World Trade Center sculpture made from 468,000 matchsticks

NEW YORK, July 18 (UPI) -- The creator of a sculpture of the new World Trade Center in New York said it took him 2,100 hours to make the 17-foot structure from 468,000 matchsticks.

Patrick Acton, 60 -- the Iowa artist whose sculpture is on display at the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum in New York's Times Square -- said the World Trade Center sculpture is comprised of 468,000 matchsticks and 17 gallons of glue, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Acton said he started making matchstick models when he was in college in the 1970s and started working on his projects full time after retiring last year.

Acton said he has made 20 models that were either commissioned or purchased by Ripley's for its museums, including a 600,000-matchstick sculpture of Harry Potter's Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, his largest creation to date.