Meet Johnny 5!
RESOURCEFUL RYAN’S SCI-FI DREAM NOW A REALITY
A HUCKNALL man is “reliving his childhood” after building a life-size replica of a much-loved 1980s movie robot.
No, not R2-D2. Ryan Howard, a 33-year-old engineer, has instead built Short Circuit star Johnny 5 over the course of almost four years.
This robot stands at 6 feet tall, and is only one of about four or five in the world, according to Ryan.
“As a kid, I was mad on the film. I grew up with it and played it on repeat,” he said.
“About four or five years ago I got a 3D printer and thought ‘ooh I’ll make myself a Johnny 5 head.’ Then I thought I might as well make all of him.”
After 3D printing for around two years, Ryan realised that – due to its fragility – plastic would not be strong enough to hold the robot’s frame.
He therefore started again, instead building Johnny mostly from aluminium and steel.
This took a further 18 months, but ensures it is “99 percent true to the original” robot.
“It became a bit obsessive, during lockdown. I would sometimes spend 12 hours in the garage,” Ryan revealed.
“I would just lose myself in there because what else could you do? It helped me escape the madness the world was in at that time.”
He will be taking the creation to this weekend’s EM-CON at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena as one of the main attractions alongside the likes of Doctor Who’s Tardis and a Back To The Future Delorean and star guests including Catherine Tate, John Rhys Davies and former Doctor Whos Peter Davison, Paul Mcgann, Sylvester Mccoy andf Colin Baker.
“I’m really looking forward to people being able to see him,” beamed Ryan. “When I finished him and was able to drive him around, it was like seeing my childhood come to life.”
The whole experience has made him want to create more Johnny 5s, but says due to the fact his young children keep mistaking it for WALL-E, he may just put one of those together.
And what for the long-term future of Johnny? Ryan says he’s “become one of the family” so won’t be leaving the house anytime soon: “The kids love it and my wife’s done very well to put up with me, to be honest.”