What do you get when you combine 282,000 wood matchsticks, eight gallons of wood glue and 1,950 hours of production time? For Iowa artist Patrick Acton the answer is an incredible 1/26 scale, museum ...

During the construction of the International Space Station (ISS), material selection was critical given the extreme environment of space. Chances are that one of those materials up for consideration ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. HOUSTON — When astronauts describe what they used to assemble the International Space Station, ...

Neat post on Make, reporting from the NYC Toy Fair, about these amazing models available for purchase. Using small wooden dowels (just like classic matchsticks), you too can build a locomotive, or the ...

GLADBROOK, Iowa (AP) - “Some people refer to me as an artist, but I consider myself a woodworker.” Patrick Acton may have one of the most tedious artistic hobbies on record. Since 1977, he has created ...

Hour by hour, stick by stick. Many would regard it as a tedious job to glue matchsticks together, wait for them to dry then repeat this process over and over again, but not this model-maker. Over the ...

It all started when vocational counselor Patrick Acton glued two wooden matchsticks together in the basement of his Gladbrook, Iowa, home. Some four decades and nearly 6 million matchsticks later, ...

Esmond Warren has built world landmark building from sticks in his basement including the Alberta Legislature and Notre Dame Cathedral from Paris on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. (Credit: Shaughn ...

GLADBROOK, Iowa -- Some artists work in clay, others in oil. Pat Acton of Gladbrook, Iowa, works in matchsticks. And with those simple matchsticks, he creates detailed and realistic models of ...

Some of Pat Acton’s creations, housed in the museum, include the U.S. Capitol and Notre Dame Cathedral. It’s 10 a.m. in Gladbrook, Iowa, and down in the workshop in his basement, Pat Acton is doing ...

HOUSTON — When astronauts describe what they used to assemble the International Space Station, they refer to docking ports, large metal bolts and miles of cabling. All that artist Patrick Acton needed ...

It’s 10 a.m. in Gladbrook, Iowa, and down in the workshop in his basement, Pat Acton is doing what he does almost every morning: picking up matchsticks and gluing them together, one at a time. And ...