Phoenix wrote: H.K. Rodd breaks into the headquarters of the mad scientist, gets captured and is taken into a room where Simpson is demonstrating the sheer power of his weather-controlling weapon to some mega-rich potential associates. They are watching Simpson wipe Birmingham from the map within 24 hours by using constant rainfall. It's actually a good job H.K. was on the ball to prevent the catastrophe as I was living there at the time! Anyway, Rodd is securely strapped into an electric chair, and electrocuted. Rodd is apparently dead when the straps are finally removed but he is, of course, still alive, and quickly turns the tables on the conspirators. However, Simpson escapes into his secret laboratory and, before anyone can figure out how to get in, but not before they can get to a protective shelter, he blows up his machine, his life's work he calls it, so that nobody will ever get to know his fantastic discoveries. Everything in sight is liquidated but inevitably H.K. lives to fight another day.
Thanks for that detailed description, Phoenix, and your beyond-the-call-of-duty (though I suspect you do quite enjoy a Thomson-related challenge) search for the snowball robots; I expect they'll be onkle-ing at you in your nightmares tonight.
In the absence of said frozen precipitation mechanical onklers, as you've already wasted a good few hours on these matters, is there any chance you might consider posting a page of Birmingham being wiped from the map by constant rainfall (did they not have drains in Birmingham back then?) - or did you possibly take any photos of the event from your window when you were living there at the time? Perfectly understandable if that's not convenient; you've already done more than enough, and your information has been superb.
Meanwhile, it appears that my cheese dream theory for those robots is gaining credence.