Recreating Rimmer's Badge

To provide some backstory, the impetus behind this little project was nothing more than a heady combination of Lockdown, and a lifetime's curiosity for a somewhat understated piece of costuming.

Rimmer's tunic badge makes its first appearance in Series III, and has featured in every series (except VIII) since. There are several variations of the piece, some switching mid-episode, but the same basic shape has remained fairly constant since 1989. For Back To Earth, a replacement Series VIII-style name tag was camera tested but replaced due to a poor reception.

The badge is thought to have made its debut in 1981, during the final, stellar, heart-swelling episode of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide... pinned to Aubrey Morris' bath-bound Golgafrinchan captain's hat, albeit inverted. Interestingly, as presented in Red Dwarf, it appears to have been modified from its inaugural(?) outing, omitting three additional brass shapes (possibly diamonds, or stars). Perhaps they... fell off.

Hitchhiker's Guide... Episode 6

Back To Earth camera test

Hitchhiker's Guide... Episode 6

The shape of the badge is... well, for lack of a better word, pointy – in some respects evoking a crown-like design, which, consciously or otherwise, emphasizes Rimmer's spiky, straight-edged demeanour. Sometimes, it boasts a name plate bearing his surname at the lower edge [Series V, VI, X, XI, XII, The Promised Land], and sometimes it doesn't [Series III, IV, VII, Back To Earth]. Its colour scheme has varied over the years, from polished brass with a metallic-looking, iridescent red-green backing [Series III-Back To Earth], to muted-silver-on-royal-blue in more recent years [Series X-The Promised Land]. For Series VI, I have a feeling the backing may have been changed from red-green to something closer to gold, though this may be down to lighting. The brass material itself has also considerably tarnished over the years, from a once sparkling gold to flat brown.

Holoship, Series V [with name plate]

Psirens, Series VI [with name plate]

Blue, Series VII [without name plate]

To date, I have never seen the badge in person, or otherwise close-up. In doing my best to recreate it, I made use of a plethora of images, screen-grabs and the like, in attempting to approximate its more recognisable features.

The Making of Back To Earth

For some reason, I ultimately settled on 75mm for the badge's longest point, though I've no idea if the actual props were made to such exacting specifications, or merely cut by hand to a rough outline. Taking inspiration from everybody's favourite green, ship-to-surface vessel, I chose to split the shape into three main sections; a baseplate, a mid-plate, and a top-plate. This was not only to impart added depth and dimensionality to the piece, but also to more easily allow each layer to solidly and squarely affix to the next.

So, with all three pieces digitally modelled, the vector files were rendered, exported, and sent off to two manufacturers; an acrylics specialist, and a metalworker.

Trojan, Series X [with name plate]

The baseplate was laser-cut from acrylic sheet that had been formed using either blue or green metallic glitter (to approximate the hologrammatic look that accompanies the screen-used pieces). Simultaneously, the remaining plates were plasma-cut from thin sheets of brass and aluminium. Whereas the acrylic pieces required no finishing work, the metal work required some additional filing and polishing – particularly the brass pieces, mostly due to the harsher nature of the ionised cutting process.

On assembly, tiny M-sized bolts were used to affix the pieces together. Originally, I had planned for these to attach through a metal safety pin for added strength, but couldn't find one wide enough to accommodate my pre-set spacing, so the idea was abandoned augmented. In attempting to replicate the fasteners that cross the central dome-like button, I incorporated mini brass acorn nuts that brought the merest hint of an engineering vibe, which I felt suited Rimmer's 'Second Technician' status. Or, is that 'First'?

The button itself is exactly that, albeit metal, and likely intended more so for fabric application than replica props. A small groove added to the baseplate allowed the shank on the reverse of the button to more comfortably sit into said hollow, though a gnat's wing more countersinking was needed to meet minimum requirements for depth. A healthy blob of two-part epoxy was then applied for stability, security, and... stability.

The metallic strips that criss-cross the button are simply thin lengths of malleable adhesive lead that I tucked under each acorn nut – the same kind used to line windows. Tricky to work with, but worthwhile all the same.

