This is similar to what I started to do 1994 when I wanted to build a tank car and there was no way for me to find a tank. Back then, there was no E-Bay, and no Internet and the only way I could build a car was to make every piece of it. I just wanted something different, and everyone thought I was crazy to even start anything so complex. Since I had never done any metal work, other than body work on customers' cars,I hardly knew where to start. I remembered how to build model airplanes out of balsa wood and tissue paper, so I decided to use that idea for the way to make the tank. I would build the buck, and instead of using tissue for the covering, I would use aluminum. After buying six 4'x8' sheets and an English wheel, I began a steep learning curve. I ruined quite a few square feet of the aluminum , but I was finally able to make the metal do what I wanted it to.
After the shell was built, I lost interest in it and put it on the back burner for a few years. In 2004 I found a real tank in California, and used it instead for my current car.