GunGryphon's Long Term Warthog Build

[GunGryphon]

I'm Back!

AND I'm Back!

I have been inactive in the 405th fourms all summer long, and now I have Returned.
This does not mean that I have been totally inactive, as i have made a good amount of progress on the warthog.

There was a type of a soap-box-derby this summer, and they said to make your ride as crazy as possible.
So i did.

Those are steel panels, actually It's 24 guage sheet metal bent over plywood panels. It was my folly to buy such thin metal, but these plywood panels keep the metal's shape.
Here are some closeups before the paint.

The black pieces are actually thick rubber stall mats, a total nightmare to cut, but they are easier to use than plating all of those black panels.
I had no time for the hood, so I substituted cardboard and plywood for many of the missing pieces.
I also had no time/money to get actual wheels, so i picked up 4, 10-inch tires from harbor freight, and lag bolted them into a pair of 4X4's. It's a temporary matter.
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Now, to buisiness, or the lack therof. I did not make enough money over the summer to buy a car or components for a dune buggy. That said, the project needs to go into anouther cryo-stasis until next year.

My current objective is to both to renovate my current armor, and fulfill a commission for anouther suit by halloween.

In reguards to my inactivity, I had wanted to save my 100th post for somthing big, and well, that took too long, so heres my 100th post!

I'll keep ya posted~
Gryphon-

 

[Naughty Lemur]

This build made me smile. Your armor looks fantastic and the warthog is coming along nicely

I personally wouldn't have the patience to leave my 100th post to something big like this, but it is thoroughly impressive. Good luck on your projects!

 

[sithinstructor]

Awesome, cant wait until next year for updates.

 

[ADOR]

At least your panels have turned out better than my last two attempts (fiberglass composite), I think I am just trying to get too fancy with it though.

 

[koshima07]

It would be awesome if you were to incorporate the frame onto some type of off-road vehicle. Nice work.

 

[GunGryphon]

At least your panels have turned out better than my last two attempts (fiberglass composite), I think I am just trying to get too fancy with it though.

The plan here is to start basic, then get fancy. I wanted to make this sucker as rugged as possible by using steel. Sadly, I didn't have a fully equipped metal shop over the summer so I had to settle for thinner guage metal. The metal, being 24 guage was light enough to form by hand, But was a nightmare trying to make into a good, meaningful shape. It always would warp and deform into some ugly half-warped cutting hazard. So i decided to let the Plywood determine the shape.

Heres my methods for making the panels. (anyone not interested can just skip this brick of text)
I started out by cutting out plywood panels that fit the geometry (or tried to) and laid them flat like a pep file. I then traced it and cut a 1 inch border around the wood to allow me to bend it down and around the back of the piece. Then I went to tedious work with a pair of tin snips, a hammer, and a 6 Inch metal bending plier from harbor freight. One thing i found for working with those snips, is that while your bending the metal, stand on the sides of the pliers, this gives it a cleaner edge. Once the first bends were made, I put the wood in and hammerd the tabs down over the back of the wood, sealing it all todether. Looking back, I should have back filled the pannels with some sort of glue or scilicon to keep the panels from buckling out in some cases.

As for the get fancy part, I want to do it by adding pieces to the panels, instead of building the detail into them directly. Through things like sculpting, smoothing and painting foam, fiberglass, metal or plastic. There really is no end to the number of things you can use to make the details. Things like layering pieces and rubber onto the panels will allow me to add all the detail I would want to the panels without compromising integrity.

Anouther nice feature is if a detail piece gets broken, it's alot easier to fix than replacing an entire fiberglass panel like in the Weta hog.

As stated earlier, this was a total rush job to get it ready for race day, Infact we were still adding cardboard to cover up the dashboard just minutes before the race. Many shortcuts had to be made, such as attaching the rubber mats with velcro, or my make-shift wheel system. Despite the setbacks, It was operational in time for the race. We came in last, but I would reckon that we came in first in style points!

Thanks for all the support and comments everone-
-Gryphon

 

[LCBeagle]

That looks kind of like the Halo: CE warthog. Is that what you're aiming for, or are you trying to do Reach?

 

[GunGryphon]

I'm aiming for the halo 3 hog, I just have not gotten around to it yet. It's going to take a while.

 

[tnraines]

It is funny that I stumbled across this post. When I dropped off my daughter at school I was sitting in the parking lot, and started thinking about the hog used in forward unto dawn, and started to wonder the dimensions etc. Then I thought my explorer sits atop a truck frame. And no I am not going to ruin my car, but I know there are some at the junk yard. The problem lies within the actual dimensions of the hog, assuming it is more of a jeep size frame and not a truck frame. (would love to find out the overall length/width

I have friends and family that wield. I have put in motors and transmissions before, what I can't wrap my head around is the four wheel steering with the turn raidus of Weta's version.

I immediately put this on the few years down the road back burner as I have two kids and starting back to school for a new career. But would love to do something similar.

I wish the best of luck to those who attempt and create there own versions.

 

[Jason 078]

With the size of the 'Hog, going from the dimensions of the toy, I would say that you should look for a GSA auction and purchase a used HMMWV from the military. It wouldn't be very difficult to strip the panels off (most are just bolted-on plastic/kevlar) and rebuild with your own.

 

[tnraines]

Hah my wife wants an old hummer she would never let me strip one if we got it. She just doesn't get the cool factor of the warthog. Her loss

 

[TheBatmanGuy]

I am quite excited for this build! I have no automotive knowledge that would let me do something like this. At best I could work on the body of an existing car with a buddy who has some knowledge but he hates the whole Halo universe haha

 

[AugmentedHuman013]

very nice work so far I been thinking of building one myself but I lack welding knowledge and no one around me that i know to teach me. So i will be greating fallowing your thread as this develops

 

[Squirrelly ORC]

I like this Idea. Looks good so far.

My personal choice for the vehicle frame would be a 1970-1980 era Dodge RamCharger.
Not sure if I would do the 4 wheel steering even though it would be neat to have.
Have you thought about refurbishing and using body metal off of old trucks and cars. with your wielding skill splicing it together aint hard. Plus it is a sufficient gauge to be sturdy enough for you build.
I've shaped it with hammers and steel pipes as anvils for shaping.

On another note: The RamCharger's and Older Ford Bronco's being wider framed and axles are more stable than the older jeeps unless you find a military surplus one for cheep.
with the custom body you can compfortable do 35" x 12.50 tires on the Ram frame without having to do a suspension or body lift of large proportion

Just some things to ponder as I would love to build one myself.

 

[firefighter72]

holllllllllllly crap im like in just pure awwwwwwwww over this id love 2 build 1 (along with some other stuff) i hope everything goes good just dont 4 get 2 post pics

 

[Chainsaw ninja]

his last post was almost two years ago idk if hes gunna finish this love to see it though