After finding a nice, utilitarian typeface for the name plate at the badge's lowest edge, I debated how best to attach it to the acrylic. Deciding against glueing, as I feared it might affect the finish, I added a pair of demi-circles at either end, just large enough to allow a pair of micro screws to be bolted through. In keeping with the design aesthetic, I realised there was no reason why these complimenting curves couldn't be pointed, and the change stuck. Very much my own little stamp.

Frustratingly, at the time, I had neglected to notice in my design files that the 'R' characters in 'RIMMER' required extra tags, like a stencil. Very kindly, my metalworker cut some replacements after I corrected the artwork.

Just prior to assembly, I added the safety pin backing onto the rear side of the badge using super-strong double-sided tape. Then, tracing the outline of the badge onto some adhesive felt, I cut two slots to allow the clasp to slide through, and pressed everything down firmly.

For continuity's sake, I initially made a point of incorporating what I believe is the same style fastener that was used for Holoship, though ultimately this brought about some problems in the way that both badges were affixed to the fabric. Due to the weight of the material, the clasps precipitated a slight tilt/lean that didn't exactly help the overall look. And all this despite the aluminium badge weighing next to nothing compared to the rather hefty brass badge. So frustrating!

Later, when I recreated and ordered a replica of the Back To Earth proto-badge to complete this set, three options were available in terms of backing: Pin, Crocodile, and Magnet. In this case, intended to support a small slab of lightweight Gravoply acrylic (specially designed for engraving, and not a mini scaffold of metals, plastics, and assorted fixings), I must admit to being dubious as to the overall effectiveness of the latter of these choices. That said, the idea appealed to me nonetheless.

Upon installation, much to my surprise, the twin, tiny neodymium discs proved surprisingly strong... After picking up a few more for further testing, I decided to abandon the pin-backs altogether. Bearing in mind the added heft of the brass pieces, I considered doubling-up the magnet-backs for that particular badge for added strength, but the grip from one of the plates proved more than adequate – with the added bonus that whatever fabric the badge is affixed to will not have to suffer repeated thread-bearing when it comes time to reattach between dry-cleans. Oh, yes. The future is now. And just like that, gone were the single, skinny strips of stainless steel.

Slightly less satisfying are the badge's points, which, uniformly and by their nature, remain quite sharp. If I were to revise, they could probably do with being rounded off slightly. Other than that, obviously you can't expect perfection first time, but I am quite delighted with the way my badges have gone down. So much so, in fact, that I put together a speculative third design of my very own...

This super-light Tachyon badge is my own take on the piece, and may well have complimented Rimmer's short-lived Diamond Light upgrade in The Promised Land. There's not much to say regarding its appearance compared to the others, aside from being almost entirely transparent, and its baseplate sporting a special iridescent sheen. Depending on the viewing angle, it radiates in either cool or warm hues, or simply crystal clear.

As before, I considered gluing on the name tag, but was slightly concerned the adhesive might escape its boundaries and result in a shitey-sprite finish. So, I made use of tiny silver screws, which, in my head-canon, are in fact twin, parallel micro light bees. What?

The hemisphere dome, this time, is a prismatic Crystal Maze-inspired acrylic button that also required some light etching to seat perfectly (the satisfying plastic clack that accompanied its final fitting was mind-meltingly superb). So far, I haven't found anything fitting to serve as the criss-cross brace, though this might change in the future. Lastly, another small adhesive neodymium disc was affixed to the reverse side. Being shiny, this is effectively cloaked by the prism, rendering it virtually invisible.

All in, this project has taken no less than two-and-a-half years to complete. So long in fact that the original plastics company I dealt with seems to have closed its doors, requiring me to search further afield for the last few parts. Overall, I enjoyed the process so much, I must say, I almost didn't want it to end. Hang about...

> HOLMEM

> PASSWORD: OVERRIDE

> "THE DESIGN, MANUFACTURE, AND ASSEMBLY OF RIMMER'S BADGE"

> ERASE

... What's all this, then?