By VinceHoffman
May 24, 2019
When the Spartans IIIs and ODSTs of ONI Spec-War unit Citadel are unable to insert by air, the “Spartan Bus” is how they roll! This build is largely based off of the unnamed troop transport seen in the “Birth of a Spartan” live-action trailer for Halo Reach. You couldn’t tell what color the live-action vehicle was due to the washed out color palette the short film’s director of photography went with. Clearly something dark- LOL! A stealthy black best suited the specific role I have planned for this vehicle in our Halo collection. Henry Ford would have approved. Then I chose a contrasting color code “MM” grey for all the undercarriage parts so that the suspension and IED/mine-resistant hull details wouldn’t disappear in shadow. This 8 wheeled build is a bit of a monster with its long wheelbase. To ensure that it retained an appropriate degree of offload worthiness, I incorporated MB Warthog-style long travel swingarm suspension to the 2nd and 4th pairs of wheels.
I (mostly) followed the design details of the actual vehicle as accurately as my brick inventory and the fuzzy over-zoomed screen grabs permitted. Mirrors, headlights, driving lights, a roof mounted searchlight, boarding ladders, and the external storage bin between the front and rear wheels are all true to the vehicle seen in my screen grabs. No mean feat that. For example, replicating the inverse sloped sides of the troop compartment required a pretty heroic effort. A bunch of low profile L*go 90 degree brackets were “modified” as were lots of MA1346 MCX slopes. The latter were originally olive camo green and had to be painted black because that particular slope was super rare in black. The custom made cab & rear doors began as L*go pieces while the custom cab windscreens were made with Mega part #AM07013F sourced from the original 2009 Scorpion set.
Admittedly my build diverges from the Reach troop transport in several ways, all of which are intentional and meant to better suit its role as the primary transport of my fictional Spec-War Unit “Citadel”. First I extended the crew cab to accommodate an additional pair of Marines. These are the guys that load and unload the operators’ gear and protect the vehicle. Again diverging from the reference pics, I decided to connect the crew cab to the fully enclosed troop compartment- but I made a point of maintaining a clear visual break between the front and rear of the vehicle in order to maintain the original’s “cab and box” aesthetic. While I’ve nicknamed it the “Spartan Bus” I wanted to avoid too much similarity to a municipal transit vehicle- LOL! Anyway I think I’ve managed to make my troop transport into more of a large APC yet it retains a cool troop transport look. As this particular M37 plays a dual role as both team transport and unit command & control vehicle I doubled up on the rooftop communications antennae and added a directional antenna behind the LAAG turret for encrypted communication with air and space assets. Finally I further blinged it up with some front bumper tow hooks, a couple jerry cans and a health pack outside the rear door, along with a trailer hitch integrated into the rear boarding steps. Speaking of which I’m actually pretty chuffed over how well the hitch, rear steps, rear bumper, and chassis all interconnect!
An equal effort went into the vehicle interiors, the quad cab driver and front passenger seats features ONI approved bleeding edge holographic heads-up navigation and information screens along with encrypted communication & control consoles. The crew’s personal defensive weapons are on wall mount racks facing the 2nd row seats. Much of one side of the normally fully enclosed turret cylinder (part #AM17609F) has been carefully cut away to create realistic in-vehicle access to the rooftop LAAG. The roomy troop cabin comfortably accommodates 8 troops with their primary weapons. In Citadel’s case this is a pair of 4 person fire teams- one team comprised of Spartans and the other ODSTs. Mission intel is updated on wall screens in the passageway between the crew cab and troop compartment. Casualties can be treated post mission using another health pack, this one also located in the aforementioned passageway.
Well I hope you enjoyed my latest build and if you made it through the entire description- Good on ya!. Please feel free to compliment, constructively critique, or even clone my efforts. Its all good when its made from blocks.
I (mostly) followed the design details of the actual vehicle as accurately as my brick inventory and the fuzzy over-zoomed screen grabs permitted. Mirrors, headlights, driving lights, a roof mounted searchlight, boarding ladders, and the external storage bin between the front and rear wheels are all true to the vehicle seen in my screen grabs. No mean feat that. For example, replicating the inverse sloped sides of the troop compartment required a pretty heroic effort. A bunch of low profile L*go 90 degree brackets were “modified” as were lots of MA1346 MCX slopes. The latter were originally olive camo green and had to be painted black because that particular slope was super rare in black. The custom made cab & rear doors began as L*go pieces while the custom cab windscreens were made with Mega part #AM07013F sourced from the original 2009 Scorpion set.
Admittedly my build diverges from the Reach troop transport in several ways, all of which are intentional and meant to better suit its role as the primary transport of my fictional Spec-War Unit “Citadel”. First I extended the crew cab to accommodate an additional pair of Marines. These are the guys that load and unload the operators’ gear and protect the vehicle. Again diverging from the reference pics, I decided to connect the crew cab to the fully enclosed troop compartment- but I made a point of maintaining a clear visual break between the front and rear of the vehicle in order to maintain the original’s “cab and box” aesthetic. While I’ve nicknamed it the “Spartan Bus” I wanted to avoid too much similarity to a municipal transit vehicle- LOL! Anyway I think I’ve managed to make my troop transport into more of a large APC yet it retains a cool troop transport look. As this particular M37 plays a dual role as both team transport and unit command & control vehicle I doubled up on the rooftop communications antennae and added a directional antenna behind the LAAG turret for encrypted communication with air and space assets. Finally I further blinged it up with some front bumper tow hooks, a couple jerry cans and a health pack outside the rear door, along with a trailer hitch integrated into the rear boarding steps. Speaking of which I’m actually pretty chuffed over how well the hitch, rear steps, rear bumper, and chassis all interconnect!
An equal effort went into the vehicle interiors, the quad cab driver and front passenger seats features ONI approved bleeding edge holographic heads-up navigation and information screens along with encrypted communication & control consoles. The crew’s personal defensive weapons are on wall mount racks facing the 2nd row seats. Much of one side of the normally fully enclosed turret cylinder (part #AM17609F) has been carefully cut away to create realistic in-vehicle access to the rooftop LAAG. The roomy troop cabin comfortably accommodates 8 troops with their primary weapons. In Citadel’s case this is a pair of 4 person fire teams- one team comprised of Spartans and the other ODSTs. Mission intel is updated on wall screens in the passageway between the crew cab and troop compartment. Casualties can be treated post mission using another health pack, this one also located in the aforementioned passageway.
Well I hope you enjoyed my latest build and if you made it through the entire description- Good on ya!. Please feel free to compliment, constructively critique, or even clone my efforts. Its all good when its made from blocks.