Making Marvin

“At every convention, you can see Daleks, Stormtroopers, Predators, and more, but where’s our favorite Paranoid Android? I’ve decided to right this egregious wrong.”

I’m currently building a full-sized MARVIN costume, based on the BBC TV series version that we all love.
I’m a costumer, artist and designer, with a huge love for sci-fi. I have a background in set, prop and costume making, and I decided it’s time I satisfied my 40 year-old dream of having a Marvin of my own, to keep me company, and also take out into the world to dispense his wisdom among the humans.

The costume itself will look very accurate and realistic, but it may differ in some small aspects, as it is NOT an exact replica. I do not have access to original plans and measurements, so this will be my interpretation of the suit. However, being a designer, I intend to make it extremely faithful to the original, with newer processes such as 3D Printing and Vacforming etc. Most people won’t be able to tell the difference.

At the time of typing this, I’m well underway to finishing the suit. I plan to get him ready to roll by the end of July, to help me host the Cardiff International Tattoo Convention this year, where the theme of the show is ‘all Things Cosmic!’

The costume was built by the BBC Visual Effects department, headed by Jim Francis. It was mainly fibreglass and metalwork, and although it was a one-off, it still survives today, having been spruced up for a small cameo in the 2005 Hitchhiker’s Movie by another legendary VFX craftsman Mike Tucker, who looks after Marvin these days at Ealing Studios. Inside the costume was David Learner, who performed under great strain, acting inside this box, with all the dialogue, and imbuing Marvin with a fitting physicality. Stephen Moore reprised the voice role of Marvin and an iconic character whinged his way into our hearts.

I’ve set up a Kickstarter campaign to help me fund some of the processes and materials needed to finish the suit off. I’d say I’m about 50% there already, but could do with a bit of help to get him completed in time.

So what am I offering in return for your help? Well I’ll be sending out my entire build plans, scale drawings, sketches, materials list, specific information, supplier links and video clips where I show how I made this suit, so you can, if you so wish, build one of your own at any size.

Terry Cooper 

UK based author, illustrator of fantasy, science fiction. Director – my first feature film OFFWORLD was 500% funded on Kickstarter in 2016

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