  Six dimensional bulk spacetimes with 3-- and 4--branes are constructed using
certain non--conventional bulk scalars as sources. In particular, we
investigate the consequences of having the phantom (negative kinetic energy)
and the Brans--Dicke scalar in the bulk while obtaining such solutions. We find
geometries with 4--branes with a compact on--brane dimension (hybrid
compactification) which may be assumed to be small in order to realize a
3--brane world. On the other hand, we also construct, with similar sources,
bulk spacetimes where a 3--brane is located at a conical singularity.
Furthermore, we investigate the issue of localization of matter fields (scalar,
fermion, graviton, vector) on these 3-- and 4--branes and conclude with
comments on our six dimensional models.
