Has anyone ever tried to make 1960s-type incandescent digital displays?

Hi, All, I was recently watching "Goldfinger" and oggling the countdown timer on the bomb. I don't think I've ever seen that type of display technology up close, but in principle, it shouldn't be hard to replicate. <http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/calculator_displays.html#Incandescent> I was thinking that some sort of modern CNC would make short work of the digit faces - just CAD up some outlines and bang out a few sheets. Alternately, a pantographic sign engraver might do the trick, with suitable templates whipped up either by hand on on a CNC. The compact design for the type marked "KGM M4" looks intriguing as well - a few slits cut in an aluminum back, and a simple PCB layout for the bulbs (though I must confess I was contemplating white LEDs rather than bulbs for a variety of reasons, including longer life and simpler drive circuits). As for driving it, I was thinking about something like a '145 O.C. decimal decoder (as found in Commodore PET keyboard circuits and KIM-1 memory decoder and LED decoder circuits) per display. They aren't particulalty expensive, and all you'd have to do is pipe in 4 bits and let the '145 do all the work. Nixies and other contemporary (and now faded) display technologies are cool, but any of the glass-envelope types aren't exactly feasible to reproduce in a home workshop. -ethan -- Ethan Dicks, A-333-S Current South Pole Weather at 29-Aug-2008 at 02:50 Z South Pole Station PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -88.6 F (-67.0 C) Windchill -131.7 F (-90.9 C) APO AP 96598 Wind 12.2 kts Grid 56 Barometer 657.5 mb (11489 ft) Ethan.Dicks at usap.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html