Star Wars Fans Building a Full Scale Replica of the Millennium Falcon

Full Scale Millennium Falcon cockpit console. Photo credit: Full Scale Millennium Falcon project.

Headed to Tennessee a decade from now? If you're a Hubber, you might consider demoting Graceland. Star Wars geek extraordinaire, Chris Lee, is building a full scale replica of the Millennium Falcon an hour outside Nashville. And who doesn’t love the “fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy?"

In Star Wars, Han Solo won the Falcon—a freighter with a "few special modifications”—in a game of Sabacc with Lando Calrissian. He used it to smuggle goods, transport a young Luke Skywalker, and fight the ultimate battle between good and evil. The ship is, of course, legendary on the silver screen. And now it’ll emerge from the depths of space and time in Tennessee.

Full Scale Millennium Falcon quad laser cannon. Photo Credit: Full Scale Millennium Falcon Project.

Lee's replica will be 114 feet long (50% the length of a Boeing 747) and 81.5 feet across. The frame will consist of steel, plywood, and fiberglass and will be as close to spec as possible—quad laser cannons to dejarik table.

To accomplish this feat, the team painstakingly rendered and reconciled detailed blueprints. No trivial matter—Hollywood doesn't generally concern itself with reality. A prime challenge, for example, was that the exterior and interior dimensions didn't match in the original blueprints.

The project may strike you as slightly Quixotic. And it may be. To finish it, Lee's team needs all the help they can get—funding, building, assembling. They're crowd sourcing expertise and labor and selling t-shirts to support the effort. Folks from England, to Norway, to New Zealand have contributed.

In all likelihood the ship won't be complete for at least 5-7 years. But when (and if) that golden day comes, the Millennium Falcon will land in a clearing on an 88 acre parcel of land in the Tennessee countryside. The Falcon will be visible from several vantage points around the property. And from space too. In fact, Lee is counting on a Google Maps screen capture upon completion.