Octopussy Fountain Pen
B549WUU
Posts: 209MI6 Agent
Hi
Does anyone have any idea of the model of Mont Blanc pen used in Octopussy. As far as I can see it is a Barley design in silver, I am also wondering whether anyone on here has attempted to make the "ultra sensitive earpiece" before?
Having just acquired the correct Seiko it would be a nice addition.
Thanks
Simon
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
Comments
Sounds like a nice little project 😊
It was a Mont Blanc pen. There's a bit of info. about it here:
https://www.thepenmarket.com/vintage-pens-blog/2016/09/james-bond-has-no-ordinary-mont-blanc/
Thanks I think I’ve found the right pen but just wondering if anyone has ever tried to make the listening device. Presumably they swapped out end of the pen and moulded one of their own to match as the barley pattern is not present on that bit.
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
Sorry to ask again but is anyone any the wiser as to the colour of the screen used pen
i.e. silver or gold
In the posters it is gold
Speaking to Mont Blanc they say silver and the link above implies silver
On freeze framing the film it looks like it 'could' be silver reflecting the lighting but not sure
Want to get the closest from a screen accuracy perspective
Any thoughts appreciated..
Thanks
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
Definitely gold not silver, confirmed by comparing it to the pen tip which is predominantly chrome silver. UHD screenshots show the pattern as actually being straight lines not barley, as per the promo poster.
Just to add that on screen the pen looks more of a paler gold than in the poster, where the richer gold of the Faberge egg next to the pen would make it look closer to silver.
amazing - thank you
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
My pleasure. Good luck with the project, it's a neat one and as far as I know hasn't been done before.
Yes it almost feels like the forgotten Bond gadget in a way!
The earpiece looks very complex, I'm sure you'll do a great job though.
They should have had a Mont Blanc limited edition instead of going with another pen company. MB do these things as they released a Kingsman edition a few years back.
Teasing things to come…
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
Listening device in MK1 phase
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
Nice touch with the jars. I imagine the top ring area of the listening device would be the hardest part due to its fiddly size.
Here is a replica made by an Ken Smith - an AJB member that we haven't heard from in years.
Hoping he's doing well and still turning out an occasional Bond prop. --Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
It’s a 10mm wire ring just need to solder some gold coloured wire to it and the bulkier ring beneath - the latter looks to have been stripped from another pen and I think I have found a close match as the original prop has a more detailed ring with ridging evident on stills. The complicated one is the ring at the base as in the stills this looks like it has a bayonet like attachment to ‘lock’ into the pen lid. Again I think the bullet shaped base was scavenged from other pens. I have been buying up pens for the last couple of months for spare parts.
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
Actually I forgot that Ken made one of these. Amongst an amazing collection, he had all the Brosnan watches outfitted with their respective gadgets, it was impressive work.
Hi Folks
Thought I'd share some progress on this project.
Just to say I do not consider myself a prop maker, especially in such esteemed company (Ed, Henrik, Jeff and others) so this is very much a "having a go" project.
In short, nightmare project as working at a scale of millimetres is really tough.
So this is Mk1 and I am planning to redo it.
1. Not happy with the bottom ring(s) as you will note from screen captures, the original prop was likely harvested from another (non-Mont Blanc) pen the brass/gold rings at the base are not in fact rings but appear to be clips that likely locked onto something in the pen top. This is difficult to fabricate at this scale even with a dremill and jewellery saw and suspect I will concede to this reflecting the final appearance.
2. cutting brass rings from a pipe at 2-3mm depth has also been difficult so I have invested in a pipe cutter so I hopefully get an even result
3. working with epoxy (aluminium microtubes don't bind to brass rings very well any other way) is messy but I will be applying next time with a needle to minimise overflow
4. the crimping on the tubes needs to be a bit further down
5. the upper ring (top end) on the original prop looks again like it was harvested for another pen - likely the ring at the base of a pen top as it has some contour to it. The closest I can find is on a Parker pen but that is also branded with the parker name which unless I fill in and respray (which may look awful) leaves me a bit stuck
6. you'll notice a small empty vial in the presentation box which I am planning to use to house the "bug" that Q inserts in the egg with tweezers again this is difficult due to the scale as working on scaling up is only about 4x3x2mm with quite a lot of detail to it when screen capturing the close up when the egg is destroyed in the film. I suspect this was actually harvested from a model kit for something else as appears to be a moulded item as such I may have to use some artistic liberty with this.
7. I'm also having the labels redone so they are slightly more glossy and professionally cut. The smaller bottle for the "bug" will just have a "Q" sticker on it.
8. I have decided against damaging a very expensive pen to insert a prop into the lid and instead and happy to have opted to display the prop side by side - also the cap piece that I have harvested from another pen is about 1.5mm too wide.
Anyways enjoy and happy for any feedback
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
Good job, Simon!!! Most admirable project and a job well done! VERY difficult to work in such a small scale and you've done a commendable job!
I'm, sorry to say but you have entered into and earned the title of prop maker. KUDOS!!!! ---Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
I'm really impressed by that; your eyes must be smarting! I love the dinky little microchip, that's an amazing effort. Q couldn't even hold that except with tweezers because of his great big sausage fingers!
The microchip is a still from the film - I haven’t sorted that yet. It was just to link in with my point about it likely coming from a model kit. Thanks anyway for your comments
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
Thanks Ed
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.
Ah I see! Yes I agree it was probably a found part, maybe an actual electronic component. It's a bit weird for an audio bug to look like a microchip, after all.
Earpiece looks great! Now you just need to work on shielding it from hairdryers.
Just an observation, but the Q on the bottle it too modern and from the Wong time line. I think it would have still been Q Branch back then.
Maybe it's modern day Q Branch storing it in their archives 😊
Heh, Q would just dymo label it.
The DC era was an arch about James Bond and totally reinvented, none of the other missions before DC exist in his era. Unlike SC, GL, RM, TD and PB who played an ongoing James Bond each a reincarnation of the same person.
I know things pop up from the other universe like the DB5, but that is just a nod at the fans :)
Fair point but it's just a bit of fun to 'dress up' the presentation. I am not sure that a Dynamo label works next to a pen that cost a few hundred quid
Her Majesty’s loyal terrier, defender of the so called faith.