One Direction at Madame Tussauds

Recently, One Direction were transformed into wax figures at the famous London museum, Madame Tussauds. It was a big honour for the group!

WHO WAS MADAME TUSSAUD?

London's famous wax museum is named after a French woman, Marie Tussaud. Marie had special talent for making wax models. In the early 1800s, she came to Great Britain with her wax models. In 1835, she opened a permanent exhibition. Today, Madame Tussauds is one of London's most popular attractions!

1D WAX FIGURES

In 2013, the five members of One Direction had two sittings with the sculptors who were to create their wax figures for Madame Tussauds. The sculptor's biggest challenge was to capture the boys'playful, cheeky smiles and show their true personalities.

TAKING HARRY'S MEASUREMENTS

Here, Harry is having his head measured by the sculptor's assitants They took around 200 measurements and photos of each of the 1D boys. Zayn, Liam, Louis, Niall and Harry loved the experience!

MOULDING LOUIS' HAND

Here, Louis is placing his hand in a box filled with alginate - the material dentists use to make teeth impressions. After two or three minutes, the alginate becomes a solid mould. This mould is then filled with plaster to produce a replica of Louis' hand.

SCULPTING ZAYN'S HEAD

This is Zayn's head... in clay. To create it, the sculptors made a wire frame. They they worked the clay on the frame to form Zayn's head and face. They constantly checked the star's measurements using callipers.

LIAM'S PERFECT SMILE

To make the teeth for Liam's wax model, Liam had to bite into dental resin. The mould was then sent to a dental company which specializes in false teeth. The company spent four days making a set of teeth to reproduce Liam's perfect smile.

NIALL'S EYE COLOUR

Niall is having fun choosing froms Tussauds' collection of 200 glass eyes. To create the eyes for Niall's wax model, the eye-making wxperts measure his eye ball, pupil and iris. They then have to find the exact colour for his eyes. After ten hours, the eyes are ready. They have to be perfect - it's the eyres that will make Niall's model look real!

LOUIS' COOL HAIR STYLE

The hair experts are trying to find the same colour as Louis' hair. Each hair is individually inserted into the model's head. and they use real human hair that has beed donated to the museum. The hair is then washed cut and styled.

IT'S LONG BUT FUN!

Liam and the other 1D boys returned to the studios when the clay heads were ready. They spent 40 minutes sitting beside their models so that the sculptors could perfect them.

READY AT LAST!

At Madame Tussauds the wax models' skin looks real! This is because the colourists colour each head with layers of oil paint. The paint absorbs into the wax and makes it translucent, like human skin. Eyelashes and make-up complete the face. The final touch is to clean and shine the eyes, teeth and lips, then dress the model in the star's real clothes.

WHAT 1D THINK

1. How does it feel to have your own statue?

Niall: Super excited!

Zayn: This is insane!

Louis: It's an amazing honour!

Harry: It's crazy!

Liam: Hmm...

2. Your wax figure is going to be kissed by a lot of people. How does that make you feel?

Harry: They might get a bit waxy!

Louis: I think it's cool... but I hope it's hygienic!

Liam: That's quite mad and one day I might trade places with them!

Niall: They're quite fun to look at, but I don't know about kissing them!

Zayn: Pretty cool!