Wood you believe it? Fleet of model ships made using millions of TOOTHPICKS
DIY fanatic Wayne Kusy has built a fleet of model ships - using millions of toothpicks.
DIY fanatic Wayne Kusy has used millions of toothpicks to build a fleet of model ships
His latest addition is the former transatlantic liner America.
Over two and a half years he glued more than 270,000 toothpicks together to create the 14ft replica.
The intricate model even features 14 tiny toothpick lifeboats, port holes made from wire and string railings.
When choosing a ship to build, for me it has to be early 20th century ocean liners
American Mr Kusy, from Chicago, has been building ships from toothpicks since he was 10 years old.
His mammoth models include a 10ft-long Titanic, 16ft Lusitania and a 25ft Queen Mary, the last of which took a mammoth 814,000 toothpicks.
Mr Kusy said: "When choosing a ship to build, for me it has to be early 20th century ocean liners.
Wayne's latest addition is the former transatlantic liner America
His mammoth models include a 10ft-long Titanic, 16ft Lusitania and a 25ft Queen Mary
"I saw the wreck of this ship lying on a beach when it was named the American Star.
"I used blueprints and mechanical drawings of the ship I found on the internet.
His intricate America model even features 14 tiny toothpick lifeboats
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"Then more than 270,000 toothpicks, some dowel rods for the masts, sewing thread for the railing and steel wire for the port holes."
Now the ship is to be exhibited - and Wayne hopes to find a buyer.