The extraterrestrial enemy of Doctor Who has been painstakingly brought to life by Brian Croucher who created the 5ft 3in model entirely from individual matchsticks.

In fact it took 480,000 hand-glued matchsticks and 606 hours over the course of two years to complete. Brian, 66, from North Bersted, and his wife Hazel, 64, worked as a team to slowly build each section of the Dalek.

"I can't quite believe this huge Dalek is here, it seems like a dream," said Brian, a former electroplater at Lec Refrigeration.

"It has been quite a task but we have really enjoyed working on it.

From the very first matchsticks I stuck together, to putting the finishing touches such as the voicebox and flashing lights, it has been quite a labour of love."

Hobby

Brian took up matchstick modelmaking as a hobby after being inspired by his nephew's model of a matchstick house.

He has perfected his craft over 30 years and made some spectacular creations including a fully-functional grandmother clock, a full-size rocking horse, a rocking chair and a 5ft boat. Altogether he has used more than a million matchsticks.

The Dalek, which Brian has nicknamed 'Stick', is fully operational.

It is mounted on castors enabling it to be moved around and, with the help of his sons Simon and Steven, Brian fitted an mp3 player voicebox inside the model which plays the terrifying command – 'exterminate, exterminate'.

Flashing lights, a magnifying glass at the end of the telescope and a fly net on the inside of the helmet helped to give the Dalek its finishing touches.

Family's help

Brian added: "I'm very thankful to my family, especially my wife for putting up with all the matchsticks and glue and helping me.

"Every Christmas and birthday I get given bags of pre-cut matchsticks by my family which cost £5 for 10,000, so I couldn't have done it without them."

Before embarking on the fine art of his craft, Brian spends time making scale sketches of all the constituent parts of whatever he happens to be making.

He added: "I have to admit though I'm not a Doctor Who fan myself, I did have a careful look at the more recent episodes of the Time Lord's adventures to ensure that the continuity of every detail was just right.

"I'd really love it if a former Doctor Who or David Tennant would visit Bognor Regis to come and see the Dalek."

Brian said there was 'no great secret' to making a matchstick model.

His advice was to begin gluing about six matchsticks together and then to stick another six matchsticks on top in the opposite direction to create square pieces – similar to plywood – and to continue with that process.

With the Dalek, Brian sanded down various surfaces to get the correct shape and coated the entire structure with three coats of clear varnish.

Next project

He added: "Now the Dalek is finished I'm eager to get started on my next matchstick model.

"I've decided I'm going to make a model of a Spitfire plane with a 6ft wingspan. It will prove to be another challenge, but I can't wait."

Brian also has plans to make a watertight boat, again entirely from matchsticks, which he has aspirations of rowing from Dover to Calais.

For sale

Brian and Hazel want to see the massive model sold to the highest bidder by Christmas, as they have no room in their house to hold on to the human-sized Dalek.

The sale will help Brian pay for larger matchsticks projects.

Click on the green play button to see a video of Brian and his Dalek.

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