Matchstick Marvels Museum facts for kids
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The Matchstick Marvels Museum is a special museum in Gladbrook, Iowa. It shows amazing models made completely from wooden matchsticks. These incredible models are the work of Pat Acton, who lives in Gladbrook. He has been creating them since 1977. You can usually see about twenty of his large models at the museum. Even Ripley's Believe It or Not! has bought 25 of Pat Acton's creations. The museum was also shown in a short film called Discoveries... America.
Discover the Matchstick Marvels Museum
Pat Acton started building models with matchsticks in 1977. Since then, he has made 70 big and detailed designs. Some of his famous models include the Notre Dame Cathedral (made with over 300,000 matchsticks) and the United States Capitol building (using almost 500,000 matchsticks). He even built a model of the New World Trade Center.
What amazing models can you see?
Pat Acton also creates models from popular movies and books. You can see the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars and the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek. One of his biggest models is Hogwarts from Harry Potter, which used over 600,000 matchsticks!
The Matchstick Marvels Museum first opened its doors in 2003. Inside, you'll find about 20 of Pat Acton's models. The museum also displays his drawings, plans, and the tools he uses. You can watch a short film where Pat Acton talks about how he makes his amazing creations. The city of Gladbrook runs the museum with the help of volunteers. This allows Pat Acton to spend more time building new models.
How does Pat Acton build his models?
Pat Acton's building skills have gotten better over the years. But his main way of working is still the same: he glues one matchstick at a time. For the first 10 years, he had to cut off the burning tips of the matches. Now, he buys matchsticks without the tips from a special supplier.
Almost all of his models are left unpainted. There is one exception: a North American P-51 Mustang airplane model that he painted. He later said he wished he hadn't painted it because it covered up all his hard work. His models use thousands of matchsticks, and some can take years to finish. Pat Acton once said, "As a kid I was always screwing up kit models because I was always in a hurry. Well, I've finally found a type of model that I can't hurry."
