I don’t know why but Ensemble Studio’s in-game M9 Wolverine model really floats my boat. I love the aesthetic of this particular UNSC vehicle. It might actually be my favorite vehicle in the entire Halo universe. Perhaps that explains my obsession with perfecting the brick model of it… The eight Wolverine rebuild pics in this gallery submission serve as an excellent record of my progress as a builder over a 4 year period. From 2011 to 2015 I went from starstruck @GoodwillHunter groupie to being one of his peers. I’ve annotated the pics with dates and revision numbering so you can get a clear sense of the order of things. I also want to stress the fact that each pictured revision represented the best work I was capable of at that point in time. I'll have more to say about that at the bottom...
In the beginning I only saw the obvious stuff. Back in 2011 my first revisions of the stock Wolverine were simple and minor. I removed the redundant port side mortar and added the missing ammo hopper behind the remaining starboard mortar.
My 2012 revision wasn’t much to talk about either. I had purchased the latest ODST blue Wolverine which featured some nice refinements when compared to the olive camo and arctic camo Wolverines before it. All I really did here was adapt my prior mods to the new Wolverine.
Revision 2 in 2013 was more significant. Adding a second rear facing canopy by shifting the original canopy forward accommodated a weapons officer in addition to the driver. Score one for game accuracy! Next I widened the vehicle’s stance by two studs, exposing more of the wheels and tank treads. This gifted the model with a much squatter appearance than the stock model. Score two for game accuracy! Finally I mucked about with the mortar ammo hopper again- less successfully…
Rev 3 in 2014 was a big deal. I re-revisited the mortar ammo hopper and tweaked the mortar itself. But the real improvement was both less and more obvious. I finally addressed the stock build’s crappy missile launcher mounting. As long as the turntable was mounted on the same slope as the rear deck, the launcher would sloppily oscillate back and forth as the Wolverine rolled along. My revision mounted the turntable through the sloped rear deck to the level subchassis beneath. The end of the missile launcher metronome.
In 2015 revision 4 saw the Wolverine build achieve something approaching brick perfection. It also split into two builds representing both the standard and upgraded versions of Ensemble's in-game Wolverine. The breakthrough was painfully obvious in retrospect and staring every MB Wolverine owner in the face. The one piece toy dart launcher had to go if a brick Wolverine was ever truly going to be game accurate. The re-re-revision (LOL!) of the mortar ammo hopper was visually big but structurally near identical to the prior one. The devil really was in the details! Finally I added some bling between the wheels of the tread bogeys. Done!!!
Two years later in 2017 MCX brought out their 4th Wolverine, a truly excellent effort this time around and bearing a much closer resemblance to the in-game render. While not identical to my latest custom and sporting some different (and innovative) build techniques, when compared to my build the latest MCX Wolverine looks much more alike than it does different.
An afterwards by the writer...
So anybody that has ever become good at something had to start somewhere, right? Recently there has been some discussion about the relative skills of the many builders and figure customizers actively participating here on the MCX Gallery. I often see comments to the effect of, “I’ll never be as good as GoodwillHunter/ShipmasterKainu/ovaltiney/YrkanesAbattoir/deekstar/thekiller2468/GeekMarky/ErikBarton/rocky3510/etc… NOT TRUE. If you WANT to be as good or even better than your brick heroes, the only thing separating your current skill set from that of the master builder or figure customizer you admire is what made them masters before you. Determination... Observation... And practice, lots of practice!!!
In the beginning I only saw the obvious stuff. Back in 2011 my first revisions of the stock Wolverine were simple and minor. I removed the redundant port side mortar and added the missing ammo hopper behind the remaining starboard mortar.
My 2012 revision wasn’t much to talk about either. I had purchased the latest ODST blue Wolverine which featured some nice refinements when compared to the olive camo and arctic camo Wolverines before it. All I really did here was adapt my prior mods to the new Wolverine.
Revision 2 in 2013 was more significant. Adding a second rear facing canopy by shifting the original canopy forward accommodated a weapons officer in addition to the driver. Score one for game accuracy! Next I widened the vehicle’s stance by two studs, exposing more of the wheels and tank treads. This gifted the model with a much squatter appearance than the stock model. Score two for game accuracy! Finally I mucked about with the mortar ammo hopper again- less successfully…
Rev 3 in 2014 was a big deal. I re-revisited the mortar ammo hopper and tweaked the mortar itself. But the real improvement was both less and more obvious. I finally addressed the stock build’s crappy missile launcher mounting. As long as the turntable was mounted on the same slope as the rear deck, the launcher would sloppily oscillate back and forth as the Wolverine rolled along. My revision mounted the turntable through the sloped rear deck to the level subchassis beneath. The end of the missile launcher metronome.
In 2015 revision 4 saw the Wolverine build achieve something approaching brick perfection. It also split into two builds representing both the standard and upgraded versions of Ensemble's in-game Wolverine. The breakthrough was painfully obvious in retrospect and staring every MB Wolverine owner in the face. The one piece toy dart launcher had to go if a brick Wolverine was ever truly going to be game accurate. The re-re-revision (LOL!) of the mortar ammo hopper was visually big but structurally near identical to the prior one. The devil really was in the details! Finally I added some bling between the wheels of the tread bogeys. Done!!!
Two years later in 2017 MCX brought out their 4th Wolverine, a truly excellent effort this time around and bearing a much closer resemblance to the in-game render. While not identical to my latest custom and sporting some different (and innovative) build techniques, when compared to my build the latest MCX Wolverine looks much more alike than it does different.
An afterwards by the writer...
So anybody that has ever become good at something had to start somewhere, right? Recently there has been some discussion about the relative skills of the many builders and figure customizers actively participating here on the MCX Gallery. I often see comments to the effect of, “I’ll never be as good as GoodwillHunter/ShipmasterKainu/ovaltiney/YrkanesAbattoir/deekstar/thekiller2468/GeekMarky/ErikBarton/rocky3510/etc… NOT TRUE. If you WANT to be as good or even better than your brick heroes, the only thing separating your current skill set from that of the master builder or figure customizer you admire is what made them masters before you. Determination... Observation... And practice, lots of practice!!!