The problem with the multi-part turret approach isn't that it looks weird - with symmetric arms like this you wouldn't really be able to see if it's spinning or not. The problem is that it takes a lot of time to spin that 180 degrees, and while you can set the spin speed to be really fast, it'll also change the speed at which the barrel elevates, so you'd end up with a glitchy turret which pretty much instantly changes to point whichever way it wants without needing to visibly rotate the arm.
If there was a way to change the speed at which the base spins and the speed at which the arm elevates separately from each other, then sure, that approach would work adequately.