Mark Donald adds Bubl the robot to science fiction model garden in Forres
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A LOCAL father and science fiction fanatic has added another robot to his vast collection.
Mark Donald (44), who this summer opened a home-made Star Wars memorabilia garden to the public at his Castle Street home, has finished a “life-sized” model of the O2 robot ‘Bubl’ from the mobile phone operator’s TV adverts.
He said: “My grandmother loves the robot in the ad’. I made it for her as an early Christmas gift. It’s approximately 30 inches tall and took around three weeks to make, in and around planning for Christmas, work, exercise, sleep and time with my family!”
The kitchen porter at Inverness’ Royal Hotel used whatever materials that came to hand, including food containers, shoe inserts, metal piping, bubble blowing parts, yoghurt containers and foam tubing.
He said: “The top metal piece with a circle is metal. There’s a machine piece for the belly button, wood on the hands and thread rolls for the elbows. I mixed darker blue paint with white until I got the right shade. The finished robot in the house but goes out in the garden when the weather’s OK.”
He added: “I just finished it so that’s me now until January ... unless someone wants me to make them a prop or something for money!”
Mark usually spends his spare time and cash collecting and building Star Wars models to put on display. He aims to set up the entire display around twice-a-year in the warmer months but two of the four sections are ready for display at all times.
He said: “My Star Wars garden is doing great. I added sand to its desert area to make it more authentic instead of the beige painters’ blankets I started with when I was in a rush to finish it before going back to work after lockdown. I plan to add a couple of cool additions, including one before March.”
