Community & Business
31 August, 2022
Building trucks, houses out of ice cream sticks
Meet Norman Thompson - the Oakey man with an extraordinary talent for building model replicas out of ice cream sticks!
When Norman isn’t spending time volunteering with TOMNET or the Lions Club, he can be found busily working on his latest projects in his garage workshop.
Known around the Oakey community for his talents, Norman said many locals and kids walking home from school say hello and stop by to have a look at what he’s working on in the shed.
“I started about six years ago after my dad passed away,” he said.
“My dad would’ve made hundreds of models of different buildings and landmarks throughout his life, and a lot of them ended up at the Oakey Historical Museum.
“He even made a model of the Jondaryan Woolshed site, which was there at one point.”
Everything Norman has built will also be handed over to the Oakey Historical Museum for them to display.
Opening hours of the Museum are Friday 9am-midday, Saturday 9am-midday, Sunday 1.30pm-4pm and Monday 9am-midday.
His most recently completed project is a replica of a red International truck that he remembers from his dad’s farm during his childhood.
“I grew up on a farm just north of Oakey in Greenwood,” he said.
“My dad had trucks on the farm, so I just built this one all from memory.
“I’ve made a big yacht in the past that, along with everything else, has been donated to the museum.
“I used to help my dad when I was little and that’s how I learnt the skills.
“Let’s just say we had to eat a lot of ice creams to get enough sticks to build with,” he laughed.
“We used to eat so many ice creams that we started to get a bit round!”
The first ever model Norman made by himself was a miniature replica of his house in Oakey, which to this day is one of his proudest achievements.
Impressively, Norman’s creations not only resemble exterior features but the interior as well.
For example, in his truck model you can open the doors and see miniature figures driving the truck!
“Every single detail from my real house, from the water tank to the interior rooms and the bathtub are exactly the same.
“It took me ages to get it just right.”
Norman’s next project is to build a cattle yard, but not after taking a well-deserved break.
“I’m taking a month off before I start the cattle yards,” he said.
“But I said that last time before I started building the truck, so I’ll probably not be able to wait that long - I’ll get bored.”
