Don’t know where to ask this question so I placed it here.
What is with the guy’s feet on the tire? What purpose does that serve?
Stability.
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Try that in a vignette and see what the contest judges say
Totally guessing but Michaels answer sounds plausible.
In a prone position the feet/shoes would be digging into the ground
but lying on ones side there is no grip to be had, unless there is a
suitable vertical surface.
My spontaneous, totally amateur, reaction would be to get into the
prone position, belly to the dirt, to get a better aim.
Sideways seems like an unnecessary complication.
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Trying to look cool is my guess.
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Possibly using his left leg for leverage to twist his body onto its right side without exposing his feet or legs under the truck.
The photo is posed, so no telling what’s really going on (probably advertising for Ford). However, if you’re using a civilian vehicle for cover, you want to keep your body behind the engine block or the brake drums / rotors. So, assuming a threat to his left front, his position behind the right front wheel is pretty good with very little exposed. This, of course, doesn’t say much for the two guys in the bed or the driver (if there is one in the cab - I can’t tell).
TV and movies that portray passengers inside a civilian vehicle that’s getting shot to pieces while safely ducking down below the windows are generally total BS. Modern sheet metal and plastic car bodies and parts basically offer zero ballistic protection. A lot of “armored” civilian autos are also poorly done and have significant vulnerable areas especially along the firewall and door and window pillars.
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Indeed.
I would be flat on my gut with my spine aligned with the threat direction to present
the smallest possible target (judging by the direction of the rifle).
Sideways with the whole torso exposed feels like asking for trouble but I could be
wrong. Body armour on the torso could protect the torso but the head and neck is
still exposed.
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I just thought it was an odd position but as justendit said, could be stability but still looks odd to me.
As Uncle said, better to just be in a prone position. The feet on the tire would look cool on a vignette though.
I agree with Dan, trying to look cool.
As SdAuf said, it is posed. I found the photo in this link. It is an article for CMG. They said the company is comprised of veterans, one a former Green Beret and one a Recon Marine. They marketed the FORD as a gun truck.
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Absolutely.
Messing with contest judges …
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Maybe Black Cohort could make a figure with the feet on the tires. They do make some interesting 1/24 figures that would look good with that FORD gun truck or any other gun truck.
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Silly AI?? 
Just depends. Laying out flat in line behind the cover might be the best position, but in other circumstance where there may be other threats at different angles, your lower body, legs and feet might be exposed to oblique incoming fires. A common tendency is for the person to angle their body back towards the mass of the vehicle, inadvertently exposing themselves to fire passing under that vehicle.
As for your head and neck, you can’t return aimed fire without exposing some of those body parts (also your hands and arms). Not returning fire might not be long or mid-term survival option.
In the end, it all really does “just depend.”
True.
Most people, unless obese, are wider (width over shoulders or hips) than they are deep (belly button to skin behind the spine).
I would like to think, maybe I’m deluding myself, that I would be a lower target flat on my gut
than lying on my side
He is holding the wheel on. It’s a ford you know!
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My agency trained to use the engine block and tire rims as preferred areas of cover if you were using the patrol car as cover. My last assigned car had Kevlar insert panels in the doors for additional protection. If you were using those, it was trained to keep your feet in the vehicle and lean out the side bracing against the door pillar for stability.
My last ride.
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DG Artwork hasn’t made Black Cohort figures in years, nor have they released anything new in quite some time. I wonder if they’re still producing new kits. This doesn’t mean that they went out-of-business, just that I haven’t seen them release anything new in a long time.
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Thanks for the info! Their figures are pretty cool but the prices on those 1/24 figures are a bit too pricey for me.
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