Sculpture moves goal posts

Alastair Galpin with his rugby ball sculpture made with more than 19,000 bottle tops. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Guinness World Record chaser Alastair Galpin hopes to boot his latest effort into the famous book.

The Aucklander unveiled his attempt to create the world's largest bottle cap sculpture, a giant rugby ball using over 1km of solder wire and more than 19,000 bottle caps.

He's waiting for ratification on his metal ball which took 18 months to build.

Mr Galpin has made a career out of setting new world records. In the last decade he has broken 38 records - from blowing a Malteser with a straw to speed-licking stamps in a minute.

Some of his attempts had potential to cause serious bodily harm.

In 2004 he held the "eye poppingly" painful record of lifting 1.7kg of metal weights with his tongue.

Mr Galpin had to suspend the weights for 10 seconds. After he completed the challenge in his kitchen, he found out he could have ripped his tongue out.

Four years ago his body became a canvas for 31,680 rhinestones, the most glued on to a body.

It took 11 showers, and a DIY shampoo-floor cleaner solution to get all the sticky stuff off.

He's got no immediate plans to stop the fun any time soon. "In a nutshell I enjoy breaking records. I'll find something and immediately start thinking 'hey lets do it'."