Madame Tussauds in London, the world leader at recreating celebrity waxworks, has released a video showing how it's gone about preparing for its new Star Wars exhibit - and when it comes down to it, the artworks are a force to be reckoned with.

Recreating almost every single character in the six-movie franchise, with incredible lifelike detail that makes some of the CGI pale in comparison, the video below looks like the sculptors and artists are applying make-up to actors rather than moulded pieces of candle wax.

It's no easy task, with every work made up of 13-17 individual pieces shaped to match the contours of the characters' faces - which head made of as much as 15 litres of hot wax. For a regular head, 10,000 strands of hair are inserted, but for Chewbacca the Wookiee, whose entire body is covered in fur, 10 people spent 800 hours applying the hairs. 

Check out the video below: