Jordan Klein's Thunderball Towsled restoration

ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
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For various reasons it has been a while since the Donkey posted anything here on AJB007 so here is something you really need the nads or indeed Donkey Balls to undertake and to be honest I have been itching to do this since I purchased it from the first Propstore Live auction and it has always been on the back burner since sympathetically restoring Sir Sean’s YOLT Little Nellie flying helmet, the screen accurate restoration of Jordan Klein’s Thunderball Towsled. With the battery cover removed you can clearly see the original silver and red paint lurking beneath so not too sure why the original restorer in the USA’s colour match was not SA?. When Jordan supplied it to Propstore for auction, like the YOLT flying helmet it had been repainted black for use as an underwater camera mount amongst other things!

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Boat building 101. Apart from mounting the spear guns these wooden vanes are structural but for some unknown reason the original restorer? chose to stick them down with slabs of filler which was able to flex so the battery cover didn’t fit properly & make a good seal. All those layers of sh*te filler have now been removed allowing a much better & therefore tighter fit. You can see just how thick the filler was next to the left vane which it used to be underneath! Thankfully all internal wooden supports were marked Port and Starboard and the Donkey now knows the difference! -{

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Early days and shed loads of work to go but after who knows how many decades of being fitted incorrectly? The battery cover is finally fitted flush inside rather than astride the Towsled casing giving a more pleasing SA rounded appearance and all those irritating bloody screw holes have been filled in apart from those which would entail rubbing down the original remaining 55 year old paint swatches! -{

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A further illustration showing just how incorrect the silver is as this major rub on the black painted keel reveals the original darker colour beneath. One good thing though, the remaining black paint is 100% original!
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Why a Towsled sinks, unfortunately these are not all original ballast holes as some "tool" made two bloody great holes in the hull to stick scaffolding poles through to mount it to its bespoke and now binned base!

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After preparing the shell, 37 rivets were drilled out which secured the aluminium trim which in turn holds the top casing to the lower

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Last seen like this in 1965?

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Of the 12 Towsleds built for the production this one is marked VII (7) in Roman Numerals and is also signed Jordan Klein although the only way to see said markings is to disassemble it!

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At one time in its life the Towsled had received such a hard frontal impact that the nosecone split and folded back in on itself, a bit like when you try and assemble a box and one tab will only lay flat when it actually needs to fold beneath. It’s 100 times harder with fibreglass matting, 55 year old fibreglass matting!

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Apart from finding the number “7” inside the casing this was an exciting find for me. Originally held in place and indeed obscured by filler and an overspray of silver paint, I always believed this was just a glass dome for a green light however after spending in excess of 6 hours chipping, carving and rubbing down the filler with 80 grit paper & finally polishing the glass with hot soapy water and wire wool & a spot of buffing with toothpaste and an old sock, a liquid filled US Divers compass was revealed and it still works! -{

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As research is always ongoing and I'm pretty anal when trying to lock down details, while studying screen grabs of the Towsleds locked in their wall mounts aboard the Disco Volante, with a major Doh! and full hand face slap I've realised that to accommodate the incorrectly fitted/oversize battery cover the wooden vanes which the spear guns mount on had each been moved outwards by roughly 1" meaning the freshly filled irritating screw holes had to be opened out again as these were the original mounting points ...oh f*ck it! :(

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The now correctly positioned wooden spear gun mounts

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The replica control box is bloody wrong too because as this rarely seen BTS image reveals the original is partially transparent plus the shadow cast by the box clearly shows a power cable coming out of the left side, and entering the sled where a switch has been incorrectly installed (like the box copied off the very wrong IFF example!) & I bet no one had noticed that before? :s

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The screen accurate? Control box with power cable starts to take shape courtesy of a shadow cast in a 55 year old photograph. Just requires a simulated glass gauge showing how much juice the batteries were using or what speed the thing goes up to? -{

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Scaffolding pole holes filled leaving the correct amount of ballast holes (4)

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Test reassembly complete. Next stop paint and the fitting of freshly black anodised Pellitier spear guns.

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Screen accurate restoration of the Pellitier spear guns courtesy of Badger Anodising, Birmingham -{

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The rarely seen steering control bar much like those found on hang gliders.


My heart felt thanks go out to 95 year old Mr Jordan Klein who not only designed and built this iconic piece of Bond history but who also took the trouble to reply to my emails regarding this restoration project! -{

Comments

  • thespyboys11thespyboys11 Lindenwold,NJPosts: 1,844MI6 Agent
    That took a lot of guts to get it there and get it to look right!!! A lot of people would have said 'Don't touch it. Leave it as is."
    Personally, you did the right thing. Just as with the Little Nellie helmet, this needed to be brought back to its original glory.
    Also, it had previously been repainted black then repainted back to its screen color (almost). You've just continued with that restoration with the exception that you're doing it right! Top marks on that Donk!!!! --Ed
  • bondpropfanbondpropfan Southern UKPosts: 288MI6 Agent
    You're not wrong Donk, i think, as its already had a go at it previously by others, you are only correcting those mistakes and as Ed has stated, you are paying homage to the original in its glory.

    Still ballsy though, good on ya fella...
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,416Chief of Staff
    That’s a fair job to tackle, but I’m certain you’ll get it all spot on {[]

    Nice to see you back -{
    YNWA 97
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    Post one updated -{
  • thespyboys11thespyboys11 Lindenwold,NJPosts: 1,844MI6 Agent
    ppw3o6r wrote:
    meaning the freshly filled irritating screw holes had to be opened out again as these were the original mounting points ...oh f*ck it!

    HOLEY Mackerel!!!
    --Ed
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,416Chief of Staff
    Coming along VERY nicely -{
    YNWA 97
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    Post one updated -{
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,416Chief of Staff
    Got to hand it to you, Donk...you don’t do things by halves :D {[]
    YNWA 97
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    When will it be tested in your bathtub, Donk? :v
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • ACACIA_AVENUEACACIA_AVENUE UKPosts: 1,774MI6 Agent
    Sir Miles wrote:
    Got to hand it to you, Donk...you don’t do things by halves :D {[]

    Got to agree with you Sir Miles -{
    When Donk does a restoration the end result is always stunning !!
    One of us smells like a tart's handkerchief.
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    Post one updated. Next stop paint! -{
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,416Chief of Staff
    I just love your enthusiasm and devotion, Donk...you really don’t leave anything to chance -{
    YNWA 97
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    Post one updated with a bang!. Last update before paint/completion -{
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,416Chief of Staff
    ppw3o6r wrote:
    Post one updated with a bang!. Last update before paint/completion -{

    This is going to be an amazing piece when finally completed -{
    YNWA 97
  • AndBAndB Posts: 11MI6 Agent
    Read a few chapters in Robert Sellers's "The Battle for Bond" last night, including the part where he describes the finding of a sled in Kevin McClory's garden back in 1987. This wouldn't be that example, would it?
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    AndB wrote:
    Read a few chapters in Robert Sellers's "The Battle for Bond" last night, including the part where he describes the finding of a sled in Kevin McClory's garden back in 1987. This wouldn't be that example, would it?

    No. Jordan Klein had kept this up in the rafters of his seafront beach hut in the US -{
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