Craftsman and matchstick artist Pat Acton of Gladbrook built this model of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Richard Plaud's matchstick dreams have been rekindled. Earlier this week, the Frenchman was crestfallen when he was told his 23-foot model of the Eiffel Tower — made from 700,000 matchsticks ...

Some four decades and nearly 6 million matchsticks later, Acton is internationally renowned for his huge, intricate, mind-boggling matchstick models of complex machines and landmark architecture.

A Frenchman spent eight years building the giant model, but officials at the Guinness World Records says he didn't use "commercially available" matches. Guinness tells NBC News it may reconsider.