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Madame Tussauds Recreates Famous Star Wars Scenes With Wax Figures

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Members of staff put the finishing touches to the wax figure of Star Wars character Chewbacca at the Star Wars At Madame Tussauds attraction in London on May 12, 2015.
Members of staff put the finishing touches to the wax figure of Star Wars character Chewbacca at the Star Wars At Madame Tussauds attraction in London on May 12, 2015.Justin Tallis—AFP/Getty Images
By Nolan Feeney

It takes about four months for the Madame Tussauds crew to create life-like wax figures of people. But when you’re recreating entire scenes from Star Wars, including characters like Jabba the Hutt and Chewbacca, it’s a completely different story.

Around 180 wax sculptors, hair stylists and set and prop designers spent more than a year designing the 11 scenes that make up the new Star Wars exhibit, opening May 16 in London, The Guardian reports. The museum says the figures are worth close to $4 million U.S. (or £2.5 million). It took 10 people 1,000 hours to make Chewbacca with yak hair, while Jabba the Hutt’s massive size meant the team had to build the 485-pound alien sculpture in a warehouse. Sculptors even traveled to George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch to measure Princess Leia’s iconic bikini.

“We approached Lucas[film] to say we want to create an experience that’s never been done before,” general manager Ben Sweet said.

[The Guardian]

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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com