Hasbulla figure smuggled into Madame Tussauds by YouTuber

A daring YouTuber snuck a 3-D printed figure of viral star Hasbulla into Madame Tussauds and was able to leave it on display for more than 30 minutes before security intervened.

Senior multimedia and video creative Liam Bedford, 25, came up with the idea as part of a series he made called "Revere Heists".

Liam, who recorded the stunt for the 36,000 subscribers of his YouTube channel, said: “First, I put a framed picture of TikTok sensation Francis Bourgeois on the wall of the National Transport Museum in London.

“Next, I put a signed framed picture of another Tik-Toker Cal The Dragon onto the wall at the football museum in Manchester.

“I felt there was a big finale needed for the reverse heists, and eventually landed on trying to a fake ‘waxwork’ into world-famous Madame Tussauds.”

Sign upto our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Liam, from Tonbridge, Kent, settled on a wax figure of Hasbulla Magomedov, a 19-year-old content creator from Dagestan.

The star’s height meant Liam could make a life-size figure that was still easy to transport.

Hasbulla is believed to have a rare genetic condition called Growth Hormone deficiency (GHD).

Liam began by paying for a 3D model of Hasbulla’s head, which he then gave to a 3D printing expert who did the 16-hour-print of the life-size head.

He then enlisted the help of his talented artist friend Max Benham from London, who painted the head and attached it to a 3ft headless mannequin body wearing children’s clothes from Primark.

The entire stunt cost Liam more than £600, including the actual figure and the tickets.

The fake waxwork was briefly on full display SWNS

He said: “I was so anxious about getting through security. The making of the figure went so smoothly that I knew something had to go wrong.

“I knew that it would a proper check and they would have been very confused with me trying to walk into the building with a 3ft model in my bag.

“I actually hid it underneath a couple of pairs of women's underwear and sanitary products in the hope that the security guards would feel too awkward to question me.

“There were proper intense checks to get through to go in. I think my one-off figure was lucky to get through!”

Liam’s TikTok video of the heist has received nearly three million views, with people around the world calling for Hasbulla to be an actual figure in Madame Tussauds.

He noted that museum visitors were enthusiastically taking photos with his fake figure and that younger children were excited to take a photo with someone closer to their height.

He added: “I need to thank Madame Tussauds for taking the joke well, I didn’t expect it!

“Also I hope they know that if they want the figure in the building, then can - currently, it's just sitting in my room!"

Additional reporting by Jessica Hehir-Smith

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.