Peter Walczak doesn’t consider himself a “car guy,” which makes his choice of side-hustle project all the more surprising: building a functional life-size version of the Halo game’s iconic wart Pig Jeep. By his own admission, the retired Navy test pilot invested countless hours and thousands of dollars into this stunning prop, which he hopes will one day be featured in a Halo fan film.
Walczak grew up playing video games, but his interest in the hobby waned as he got older. However, when a colleague told him about a hot new video game console in the early 2000s called the Xbox, he decided to buy one. His main interest isn’t Halo, though, but Iron Legion, an obscure Xbox exclusive that requires a formidable secondary controller that includes two joysticks and three pedals . “It was a bad game,” Walczak said. “At that point, I thought, ‘I might as well make this stupid Halo game that everyone is talking about.'”
Like many others, Walczak quickly fell in love with Bungie’s groundbreaking console shooter; he cites its beautiful levels and sci-fi story as two of the main reasons. He even ended up playing online with his colleagues, going head-to-head in beloved maps like Blood Canyon. The series ultimately rekindled his love for video games. When Halo 2 launched, Walczak was stationed in Hawaii, and while his compatriots explored the islands and headed to the beaches, he sat inside an aircraft carrier playing the new game on a beat-up 12-inch TV. game. “To me, that was the pinnacle of that era of gaming,” he said. “Nothing comes close.”
To be clear, Walczak does call himself a “car guy” now, but that title was hard-earned. A lifelong tinkerer with a background in electrical engineering, he first got the idea to build his own Warthog when he saw Weta Workshop’s modification of the green Jeep used in the live-action series Halo 4: Before Dawn idea. (“I just thought, maybe I could build something like that,” he laughs. “How hard could it be?”)
However, it wasn’t until Walczak moved into a new home with a garage that he truly felt like he could work seriously. That’s when he encountered a lucky opportunity: an acquaintance of his was selling a beat-up old truck for a very reasonable price. Walczak showed up and wrote a check; before long, he and a few buddies were tearing apart the truck for parts, reimagining it as the basis for what a generation of gamers would recognize as the Jeep of the future.
“That’s definitely when it became a reality,” Walczak said. “Before, I was just a guy who made a few sketches. After I wrote the check, there was an old beat-up truck parked in my driveway. I just thought, ‘What am I doing with my life? I guess I actually am Building this thing.
Walczak officially started the project in 2014 and had to teach himself many skills to complete the build, a process he jokingly attributes to “YouTube University.” For example, he had to teach himself how to weld various metal parts together securely, something he hadn’t done since college. He also had to master a 3D printer and understand the ins and outs of nearly every aspect of the truck base. From the beginning, Walczak tried to use as many off-the-shelf parts as possible to keep the project relatively manageable, but over time he realized he would have to purchase various components from different manufacturers to achieve his goals.
Despite the size of the vehicle, he said he did almost all the design and work himself, with two major exceptions. He commissioned a racing company to build the windshield for the truck—which ended up being the most expensive component yet—and got help from a friend in the machine shop to help him bend the rear bumper to the correct specifications.
“I’m a handy guy with a technical degree, but I quickly realized I had to learn a lot to do this job,” Walczak said. “I did some welding in school, but I really didn’t know how to weld… The hardest part of the project was finding parts that were compatible with the base truck. It was really easy to go on car forums and find some people who said, ‘Yes Yeah, this part in the X car looks like it’s about two feet long, but when you need something that’s exactly 22 inches, it’s a little different and it’s definitely a learning process.
Walczak documented much of the process of putting the Warthog together on social media, which of course resulted in a positive response from the Halo fan community, as well as the usual flurry of curious letters. Many people asked the creators for plans or blueprints for Warthog, which always amused Walczak – no such document existed. Some people even offered to buy it outright, with one user offering tens of thousands of dollars for the super power-up. Needless to say, it is not for sale. “Every price I got really only covered the parts,” Walczak said. “I just tell them, ‘Hey, you’re talking about ten years of my life!'”
Like many enthusiasts who devote long hours to a project, Walczak was confused by his early efforts. When I asked him if he could handle a gathering of fans of this size again, he came up with a surprising idea. “Honestly, I have to resist the urge to do it all over again,” he said with a laugh. “There are some things I would do completely differently. But honestly, I haven’t decided yet… People are asking me to sell these to them. It’s crazy to me.” He is considering building his own Pelican troop carrier — the dropship that eviscerated warthogs and marines in many memorable Halo missions — but it’s just a dream for now.
As of this writing, Walczak says the Warthog’s build is about 97 percent complete, as he recently completed one of the most difficult steps: taking the entire vehicle apart and painting it, which took much longer than he expected. His ultimate goal of creating a drivable Warthog is achievable. “I can see the end of the tunnel,” he said. “It’s a strange feeling.”
“People always talk about the turrets, like the police would pull me over and say, ‘Hey, what’s that?'” Walczak said. “Honestly, it’s a PVC pipe. It’s not something I’m really worried about… When it comes to making it street legal, it’s more about making sure it has working windshield wipers. , seat belts and the like.
He had some poignant words of wisdom when it comes to those who want to follow in Walczak’s footsteps: “Stop talking about it and just do it.” He noted that he’s seen many projects in the fan community become popular for the first time. Publish with hundreds or even thousands of upvotes, only to fall by the wayside once brave leaders hit unforeseen obstacles. He recommends fans start small and build from there: For example, if you can’t afford the materials to build Master Chief-style armor at home, try painting a foam pad.
“People always say, ‘This is so hard.’ Look, no one said this was going to be easy,” Walczak said. “Spend less time talking about it and more time learning. You may not have the skills or money to start today, but you can learn something on YouTube or just buy a cheap welder and use it. A piece of paper is progress .
