Wonder if I could make a wooden shell? Wood is cheap.
Making a shell out of wood isn't hard to do.
Making it look good is another story. Be prepared for lots of measuring, cutting using a circular saw bench or band-saw, drilling straight holes on a drill press, learning how to make concealed connections (nobody likes visible screws if you don't do steampunk), sanding, priming, sanding, priming, sanding, painting, sanding, painting, sanding, painting, lacquering, etc.