3,000 Australian Lego fans build the region’s largest Death Star

Sydney celebrates May the 4th and Star Wars Day with 210,000-brick Lego Death Star.

Those Australians really love their Legos. And on Star Wars Day a.k.a. May 4 a.k.a. May the 4th be with you, they really showed it. Led by master builder Chris Steininger, 3,000 Australians came together to build the largest Lego Death Star in the southern hemisphere.

Darth Vader’s iconic ship was reconstructed in the Warringah Mall, in the Northern Beaches suburb of Sydney. It was made from 210,000 Lego bricks, weighed 1,200 lbs. and measured about 8 ft high.

Such an undertaking required the help of a Lego master builder and Chris Steininger flew from Connecticut to Australia for the task. Steininger was flown to Australia with his father for Star Wars Day in 2015 as well, when the duo – who make up the only father-son Master Builder Team – constructed the world’s largest Lego Millennium Falcon. The younger Steininger also worked on the world’s largest X-Wing, which was unveiled and on display in New York City’s Time Square.

To make the Death Star, Steininger planned the design eight-months in advance using computer-aided design (CAD) software. When he arrived in Sydney, he was joined by 3,000 Australians who came out to help construct the massive project. According to the Daily Telegraph, some even came dressed as Star Wars characters. When it was finished, guests got to blow up the Death Star using augmented reality as part of the Star Wars Day celebration.

Watch the highlights video below.

While constructed, the Sydney Warringah Mall Death Star was, for a few days, the largest Death Star in the southern hemisphere.

The title of largest Death Star in the world belongs to the model at Legoland California, made with over half a million bricks. The creation, which went on display in March 2015, is 13 feet high, 8 feet wide, and 1,900 lbs. At the time, it joined a 6-foot-long Imperial Star Destroyer and a life-size Darth Maul in the Star Wars Miniland display.