Master Chief blasts into Madame Tussauds

The 7ft 2in wax figure of Master Chief weighs approximately 275lbs

Halo's Master Chief has become the first videogame character to be immortalised in wax at Madame Tussauds.

The model of Microsoft's game hero was unveiled at an official ceremony at Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas.

The 7ft 2in wax figure weighs approximately 275lbs and was created in London using 1,000lbs of clay.

It took 10 studio artists an estimated 892 man-hours to complete, including 687 hours for sculpting, 168 hours for moulding and 37 hours for painting.

Following the release of Halo 3 on 26 September, the statue will return home to Madame Tussauds Museum in Baker Street, London.

Microsoft expects first-day sales of Halo 3, which is only available on the Xbox 360, to "dwarf those of Hollywood movie blockbusters Harry Potter and Spiderman 3 to be the world's biggest games launch of all time".

The third game in the series has already notched up more than a million pre-orders to become the fastest-selling videogame of all time. Halo 2 sold five million copies in the first month of its release in 2004.