Custom G.I. Joe ROC RHINO Into Mauler

First off, I personally was never a fan of the Rhino and I even hated the fact that Heavy Metal was the driver. The Rhino never suited him. He deserved something with more beef. My buddy picked up the Rhino because he wanted Heavy Metal only and gave me the Rhino. I stared at the hunk of plastic with the ridiculous excuse for a helicopter. I've always been a fan of the military Staghound, so I figured I'd take a stab at it.

With the staghound in mind, I started putting together what parts I would need. I picked up a complete Mobat from a member off the tank because I needed the top turret. Why the Mobat instead of the Mauler, thats because the Mobat turret was shorter and looked better than the Mauler. Next, the Rhino was too close to the ground so I decided to lift up the suspension by sawing off the original pegs then drilled and inserted a metal rod through the Rhino and the wheels. To make the turret work and be able to rotate 360, I would have to elevate it for clearance. A plastic tube I picked up infront of a house that was under construction while I was taking a jog. After a few alterations, I was able to make it work. I cleared out the center divider for optimum troop carriage.

Finally, I picked up an original Mauler stickersheet off ebay and I had to wait a few weeks for it to arrive from England. I hope ya'll enoy it. Heavy Metal looks a lot happier with his new ride.

P.S.- CIAD, the first picture is dedicated to you my friend. You might recognize something.

Enjoy!!

Thanks to my baby dollface for the great photography!

holy schnaikies! thats nice.

Very modern. I like it alot, and like you better than the original.

That IS AWESOME!!! FRONT PAGE THIS BABY!!

Incredible job and great vision for a crappy toy. You turned it into a really cool tank!

Great job. I am truely impressed!

Thats Awesome bro!

Very cool. Nice idea and follow through.

simply amazing. Best joe vehicle custom i've ever seen, it would be a must have if hasbro put it on the shelf.

Oh my! That is just totally awesome. You should make more and sell them! Can you take more pics of the interior? I'd love to see how you did what you did with the seat inside and also to see how you modded the turret onto it.

front page this thing, TTT !!!!
amazing dude, i love it !

awsome work! i'm not a fan of the rhino either but this i would buy

Awesome idea and execution, superb! I'd buy a couple of these in a heartbeat, though I do like my RHINO. Front page indeed!

Massive WIN! Get that sucker in production ;)

Jaw --> Floor

VERY nice.

Very Awesome!!

The choice of paint color was amazing !

awesome improvement

The next day the house collapsed to the ground. The new homeowners have no idea what could of happened.

Wow. That is truly amazing. Well done!

Damn! Well done!

This is really well done ... good job! More pictures please. You have excellent vision for how things should fit together.

That's nice!

This is awesome work man, love the look of this bad boy! Agreed, this is front-page material right here.

here that ttt, gotta get it front paged

wow i was reading the description and thinking "long intros always let you down with the actual delivery" but wow WOW can i send you my rhinos and you convert them?

Holy Mary mother of @#$% me sideways that is AWESOME!

... Holy shiznit.... That is GODDLY!!!

Very, very nice. Another custom that blows away anything Hasbro will do.

And Heavy Metal is the driver.

so this is that thing you were working on awsome bro!! it turned out great!

very nice man! i love it!

Excellent custom!

But I think the Rhino is great too, it's a mobile helicopter base and troop carrier and small command center, they could use some of your custom armor for close-in defense.

man this is sweeeeeettt...

This is one of the best customs posted in awhile. Great job.

now that is wicked cool.

nice! reminds me of that shit from "aliens"

What a truly amazing job. You should be proud.

Mass produce these things, and post us up a price tag

I love it!

That is awesome! I have been eyeing up a few more Rhinos, just waiting for them to hit 75% off, because I really dig the helicopter. I didn't know what I could do with the Rhino bodies, I think I will try this. I have a shit ton of Mobats lying around I can use.

The RHINO always reminded me, and a few other tank members I know of the APC from ALIENS, as well.

I think the bigger fans of the movie always identify with this vehicle as the JOE version of the APC from ALIENS.

P.S

It has been some time since a custom non-transforming vehicle has been front paged. This does deserve it. Even the photography is good!

Also, what is the exact name of the paint color? Wouldn't mind doing up a MOBAT in the same color.

And a cool original codename for the vehicle would be THE TUSK.

...as in reference to the cannon, and the vehicle's ability to simply drive thru stuff- Like a tusk.

Awesome custom vehicle.

Ive been sitting on the paint to repaint mine simular to that. Im moving in a few weeks so i was putting it off. Now thanks to your creation ive got an idea!!! Great work!! Thats simply awesome!!!!

Wow thats all i got i wuold buy a couple of these! like everone else i say front page it for sure

this is so f'n cool it makes me happy in ways it shouldn't

This is one sexy sweetheart

Sir, you have just single-handedly exceeded this week's Holy Sh!t Quotient on your own.

This. Is. BRILLIANT.

Awesome!

What a terrific piece of work!

that thing looks tough,nice work!