In this age of three-dimensional rendering and clusters of super-fast, AMD-driven computers it is easy to forget that only two decades ago the film industry had to depend on skilled manual workers to build the sets and props that they relied on the make their magic. Nowadays it is computer artists who craft so much of the environment we see on the silver screen, but before the advent of digital technology it was carpenters, lathe operators, painters, plasterers and a whole army of craftsmen who did much of the work.
"...the building of a full-scale model of Han Solo's spaceship, the Millennium Falcon, using a firm of maritime engineers at Pembroke Docks in Wales." (From Once Upon A Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back by Alan Arnold)
It was these words that piqued the interest of a nine-year old Star Wars fan from Pembrokeshire, and started a long-term investigation into the history of the only life-sized version of that most famous of smuggling ships.
During the years when Queen Victoria was in power and Britannia ruled the waves, Pembroke Dock was one of the British Empire's most vital seaports and laid claim to being one of the busiest naval shipyards on the planet. After the shipyard's closure in 1926 the town became the world's largest military flying boat base, and served to protect the Atlantic convoys crossing between the United States and United Kingdom during the Second World War. Prosperity returned with the arrival of the oil industry in the 1950s, and Pembroke Dock became a center of engineering and metal fabrications -- a trade that still flourishes today.
Due to uncertainties about a sequel to Star Wars, the original partially built Millennium Falcon -- used in scenes such as Docking Bay 94 and the Death Star hangar -- was not saved. When plans for The Empire Strikes Back began to unfold at Lucasfilm, it soon became clear that the Falcon would feature heavily in the movie. Because of the large number of shots with numerous angles, a full-sized creation was in order.
In 1977 work began on the only full-scale Millennium Falcon ever to be built when model makers built up a structural model out of plastic strips. The model acted as a template for the metal workers who would later cut and weld the steel framework together.
"It was being constructed in a hangar at Pembroke Docks where in the 1930s great flying boats were made, craft that spanned the passenger routes of Imperial Airways when Britain's Empire was still extant." (From Once Upon A Galaxy by Arnold)
It was local heavy engineering firm Marcon Fabrications, who previously built modules for use on North Sea oil rigs, who was able to tap into this vital combination of shipbuilding and engineering skills. Having helped to build the new Star Wars Stage at Elstree, they turned to their experienced shipbuilders in Pembroke Dock to build the Millennium Falcon set.
