We are builders; it is our lifelong passion and hobby. As kid’s we were always building something or taking something apart. I went to college at Kettering University in Flint, MI, where I met my business partner and close friend Matt Fittante. I started playing real paintball at Hell Survivors and got shot out by a Golf Kart tank at the Monster game 2006 and it annoyed me. Hell bent on building a tank for paintball destruction, I busted *** through college while building the Mini Tiger. During school, I worked at many engineering corporations, one of which was a defense contractor building MRAP armored trucks; this was my build fund. Two years, several battles, modifications, and headaches later, it was finished and we took it to D-Day 2008.
Since we were one of the first tracked and realistic paintball tanks that got national attention, we caught the attention of a WW2 airsoft reenacter who wanted a realistic Sdkfz 250 half-track to use for their Russian front events. The requirements were reliability and attention to detail, after seeing what we did with our Tiger, he entrusted us with this massive task. Just like that, Matt and I were on another project. This time we had more money than just our beer fund, so we went with steel and auto parts instead of tractor parts, scavenged junk, and plywood. The half-track began as a 1989 full-size Chevy Blazer we bought from a junkyard, and some trailer axles. We stripped the truck to the frame and kept only the front half of the frame for the engine and front axle. The engine is a custom built 350 v8 with an automatic transmission coupled to a 1 ton rear axle. It drives just like a truck and could potentially go 100mph, an unsafe speed for this machine, but the power is there.
Early chassis frame and driveline
The drive axle is underneath the driver’s seat and drives a custom made plate sprocket. The rear frame is custom built out of box tube and the trailer axles underneath are fitted with custom steel wheels. The tracks are from an excavator and are a hybrid design with steel links and rubber track pads.
Tracks and the start of the body
The body is plate steel, it may look thick but it’s only 1/8”, so paint balls only! A few things ended up not working out and we made some early mistakes but after a few changes, by the end we are pro welders and mechanics. Things took a little while longer than planned and unexpected problems arose, but we adapted. Many things were designed from scratch. There were lots of trips to different parts stores and junkyards. With a pile of steel, a plasma cutter, and a welder we built the majority of the parts, from small details like hinges, handles, and windows to major components such as the frame, body and wheels.
We taught ourselves many new
things throughout this build, figuring out things we didn’t know, and adding to our ever growing automotive and mechanical knowledge. Now with the proper tools and fabrication skills we plan on building many more things. A Tiger tank to a custom snowmobile powered go-kart, we’ll build it with a grin because we are TANKCO Custom Engineering and this is our passion.
As I am finishing writing this, D-Day 2010 is just 2 weeks away and the half-track is almost done, just a few details left to finish. If you have any questions or just want to look at the half-track, stop by our campsite and we’ll give you a tour or email Matt @ mattfittante2007@aol.com.
Will Foster
Matt Fittante
TANKCO Custom Engineering
