Barely back in the Rogissart complex, it doesn’t take long to see its summit. It must be said that the other exhibitions are a little small compared to it.
This weekend, the model club of the Lac social center organizes the European model show. For two days, visitors can come and admire numerous models created by the 180 exhibitors present.
The project of a lifetime
Among the exhibitions, there is no doubt that it is the star of the weekend: a 7.19 meter reproduction of the Eiffel Tower, made entirely of matches. Behind this crazy project, we find Richard Plaud. “ This is the first time I’m exhibiting it in a show. “, he explains soberly.
His Eiffel Tower quite simply represents the project of a lifetime. “ I had this idea 25 years ago. I had already made a first model of a construction crane, which I completed in 1999. It measured approximately 2.50 meterswhich is pretty good » explains the 48-year-old man, who lives near Saintes, in Charente-Maritime.
Yet, Richard Plaud doesn’t stop there, and decides to see things even bigger. So his choice turned to a reproduction of one of the most famous Monuments in France: the Eiffel Tower. An idea that will, however, take several years to see the light of day. “ I needed the dimensions. When I had the idea in the early 2000s, it was difficult to have technical and precise data on the Eiffel Tower. The Internet was barely developing », smiles the man who works in the engineering works department in the Charente-Maritime department.
The breakthrough came a few years later, in 2015, when a collection on the Eiffel Tower was released. Richard Plaud bought the pieces in the issue that came out each week, and built this replica with a height of 1.20 meters. “ From there, I was able to get the dimensions of the Eiffel Tower and draw my plans. » The project is launched.
In search of the record
This time, it’s done. Richard Plaud is tackling the project he has dreamed of since he was a child. But why the Eiffel Tower? “ What inspires me are metal structures. It’s quite spectacular in terms of architecture. Then I wasn’t looking to do something massive, like for example a castlebut rather something elegant », he explains.
A structure that he will build entirely out of matches, with one objective: break the record of the tallest structure in matchstick, which is 6.53 meters. A construction that he will carry out for eight years, representing according to his calculations 4,200 hours of work. “ At the very beginning, I bought my matches in stores. I cut off the red ends. It was complicated and tedious. Then after a year, I contacted a match manufacturing factory, which delivered them to me in large quantities, and without the red ends. »
Last December, Richard Plaud struck the last match, thus completing his Eiffel Tower, and shattering the record. Which today earned him the recognition of Guiness World Records.
Don’t make a beast out of it
“ I realized my childhood dream. Beating the world record, I’ve been thinking about it since I was 9 years old. This is the challenge we want to complete in life. » And when we ask him if he has other plans, the man hesitates. “ If I had to attack something, I would have to do it bigger. I won’t settle for something more modest in size “, he admits.
Richard Plaud will now be able to benefit from his work, which he will not release on any occasion either. “ It will come out in an exceptional way. Firstly because it’s complicated to put together, then I want to keep the exceptional side. It will not be a Circus freak. »
Visitors will still have this Sunday June 16, 2024 to come and contemplate it.
