Supermarine Spitfire Mk1a

This is a 1:72 scale model of a Supermarine Spitfire Mk1a, made by Airfix. It is a beginners "starter set" which comes with everything needed to complete, including paint brush, glue and all the required coloured paints(all made by Humbrol).
The paint scheme is from "No92 Squadron RAF Manston, Kent, England, December 1940"

With only 36 pieces its was a pretty easy start to modelling. Sometimes a bit fiddly painting the small pieces and the decals were a pain but with more practice it'll probably become second nature.
I had a few problems with pieces not quite fitting properly(one of the wing pieces and the canopy) so they needed to be shaved down a little.
The painting wasn't great, I kept having to touch places up that just weren't right, although i suppose it wasn't too bad for my first go, but once the decals were on it made everything look alot better.


The box with Painting guide on the reverse                                                    (click photos to enlarge)

Two sprues plus a small clear one and the decals

The cockpit and pilot assembly

Interior, propeller, cockpit and pilot painted and instruments decal added to cockpit.

Wings

Model complete(apart from small parts like wheels etc), just painting needed.

First coats of paint, Brown(Dark Earth) for top and a very light green(Beige Green) for underneath.

Camoflage painted, Green(Dark Green), Black under one wing.

Decals on and all finished.

AK-47

This is a full scale (1:1) model of an AK-47 Assault Rifle. It was designed by Hoborginc on the Deviant Art website. 
The attention to detail is amazing, the textures are beautifully drawn and once completed could easily be mistaken for the real thing. 
This took quite a long time to build, it has a few really tricky parts to build,  especially the dust cover, which took a while to get looking right (I'm still not happy with it now) . 
Overall though I am happy with how it turned out as a whole. 

Stock skeleton

                          

Assembling the Stock

Complete Stock with End plate

Grip

Handguard

Handguard Complete

Receiver

Trigger & Mag Catch

Front & Rear Sight

Receiver complete

Gas Tube & Barrel

Dust Cover & Bolt

Complete

McLaren MP4/8 1993

1993 saw the end of the McLaren Honda partnership with Ford stepping in. The MP4/8 scored 84 points that season with the skill of Ayrton Senna scoring 73 of those and earning the runner up place in the Championship.  

This model has far more detail than the previous two I made, which was the reason I wanted to do it. The car is slightly smaller than the others I did which made the details on the engine even harder to do. Along with the detailed engine and removable engine cover there is a model of Senna himself, and a Tag Heuer timing monitor to sit on the front nose. 

Williams FW11B 1987

For my second model I chose the Williams FW11B, another favourite of mine, the FW11 was a beautiful car and a beast on the track. 

My earliest memories of F1 are of watching Nigel Mansell driving this car in 1986/87, narrowly missing out on the World Championship both years. 

This one was slightly more detailed than the M23, although not really much harder. It did take a bit longer though. This is my favourite model to date. 

First attempts (McLaren M23 1976)

I became interested in Papercraft modelling two years ago when i came across a site by chance called metmania which has lots of Formula 1 papercraft templates to download for free.

The good thing about papercraft is its not too expensive to get started. All that's really needed is card, a printer to print the templates, scissors, a knife and some glue. 

I already had everything I needed in the house so I gave it a go. 

Firstly i downloaded James Hunts 1976 McLaren M23 to give it a try, to see if i would enjoy it and also have the patience to do it.

I was hooked and once i finished moved straight onto a Williams FW11B (1987). Once the Williams was completed i took on my toughest yet, the McLaren MP4/8 (1993) which had far more detail in the engine and included a model of Ayrton Senna.

McLaren M23 1976 James Hunt

I chose the M23 as my first model as it seemed a good entry level model to start off with (Also it's one of my most favourite F1 cars).  It didn't turn out too difficult, with no real problems to speak of and took about a couple of weeks to finish with an hour or two most days. 

Although it's not exactly to scale and seems a bit squashed compared to the real M23 I'm pleased with how it looks, not bad for a first attempt.