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. 

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.