20 Things You Didn’t Know About Octopussy (1983)
14. “I Trust You Can Handle This Contraption, Q?” “It Goes By Hot Air.”
The explosive assault by Octopussy's girls on The Monsoon Palace was shot on a highly-detailed soundstage set constructed by production designer, Peter Lamont on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios.
It was enclosed by a huge cyclorama backdrop depicting the surroundings of the real Monsoon Palace in Udaipur, which was unfortunately affected by damp during shooting as the 007 Stage did not have a double-skinned roof. The dampness soon dried up under the hot studio lights, but Lamont properly corrected problems such as this when he rebuilt the 007 Stage after it burnt down in 1984 during the production of Sir Ridley Scott’s Legend (1985).
A full-scale Union Jack hot air balloon was used for close-ups of Roger Moore and Desmond Llewelyn when Q transports Double-0 Seven to the battle, whilst establishing shots of it were captured using miniatures of both the balloon and the palace constructed by special effects supervisor, John Richardson at Pinewood Studios.