Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

After contributing to the iconic Ice Cave set for Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Pabrico was once again called upon in the late 1990s to help shape the galaxy far, far away, this time for Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

The Gungan City
Our first task was to bring to life the underwater world of the Gungans: a luminous, bubble-like city nestled beneath a lake. Supplied with a one-off 3D miniature sculpture that captured George Lucas’ vision, we were entrusted to scale his ideas into full-size structures. We created a series of towering polystyrene forms, some reaching up to 3 metres tall, each designed to reflect the organic, flowing architecture shown in the concept visuals. These intricate shapes were precision machine-cut and hand-sculpted, before fibreglass moulds were taken from our originals, allowing the production team to replicate the structures consistently across the set.

The Naboo Speedsters
Our second mission involved crafting three distinct Naboo speedsters, each designed with meticulous detail. Again, we began with Lucas’ miniature reference, translating his vision into life-size reality. Using hundreds of profile-cut pieces, we built the squared-off core structures according to the supplied blueprints. The film crew then refined the curves to match the futuristic aesthetic. Once perfected, fibreglass moulds were produced to create exact copies, several of which were destined for dramatic on-screen destruction during the film’s action-packed battle sequences