Oh crap, I'm scared. Not only are my (crap) engineering skillz being called in to question, I have to back up the end result with a cook-off (Thinks, adds chilli powder, nutmeg and retires).
All joking aside, I can't think of a project that has got me as excited as this in a long time (and I don't think I'm alone) - having seen the Mk 1 in action, I'm ridiculously excited to be giving the Mk 1A version a go (almost as much as Guderian was to see how the early Panzers performed in France following the poor show in Austria). There you go. A technical thread auto-Godwined. I will be very happy to share my thoughts and experiences with all, post build attempt. If it goes well I promise not to invade France, at least not in a non consensual way (I do have a toy Marmot that a friend has left hung up in the hall with a 'Collaborateur' tag round it's neck but I think this may need a little historical revisionism (both now and about in 20 years).
For me it says freedom and a lot of great future wild camping experiences (unless I royally fuck up, in which case it says great expense for lots of drilling bits). Ultimately, the build and the end result will be cool. I'm still stoked over the sword rack I built about five years ago from an old futon frame. I'm easily pleased.
Thing is, due to the attitude to camping of my older relatives I have only ever wild-camped. I have never camped on a camp site and even the concept seems odd to me (I don't mean so because I'm an experienced camper, more that I'm not used to camp sites with amenities (of course you crap in the woods).
So for me, this thing is a mini camp fire that I can have in a more straight lacey camp site that I would have otherwise avoided. My view has always been, if there's no fire it isn't camping.