New here so a hardy howdy to all and I'll jump right in. This was posted on Hiss Tank so some of you have likely seen them but I decided to venture out a little more lol.

First is a VAMP 6X6 with optional MMS modified to fit. This one was built to allow different drop in features to the rear compartment.


Second is a VAMP Halftrack with radar guided anti-aircraft guns. This one needs to be painted in a winter camo, I'm thinking a nice ride for Snow Job predating the Snow Cat. Very close to completion.


My goal was to create these as if they where from the 82-83 line. Both have scratch built doors and roofs (and halftrak windows) but otherwise I tried to reuse as much of the original era parts as possible excluding the Snow Cat traks. I did however modify the floor boards to better fit the 25th line.

I have some temp markings on the 6X6 but intend to get some actual stickers added soon.

Thanks for looking.

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Simply amazing. You must work in an auto body shop to make such seamless joints where the two shells meet. Just awesome man.

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Ummmm, Holy Crap?

, , , and various other emoticons that really don't say enough.


Freakin' awesome, dude - but we've gotta know how you extended the bodies and made them look so seamless.

Lots of people talk about something looking "factory", but damn if this thing looks like it was churned out at Hasbro HQ. -- I can't find anything on these vehicles that indicates that they're actually customs, so for the time being, until we get to know you better, I'm just gonna accuse you of stealing prototypes

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I've seen a lot of people do a double-long vamp custom before, but never so seamlessly. How do you do it?

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LOL Thanks guys.

The 6X6 took two to make and the halftrak was done with one adding an extension. Here are a couple of pics showing the in progress.
6X6 bottom:


The cutting and styrene extension for the halftrack:

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That is flawless. Awesome!

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Thanks!

The 6X6 is by far my favorite one so far. I wanted something like this for a long time. Here are a couple more photos of it:

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way to knock it out of the park!

welcome to joecustoms!

we're a better site for havin' ya here!

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DUDE, even up close there are no seams. I am completely amazed.

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I was echoing the rest of the comments about how awesome these customs are, and loving how these fit right in with the original 13 vehicles.

I know that you must have done some cutting to a VAMP to put two of them together.

I was okay with that until I saw this pic:


Then I started feeling horror and revulsion at seeing a VAMP being cut up like that...

Jeepers, put a spoiler on stuff like that!


Welcome to the board and I can't wait to see your other customs.

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Thanks again for the comments and welcome.



Agreed and so noted

I felt a bit of anxiety with the first cut. At least I kept all the really gory photos to myself lol. I did however start with stripped down junkers if that helps ease the pain any. In the future I'll go this route :

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Wow...as mentioned by several people, your modifications to the main shell are flawless. Really, really beautiful work. I love those armor panels that fold up over the windshield; they look production (as does everything else), and the fact that they function is just plain awesome.

Keep up the good work!

Holy Hell, how?

I'm looking at your "how I did it" pics and I still don't know.

Fantastic man, can you put a vamp on the APC? Not that I want to see it, but man, that is a neat trick you have.

Please make more vehicles. Maybe a stinger that has a landing pad for the bubble, or vamp with the jump's platform, wow.

Again, holy Hell!

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Oh, you're gonna fit in well on this board.

Nice work indeed.

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Thanks again Guys!

For the how I did it part I put this diagram together for someone else showing where I made the cuts to build the 6X6. I started out with two trashed and stripped down Stingers.

Step1: Remove wheels and cut off trailer hitch. With the hitch off it sets square against the bandsaw fence and is easy to add back on later if wanted.

Step2: After making all the cuts put the wheels back on all three locations. This will keep everything lined up and all 6 wheels making contact with the ground.

Step3: With everything lined up tack the joint in place with some CA. Line the inside with styrene to reinforce the seams but be careful not to interfere with the parts assembly. These still pop apart the way they did before (top and bottom halves) just longer now.

Step4: Clean up all the seams and plate the bottom with styrene. I lucked out and had super fit of the extension and didn't need any filler work. Sanding down the seams was all that was needed.

Step5: Build up the rear area with styrene however you like. In this case I made a basic cargo bed so I could drop in different features. This 6X6 also has a container box with interchangeable interiors that can serve as an ambulance or mobile radar unit.

Hope that helps explain what I did and I hope to see some more of these out there as they really are not as complicated as it may seem.

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