yes he made it all from scratch. I don't think it is a recovery vehicle though ,from what I understand only one was ever seen and it was more than likely used to place explosive charges against objects while under fire.
Went to put the pershing board into it and noticed a charred area on the board so I stopped.Not sure if i should continue i have run the board while in the pershing lower hull and it worked no idea if the turret worked or not as it was not attached at the time.