U.N.C.L.E. meets Bond

Background (the short version).
I recently discovered NCIS, and it has quickly become one of my TV-viewing faves. Of course, seeing David McCallum, spry as ever at 76(!), as the NCIS Chief ME, Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, got me reminiscing about the halcyon days of TV in the '60s; and from 1964-68, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was a must-watch series. For those "youngsters" in the readership, David McCallum played U.N.C.L.E. agent Illya Kuryakin in this TV-spinoff of the Bond movies (NOTE: Ian Fleming, in fact, had a hand in the creation of the U.N.C.L.E. series, and the characters of Napoleon Solo and April Dancer (eventually the "Girl from U.N.C.L.E."), if only in name, were created by him.).

The Project
This will be a long-term project to savor and enjoy, so check back periodically to see what progress is being made.

That being said, let's take a peek at what lies ahead. . .

As I mentioned above, this project began with seeing David McCallum in NCIS. This led to reacquainting myself with the U.N.C.L.E. series, and taking a mental trip down memory lane. I never had the Aurora Man from U.N.C.L.E. offerings (more on these later)--by that time I was already into the planes and cars phase of the modelling "bug"; but I did have the Marx U.N.C.L.E. set of vinyl figures. If memory serves, these were about 6" tall--give or take, and I began contemplating cutting a mold and casting resin copies that could be reworked as necessary. A lot of work for what would be essentially a resin knock-off. Pass.

The Aurora Man from U.N.C.L.E. offerings (NB: 1/12th scale, slightly smaller than the Aurora norm to accommodate the expansive scenic bases; cf., Spiderman, Dick Tracy, Bond[???])--Illya and Napoleon Solo--are hard to come by, and prohibitively expensive when found. These are purely collectible/fan "grails" as the sculpts/castings left much to be desired: I might have enjoyed them as a pre-teen, but certainly not now. Still. . .

The Illya kit depicted the U.N.C.L.E. agent in his trademark black turtle/polo neck sweater crouched by a garden wall behind a square lamp post with lantern. . . Was Aurora trying to hide something? Nevertheless, it got me thinking: was there a suitable 1/8-scale kit that could be converted into Illya?

And the answer is a resounding, YES! An original Aurora James Bond is arguably as difficult, if not more so, to find than his U.N.C.L.E. cousins (and if I am not mistaken, as alluded to above, designed in 1/12th scale as well--can anyone confirm this?); but the decade-old Polar Lights "1/8th scale" reissue is not. In fact, they can be readily found for around US$20-25, and if you look hard enough and are patient, they can be had for less than $10!

And this is how the offspring of Ian Fleming's fertile imagination came to meet. The Bond kit (scales out at 1/9th scale/200mm) captures the essence of the Kuryakin kit in a much more viewer-friendly pose and setting. On the agenda for now is a new head and weapon (I'm very much looking forward to the latter!), and the addition of a shoulder holster. I'm sure there will be other mods and tweaks before it is all said and done, but this is a good start.

PS--All subassemblies (including the base/groundwork), save for the arms, are now glued and rubber-banded.

11.11.2009
The lower body (i.e., assembled legs) and the head have been filled with PUR. Regarding the latter, I created a neck extension with a clay dam prior to pouring and I now have a neck--actually the core of a neck--with which to "play around" and optimize the position of the head. As a closing note, the arms have now been assembled.

13.11.2009
I had put the kit away yesterday to attend to more pressing mundane matters, as well as ward off vexing distractions; but a couple of hours of "down time" became available late last night, and I tried to make the most of it. . .

The balance of the kit is now PUR filled. I also began to pare down the bulk of the sweater, and reduce the shoulder extensions on the torso. The latter prompted me to prep the left arm (bisected at the elbow and pegged with 1/8" tin solder) for future repositioning.

All in all a productive 90 or so minutes. I may work a bit more on this over the weekend, but Nosferatu and the Wolf Man will not wait much longer. . . tempus fugit! UPDATE: The right leg has been repositioned to depict a more believable--and sustainable!--crouch: this simply involved removing a wedge from the back of the knee. Naturally, the right foot had to be removed and repositioned as well. Since the stylish loafers will be replaced with leather combat boots, I could concern myself more with the ultimate position of the foot rather than preserving the stock footwear. UPDATE (2): With a few hours to spare this Saturday morning before having to go to work, I reduced the length of the torso and began "playing" with the pose of the figure.