While many see heavy snowfall as a dreary start to the week, the Fuller family sees a creative opportunity. Last week, the Fullers built a massive replica of the Millennium Falcon to pay tribute to one of their favorite films, “Star Wars,” in the front yard of their home in Reading, Michigan.
The Fullers have been building snow sculptures with pop culture themes since 2008, when they made a replica of Darth Vader in their yard. Now, the hobby has become one of the family’s regular winter past times.
“My children are ten years apart in age, and they needed something to do together,” said Carolyn Fuller, the mother of the family, who acts as the overseer to the projects. “I figured that making a snow sculpture was complicated enough for my older one, and simple enough for the younger to enjoy as well. We had so much fun after we finished the first sculpture, that we decided that we wanted to build another one when the opportunity came along.”
Creating the Millennium Falcon took two days to complete, and attention to detail was crucial. After the family was able to combine all the snow in their yard into a workable pile, the artistic process began.
“To color the snow, we used food coloring for the blue thrusters in the back,” Fuller said. “We mixed the coloring with water in a spray bottle and layered it until we got the shade we wanted. The gray was harder. Black food coloring turns green or purple if you dilute it too much, so we used India ink diluted in water for that.”
The family starts thinking of what to build throughout the year, but the final sculpture is always a reference to a franchise they love. Weather plays a big role in how and what the Fullers decide to create.
“If the snow won’t pack, we really can’t do anything. We ran into that when we made the Dawn Treader ship from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia,’” Fuller said.
“That was the largest snow sculpture we’ve ever made,” said Tony, the eldest son. “Mom made the Narnian flag that hung over the side of the ship, and we had help from the neighbors in building it. It’s based on a Viking ship, with a dragon head and dragon tail. It had a mast and a sail, and we could climb up in it.”
In 2009, the family created a replica of racing car Lightning McQueen, from the Pixar film “Cars,” and in 2010 it was Optimus Prime from “Transformers,” complete with red and blue coloring. In 2011, they built the Dawn Treader ship from “The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.” Last year the family built a snow statue of Gandalf from “The Lord of the Rings,” which stood nine feet tall.
The family’s favorite sculpture to date is the Millennium Falcon. Both Carolyn and Jim Fuller have been dedicated Star Wars fans since they saw the first film when they were kids, and now they share their passion with their sons.
The Millennium Falcon is eight feet wide and 12 feet long, and it’s angled to stand about six feet off of the ground.
“It represents freedom,” Fuller said. “Han Solo was human, and almost anyone can identify with something in his character. We wanted to pay tribute to him.”
The local response has been positive, and many locals frequent the Fuller residence to take photos of the snow sculpture.
“While mom was spraying color on the thrusters, the local police officer stopped by and asked us how long it took to build it,” said Beau, the youngest son.
While the family hasn’t determined what they will be building next season, Reading residents can expect it to be something fun and maybe “Star Wars” themed.