Pat
acton of matchstick marvel is what I call “dedication personified”… how
dedicated are you? pat created a model of the white city of Gondor in Tolkien's
Middle Earth and yes he was very detailed about it. just in case you have forgotten (where the heck is midle earth) from your favorite lord of the rings movie. Dedicating over 3 years of
his life and with 420,000 matchsticks he was able to come out with an architecture
archetype. Acton has been making matchstick models for as long as back then (late 1970s), you can only imagine how old he is right now and still making matchsticks model.
His first piece being a simple model of a church. Since then, he's created 65 matchstick models of architecture, art, and machinery.
Minas Tirith itself resides in the Matchstick Marvels Museum in Gladbrook, Iowa. Besides the 420,000 matchsticks, it's also supported by 24,000 wooden blocks that make up the mountain from which the city emerges.
Many of Acton's pieces can be found in Ripley's Believe It Or Not. In fact, that company has purchased a good deal of his work.
Minas Tirith is surrounded by many other equally impressive matchstick models in the museum.
If you're near Gladbrook, you can stop by the museum to check out this matchstick masterpiece. If you're not local, you can simply enjoy the photos here, and on the museum's website.
The matchsticks Acton uses come without the sulfur heads, making them easier to layer.
Acton also bends the
matchsticks to form curved shapes using needle-nose pliers, but bending them
doesn't require water. He's got a number of tricks and techniques up his
sleeve, all of which have been perfected over the years.




