THUNDERBALL!!! – Prepwork (5): The Speargun

As work continues slowly--but surely!--on the DPU, I resumed working on the speargun.And it is now completely assembled. . . BUT, not before deciding to remove Bond's right hand! This was yet another bad call on the part of the sculptor/s and/or the design team. . . 

By removing Bond's hand, I can now proceed without worrying about the relatively fragile weapon; and its positioning is limited only by the anatomical limitations of the wrist joint--and the aesthe- tic considerations of the vignette. 

But first I will have to drill out the distal portion of the right forearm, and sculpt the wrist stump. . .

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

THUNDERBALL!!! – Prepwork (4): Finishing the DPU, pt. 3

The head lamp turned out to be a little more involved than anticipated. . . 

After several unsuccessful attempts to position and integrate the lamp--close, but no cigar!--I decided to design a lamp-mount using telescoping aluminum tubing. BINGO!!! The fit is perfect, and there is now a metal infrastructure to support the yet-to-be reworked bow cone. 

Movin' right along. . . 

24.06.2020:
The bow cone is all-but-done. A definite improvement over the initial attempt, which was decid- edly better than the stock offering. . .

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

THUNDERBALL!!! – Prepwork (4): Intermezzo (3)

While I await the arrival of the raw materials to effect my redesign of the DPU, I continued re- working Bond's fins--now completely roughed-in; and detailing the Voit mask, which is molded  
en suite with the 'groundwork'. . . 

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

THUNDERBALL!!! – Prepwork (4): Finishing the DPU, pt. 2: Intermezzo (2)

I was pondering the work done over the last ten days or so, trying to decide what was still nag- ging at me. . . It occurred to me that in spite of the dimensional and visual improvements effected to date, I was not "raising the bar" as far as the structural details were concerned. In short, I was playing by Andrea's rules. So I decided that the next steps would be to create two independent subunits: the lamp housing and the prop shroud. These items would be pure model scratch- building exercises.

The tubing is on order and I hope to have the headlamp finalized by the end of the weekend. The shroud may take a bit longer. . .   

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

THUNDERBALL!!! – Prepwork (4): Finishing the DPU, pt. 2

This is either the first enhancement of Phase 2. . . or the final step of Phase 1. . . Regardless, the air/propulsion canisters of the DPU-mounted spearguns have been replaced with 14ga steel tubing--and in spite of the undersized "scooter", it is now looking like what it is supposed to re- present! The stock canisters were dramatically underscaled (no surprise there), but the design and casting resulted in unacceptable irregularities.

14.06.2020 - INTERMEZZO 
With the work on the stern half of the scooter effectively done, it was time to reassess the overall lines of the DPU--and it was found lacking. A major reason for this is the dramatically undersized head lamp. I am now in the process of reworking the bow cone of the DPU, including the upgrade of the head lamp. I have also removed the "soft-cast" explosive speartips on either side of the lamp: they will not be replaced.

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

THUNDERBALL!!! – Prepwork (4): Finishing the DPU, pt. 1

The bands securing the DPU to the backboard attaching it to the air tanks have been sized and permanently mounted. The bands were made from sheet aluminum, and attached with AMMO's Ultra Glue.

05.06.2020:
The shroud is every bit as challenging as I thought it might be. I intended to make the mounting brackets from sized sheet aluminum, but the rigidity of the Al, even after annealing, was a major deal-breaker. I have already hammered and sized a length of tin solder that will hopefully facilitate the mounting of the shroud. FOLLOW-UP: The shroud has been 'assembled', fitted, and perma- nently attached! There is still a fair amount of finishing, fine detailing, etc. to be done, but now the work can proceed in situ.

06.06.2020:
The propeller. It is somewhat understandable why Andrea chose to dispense with the DPU's pro- peller, especially given the kit's scale and the technology of the times. Nonetheless, an empty/ prop-less shroud is unequivocally unacceptable! 2-bladed props less than 4mm in diameter are hardly common fare, so I've embarked on yet another sub-project to fulfill my vision of THE pro- ject. So far, so good. FOLLOW-UP: The prop is DONE!!! Classic sculpting exercise driven by good visualization and excellent references (i.e., movie stills). The prop was sculpted from a solid block of resin supported by an 18ga dispensing tip that will double as its mounting peg.

09.06.2020:   
Phase 1 of the DPU is officially DONE! Phase 2 will be the detailing and cleaning of what was provided--strictly enhancements. 

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003