Thunderball S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Tow Sled
thespyboys11
Lindenwold,NJPosts: 1,894MI6 Agent
OPERATION: THUNDERBALL S.P.E.C.T.R.E. TOW SLED
In 1965 SPECTRE’S plan for world domination was thwarted by Agent 007 James Bond leading an underwater squad of Para-Marines against a legion of SPECTRE agents led by Emilio Largo.
A captured M.O.S nuclear bomb was guarded by teams of SPECTRE divers being pulled along by the use of self-propelled tow sleds with twin-mounted compressed air spearguns.
These tow sleds were manufactured by Jordan Klein whose job as ‘Director of Underwater Engineering’ was to provide the underwater props used in the film.
Originally there were 14 of the sleds built for the production company of which now only two exist. One of them is owned by the Ian Fleming foundation and is currently displayed in a Bond exhibition tour while the remaining one was owned by Jordan.
In 2005 I attended the New York National Boat show held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York hosting “the Boats of Bond’ exhibit. Many of the actual vessels used in the films were displayed by the Ian Fleming Foundation.
Upon seeing the tow sled on display I noticed that the spearguns mounted on the sled were not the same as the ones used in the film.
In 2007 I met Doug Redenius (Vice President of IFF) at Hofstra University while attending a Bond symposium and alerted him of that fact. I advised Doug that I had acquired the correct spearguns that were used in the film and he contracted me to supply them with resin copies. Doug contacted Jordan who confirmed they were the correct ones as were used in the film. These duplicates were supplied to the IFF who proceeded to mount them on the tow sled they had acquired and currently on display at ‘The Bond in Motion Exhibition’
I was later contacted by Jordan who also requested a set be provided for him to use on the last remaining tow sled from the film.
Jordan recently sold his sled to ‘Prop Store’ (http://www.propstore.com) who will be putting it up for auction in their upcoming auction catalog.
In closing, I am proud to say that the only two surviving tow sleds used in the film are now mounted with my copies of the correct spearguns and are ready for action should SPECTRE decide to try to once more face Bond in an underwater battle.
Ed Maggiani – TheSpyBoys.com
This is the Tow sled prior to having the correct spearguns mounted
,,,and here she is ready for action as if she came right out of the film
Here are some pics of the speargun replicas I supplied to the Ian Fleming Foundation.
I am currently producing the short barreled version used by the Aqua Para-Marines as well Bond himself.
In 1965 SPECTRE’S plan for world domination was thwarted by Agent 007 James Bond leading an underwater squad of Para-Marines against a legion of SPECTRE agents led by Emilio Largo.
A captured M.O.S nuclear bomb was guarded by teams of SPECTRE divers being pulled along by the use of self-propelled tow sleds with twin-mounted compressed air spearguns.
These tow sleds were manufactured by Jordan Klein whose job as ‘Director of Underwater Engineering’ was to provide the underwater props used in the film.
Originally there were 14 of the sleds built for the production company of which now only two exist. One of them is owned by the Ian Fleming foundation and is currently displayed in a Bond exhibition tour while the remaining one was owned by Jordan.
In 2005 I attended the New York National Boat show held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York hosting “the Boats of Bond’ exhibit. Many of the actual vessels used in the films were displayed by the Ian Fleming Foundation.
Upon seeing the tow sled on display I noticed that the spearguns mounted on the sled were not the same as the ones used in the film.
In 2007 I met Doug Redenius (Vice President of IFF) at Hofstra University while attending a Bond symposium and alerted him of that fact. I advised Doug that I had acquired the correct spearguns that were used in the film and he contracted me to supply them with resin copies. Doug contacted Jordan who confirmed they were the correct ones as were used in the film. These duplicates were supplied to the IFF who proceeded to mount them on the tow sled they had acquired and currently on display at ‘The Bond in Motion Exhibition’
I was later contacted by Jordan who also requested a set be provided for him to use on the last remaining tow sled from the film.
Jordan recently sold his sled to ‘Prop Store’ (http://www.propstore.com) who will be putting it up for auction in their upcoming auction catalog.
In closing, I am proud to say that the only two surviving tow sleds used in the film are now mounted with my copies of the correct spearguns and are ready for action should SPECTRE decide to try to once more face Bond in an underwater battle.
Ed Maggiani – TheSpyBoys.com
This is the Tow sled prior to having the correct spearguns mounted
,,,and here she is ready for action as if she came right out of the film
Here are some pics of the speargun replicas I supplied to the Ian Fleming Foundation.
I am currently producing the short barreled version used by the Aqua Para-Marines as well Bond himself.
Comments
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
Need to buy some resin and start castings.
And just think...your resin copy will be from the same mold as the one on Jordon Klein's original Tow Sled as well as the one on the other surviving Tow sled in the Ian Fleming Collection...pretty cool.
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
I see you're in Philly. We should get together one day.
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
These are probably the rarest spearguns in existence, and probably illegal in some countries. I've never seen one come up for sale, and I know Ed lucked out on the one he has. I've only seen one come up on EBay of the same make but the incorrect model and if memory serves it went for a couple of $k. These are without doubt the holy grail of spearguns.
www.justgiving.com/inMemoryOfLewisCollins
www.helpforheroes.org.uk
Fan dreams do come true. God bless Maggiani and Redenius! Here's to you, fellows.
Tom
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
Hi,
Thank you for your kind words they are very appreciated.
Yes, all the parts are resin except for the barrel. I use either a brass or aluminum tube for strength because a resin barrel would be too fragile. I also use the tube so I can insert a replica spear into the tube so you can display it with or without the spear in the tube. I also make it so the trigger is movable. I insert a tiny spring inside a hole that the trigger pin protrudes from so that the trigger can move the pin in and the spring forces it back out. All the screws are real steel screws. I also replace the resin speartip with a real one.
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
No, unfortunately, I don't have names but I believe it was done by the Prop Store in L.A.
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
Again, curious who did the work here and which is the more accurate tow, this, or the Prop Store listing?
Brandon from the Prop Shop said "We had top repaint it, as it had been done again in the wrong colors. Fortunately, when we took off the access panel on top, the original silvers and reds were still under the lid"
--Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
Ed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPKc8EhebCw
the spyboys Facebook page
More views (click on any to enlarge):
After my visit, was crated and off to the exhibit
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
Yes, I was at TGAA and will be putting up pics -- little by little -- on facebook. To be honest, I'm not a huge MfU fan and went mostly just to see the car!