I was an avid builder when I was a kid, playing with Legos, rockets, model airplanes and Lincoln Logs, but when Star Wars entered my life it completely dominated the arena. I would make X-Wings with adjustable wings with my Legos (back before they actually had kits and instructions on how to do so) and I even remember going to the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. and picking out a huge plastic model of the Millennium Falcon. That probably goes a long way in explaining my fascination with the new project hatched by Star Wars fan Chris Lee of Nashville, Tennessee.
According to The Tennessean, Lee has instigated a plan and has gotten a number of fans to help out in his mission to construct a full-size replica of Han Solo's famous smuggling vessel. The final plan is to make a 114-foot long ship, with individuals from around the world building individual parts that will come together as a whole once the work is done.
The project began when Lee connected online with a bunch of other fans who agreed to help him in the endeavor. A graphic artist in Huntsville, Alabama is right now building the cockpit in his home and even an an executive at Elstree Studios in Great Britain has reached out to them.
So where will the ship be put together? Lee owns an 88-acre piece of property and then are in the midst of clearing out a 400-by-400 foot section for construction. Once the Millennium Falcon is complete it will stay there and the creators are thinking about turning the area into some kind of non-profit organization, such as a "maker camp that encourages all kinds of creativity and construction."
It's expected that the project will take at least five years to complete and all told will cost between $200,000 and $800,000 to get done. Sounds like it's worth it to me.
To read more about the group, find out all the latest info, head over to their homepage at FullScaleFalcon.com/.
