. I don't know about tractor tires, they seem kind of out of place when I envision them on anything but construction/farm equipment.

EDIT: BTW this was inspired by Zor's hover tank, that being said, thanks to all you guys for the inspiration!

You should think about adding some slope to the front topside, it will be a bitch to drive if you cant see anyone when they get within 50 feet because of the front end being so high and flat.

Reminds me of an M117

Wheeled death trap!!

The front around the driver reminds me of the FNSS PARS, with all the vision blocks.

The tires that tractor is rocking are common on construction equipment if they have to deal with mud. Honestly, it takes some special effort to get stuck with those on. They look better if they're larger, like the rear wheels on that tractor, though.

Kenny_10_Bellys wrote:You should think about adding some slope to the front topside, it will be a bitch to drive if you cant see anyone when they get within 50 feet because of the front end being so high and flat.

Yes, you need a bit of sloping, not only for vision, but to bounce any AP rounds, no more than .50 caliber though. While I don't expect even that from Johnny Molotov, you never know. I also agree on the big/knobby tires.

Just praising with faint damns, overall it's a nice vehicle.

Nice lines and all, but I agree. Modern armored vehicles rely on sloped armor to more efficiently protect against armor-piercing weaponry, and MRAPs have their bottom sides all V-like to protect themselves against mine and IED blasts.

I was thinking that the armor would be enough to stop any round up to 20mm, thus reducing the need for any sort of sloping. The hull is V shaped, but the angle doesn't show it very well. I'll have to draw it up again this weekend or something. I started working again so I find myself quite busy nowadays! This is not a bad thing!

I've added some more angles to the hull and sloped the glasis. I'll post later tonight (really tomorrow morning). I hope you guys will like it!

Good job. Your art has improved a lot from the Way Back Then first days.

Minor update!

I got bored today so thought I'd try and knock up a 3D version of this thing. I had some bizarre trouble trying to get the proportions right, and then I started arsing around with the windscreen and the general layout. I ended up making 2 of my own versions where I just made the front more slanted and increased the viewport size. If it had a big gun on it the thing would have armoured slits and so forth, not a windscreen. Hence making it into a heavy duty transport for whatever use you can think of that's not front line, and is probably amphibious too.

That is exactly what I was trying to accomplish. Thank you for posting those, they look great!

Don't they like to build these things with sloping sides nowadays, to deflect blast from mines underneath the vehicle?

Darth Wong wrote:Don't they like to build these things with sloping sides nowadays, to deflect blast from mines underneath the vehicle?

Yes, but due to my somewhat limited ability in drawing angles in perspective, that feature isn't as apparent as I had wished.

I was able to hammer out the general shape and Kenny_10_Bellys did a great job on the 3-D model, but I still want to work on making the height and sloped armor more obvious.

Believe me I had enough trouble just getting the general size and shape anywhere near close. Normally I make models from drawings that show pretty much all sides so I can put the image of it in the background and basically trace out the contours. Working from a rough sketch perspective view caused me no end of headscratching, and I could see no evidence of sloped armour anywhere. It's partly why they're just quickly knocked up undetailed boxes.

I still stick by what I said above, if it's got a windshield then it's probably not a front line vehicle. If it were, it would be more like the Bradley, BMP, LAV, Pirahna, BRDM, Striker etc and have no exposed glass area. I could see it as a transport or CCC vehicle or missile carrier of some kind, but going into fights with a cannon on it? I know it's not easy making a coherent and interesting looking armoured vehicle though, I've tried and failed many times. Most modern ones all look alike now because form follows function and they've had years to hone their designs. Making something that would stand out is tough.

Kenny_10_Bellys wrote:Believe me I had enough trouble just getting the general size and shape anywhere near close. Normally I make models from drawings that show pretty much all sides so I can put the image of it in the background and basically trace out the contours. Working from a rough sketch perspective view caused me no end of headscratching, and I could see no evidence of sloped armour anywhere. It's partly why they're just quickly knocked up undetailed boxes.

I still stick by what I said above, if it's got a windshield then it's probably not a front line vehicle. If it were, it would be more like the Bradley, BMP, LAV, Pirahna, BRDM, Striker etc and have no exposed glass area. I could see it as a transport or CCC vehicle or missile carrier of some kind, but going into fights with a cannon on it? I know it's not easy making a coherent and interesting looking armoured vehicle though, I've tried and failed many times. Most modern ones all look alike now because form follows function and they've had years to hone their designs. Making something that would stand out is tough.

As per the opening description, this vehicle is intended primarily for scouting and internal security operations. Transporting troops and lending supporting fire are two functions I had envisioned as part of the design. On the other hand, vehicles such as the South African Ratel, and Rooivalk maintain comparatively large ballistic windscreens and have been utilized for direct action.

Sloped armor is less critical now as materials used for armor are enough to defeat small arms without resorting to having a critical angle of deflection. Besides this, most of the weaponry typically arrayed against such vehicles that are capable of penetrating the armor (RPG's, cannons, etc) would ignore the sloped effect anyways.

The biggest problem I had with this drawing was trying to visualize the V-shaped hull. This is a primary feature of the design and as I'm sure you're all familiar with, a critical and cost effective measure for protection from mines and I.E.D.'s. I intended this vehicle to have a V-shaped hull, but also to incorporate an imposing hull superstructure. I was trying to emulate vehicles such as these:

Darth Wong wrote:Don't they like to build these things with sloping sides nowadays, to deflect blast from mines underneath the vehicle?

And plenty of ground clearance.

What are you going to call it? I recommend the Puma, personally.

Night_stalker wrote:What are you going to call it? I recommend the Puma, personally.

To me it looks more pigish, i would go with something like the Boar

I like both suggestions. Maybe something like a colloquial name like razorback or warthog...I'll put on m/y thinking cap after work.

Actually I think most of those names have already been used.

I dont have a problem with it being a scout/riot vehicle, but if you're sticking a huge turret mounted cannon on it I think you're pushing the envelope beyond the sticky bit. You'd get away with a small remotely operated MG or small cannon at best, or maybe even a TOW launcher.

The turret can be an unmanned one.

I'd call it the "Pig". Or the Pig Patroller.