The next stop was in the quiet rural town of Gladbrook, Iowa, at Matchstick Marvels. The display is wood art, where millions of matchsticks have been glued together to represent many things.
Many of master Craftsman, Patrick Acton's, largest and most complex Matchstick Marvels are on display. He has been building large matchstick models since 1977. Many are featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not museums in the United States and around the world.
The second model that he built was the hip-roofed Barn as a Christmas present for his father in 1978. It used 5000 matchsticks and is the oldest matchstick model on display at this museum. It recognizes the barn as a disappearing landmark.
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| The Barn |
B-17 Flying fortress
It was completed in 1990 using 14,000 matchsticks.
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| B-17 Flying Fortress |
Wright Brother's Flyer
This model has 10,000 matchsticks. Built in 1994, it is a 1/8 scale model of the Wright Brother's Flyer.
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| Wright Brothers' Flyer |
Terrace Hill
Was known as the most magnificent mansion west of New England in 1860s when it was built. Easterners called it "The Palace on the Prairie." Frederick Hubbell bought it in 1884, and in 1971 his family deeded it to the State of Iowa. It was restored in 1974 and is home to the Governor of Iowa.
Acton spent over 800 hours and used 193,000 matchsticks to complete it in 1996, with over a quarter of a million individual pieces, counting the shingles.
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| Terrace Hill |
Cutty Sark clipper ship
After 500 hours of planning and building, this model was finished in 1996 with 38,000 matchsticks. Interesting things to note about this model are 1) Even the figurehead is carved of matchsticks, and 2) How the 38 sails were made...first by forming jigs of condensed styrofoam for molds. Then each mold was covered with matchsticks to get the perfect size and shape of each sail. He removed the sails from their molds when the glue was dry
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| Cutty Sark |
Space Shuttle Challenger
One-thousand hours and over 200,000 matchsticks were needed to finish this in 1997. It stands seven feet high, and is dedicated to the Americans who lost their lives aboard that Challenger when it exploded January 28, 1986.
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| Space Shuttle Challenger |
USS Iowa
Built in 1998, this 1/70-scale of this battleship contains 137,000 matchsticks.
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| USS Iowa |
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| USS Iowa |
US Capitol Building
The United States Capitol building is a 1/65-scale model. It took 478,000 matchsticks and measures 12 feet long and 5.5 feet tall. It took nearly two years to complete in 2001.
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| US Capitol Building |
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| Dome of US Capitol building |
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| Lighted US Capitol building |
American Bald Eagle
15000 matchsticks -- 2004
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| American Bald Eagle |
Apache helicopter
This is a 1/10-scale completed in 2004. It took 26,000 matchsticks and nearly 200 hours to build.
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| Apache Helicopter |
Note Dame Cathedral de Paris
This model took 298,000 matchsticks. Acton finished this matchsticks model in 2012.
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| Notre Dame Cathedral de Paris |
There were many more items on display which I did not photograph. However, I did take two photos of a full-size car in progress. It is from the movie Fast and Furious.
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| Car in progress |
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| Car in progress |
Thank you for visiting. Your comments are welcome.
Check back to see where we go next!
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