With the establishment of Cobra as a nation on Cobra Island, Cobra Command found the need to get it's troops to their posts more reliably, and in the case of Eels being deployed, they found that a submersible delivery was preferable. Destro had his team of designers come up with a modification to the existing BUGG design that eliminated the jet ski compartments and converted them to passenger space. They also added space on the pontoons for gear storage, and beefed up the BUGG's defensive armaments, adding a dual anti air gattling gun to the top gunner's station, and a heavy anti vehicle gattling gun to the front chin gun station. It still comes equipped with the standard reconnaissance sub and rear passenger/engineering compartment, taking the troop carrying capacity to 13, counting the space for 2 to ride on the pontoons outside the craft. Armored with a newly developed noise reduction skin and paint coat, they are much harder to locate on sonar, making this a VERY effective craft for Cobra's troop deployment.

"With the new Sepsis carriers, we can get an entire team of Eels to their target and, if they do their job right, back again before anyone is any wiser. And that includes right up onto the shores of the United States!"

I was always intrigued by the design of the BUGG, but felt those side compartments were wasted space. The jet skis are cool, but I felt that space was better suited to carrying troops. I have had this extra, incomplete BUGG for a few years and always planned to convert it into a troop carrier of some kind, and this project was the perfect motivation! After disassembling the entire thing, I cut off the grates at the bottom of the jet ski compartment. I found some party favor stacking game at a dollar store that had perfect scaled chairs, and I took a few of them and cut off the legs and backs. I mounted them where the grating had been and drilled some holes that lined up with where the backpack holes on the figures would line up and then inserted the appropriate sized post - a part of a plastic weapons tree. this serves to keep the figures in their seats. I also wanted to create a storage area, as I always liked those features on the classic vehicles. I found that the black engine caps on the pontoons stayed on just fine using only the lower half of the pontoon, so I dremmeled off the ends of the top panel so it could be removed. I also had to grind out the innards of the pontoons, which was a bit of work, and left the inside pretty unsightly - thus the craft foam lining, which I think looks cooler anyway. I also had to use a couple of Popsicle sticks to rebuild a post for the mini sub to rest on, which I anchored inside the body with a good amount of hot glue.

I needed to replace the anti aircraft gun on top, which I never had, and one of the chin guns, which was broken. I was extremely pleased to find that Hasbro's color consistency over different molds and years was extremely helpful on this project. As I wanted the Sepsis to echo the Eel color scheme, I wanted some of the details to remain red, and I was pleased to discover that the maroon color of the Thunder Machine matched perfectly with the color of the Bugg. I had to shave a little off one end of the gun mount to get it to fit into place, as well as cut off the pegs that originally connected it to the Thunder Machine body. I also found some off line HUGE gattling gun that I was able to mount to the chin gun mount for a little extra forward firepower, and I noticed I had a sweet satellite dish from the useless Battle Barge which also was the perfect color of red, and I thought it would make a sensible addition. Having the modifications done, I painted the whole thing up. The controls and dials inside the cockpit are done in a glow in the dark paint. I reassembled the thing and attached the missiles/torpedoes. This has been my first real vehicle custom and I am VERY pleased with how it came out, and I am glad that this group project came along and gave me the motivation to attempt it. Otherwise I may have continued to put this off for years. :-D