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Every town in Ireland has its own special atmosphere - Cork is so different to Dublin, and in turn different to Galway, Limerick, Sligo etc. The Imperial Hotel is as essential to the feel of Cork as is the Shandon Tower, UCC, The English Market, McCurtain Street....

Again, I tried to illustrate some of the history associated with the hotel while making the model. The front facade is very much the present day with, however, some old fashioned visitors - a hint towards its history. As you turn the model, you'll find Sir Thomas Deane (who originally designed the building in 1813) looking out of one of the top floor windows - down upon a horse-drawn coach.For the rear of the building I drew a scene of Franz Liszt giving his famous piano recital at the hotel in 1843.

Charles Dickens, also a famous visitor, is busy writing down thoughts, while Michael Collins stands by his iconic armoured car: the "Sliabh na mBan". On the western gable I placed an old map of Cork.

It is a relatively easy model to make: simply join the central block and attach the wings to it. The roof then fits onto it after the decorative facia is turned up to meet the facade.

The "Tiny Imperial Hotel" model kit is available at the hotel itself - so please visit soon!

In March of this year, I was invited up to Galway by Jimmy McGuire, the owner of Tigh Neachtain. He explained to me how Tigh Neachtain had been right in the centre of Galway's history from when it first opened its doors in 1894, with many historical figures frequenting it. So extensive was the list of people to be featured on my model of it, that we decided to make a pack especially for it!

The models of the dragon and Gulliver were inspired by the Macnas street theatre productions of 1988 and 1989. All around the model, you will find people, animals and items to remind you of the rich history of Tigh Neachtain and Galway. The pack comes with a comprehensive glossary:

Here is what the assembled kit looks like:

Because the model is quite big ( approx 150mm high) it is far less fiddly to make than my smaller models. But even so, I couldn't resist the temptation to also design a kit card out of which you can make a tiny version of it!

Both the packs and the cards will be for sale at Tigh Neachtain - so go visit it, buy a kit and enjoy making it over a well deserved pint!

The first impression I got of Lismore Castle was that it had been added to over a long time - it just seems too big and complex to have been thought up all at once!

Apparently the earliest remaining part of the castle is a round tower, which dates back to the 13th century. It changed hands many times in its history and has been lovingly and extensively restored by its successive owners.

For me, the challenge was to capture the unique charm of the castle - of both its exterior and its inner courtyard, and engineer it into a kit which would fit on an A5 greeting card!

I began by drawing the circumference, taking extra care to get all the levels right. I realised that my model would have to include parts of the gardens and park in order to make it look right. So, each aspect of the model also has depth, not just facades all on the same plane.

Similarly, for the interior courtyard, the level of the ground was a challenge. Really, it should be elevated from the exterior base level, but this would have made the model quite difficult to assemble. So I decided to again include some of the yard on each facade. This actually works quite well, giving it more depth.

I used the roofs to join the courtyard to the exterior facade of the castle. I avoided making these too exact - this gives a lot of play for the person assembling. So, even if you're not a perfectionist, you'll still be able to make a great looking castle!

Finally, I decided to print the interior of the card a purplish grey because some of the surfaces were visible from both sides. White just didn't look right!

Often, it is these huge, imposing buildings which impress us most when we view a city like Dublin. A few weeks ago, I stood in front of the GPO, wondering how I could make a model kit out of this beautiful monster! So far, I've only made an A5 kit of it - the A4 kit will be available soon!

My tiny Gpo A5 kit, takes about 10 - 15 minutes to build. The completed model is 55mm tall. The most difficult bit is to cut out the little figures on top of the facade gable. I use a craft knife for this - usually before I cut out the rest, so that I have more grip.

When I first saw Bunratty Castle up close I was completely overwhelmed by it. How could I even begin to make a paper model out of this?

I normally don't bother with architectural drawings - I just photograph and draw whatever details strike me, and then create my model. But with an heritage icon like this, I felt intimidated and longed for something concrete to go by. I finally did get my hands on some basic technical drawings - but the rest all came out of my observations. Here are some of the detail drawings I made in preparation of the actual model in the Tiny Bunratty pack.

This is a very intuitive way of going about making a paper model. I'm reluctant to allow myself to get bogged down with the technicalities. I just want to capture the quirky beauty of some of the buildings I see...

Some of my customers have asked me whether my model kit of Bunratty Castle is very difficult to make. My answer to you is: I have put a lot of thought into making this as easy to understand and assemble as possible - my focus is on fun, not tedium! So whether you're a complete newcomer to papercraft, or an experienced modeller, I think you will enjoy making this one!

I have outlined below the steps you need to take to build my great model of Bunratty Castle:

Before cutting out any of your kit, score all edges to be folded using a ruler and something pointy such as a darning needle or a very hard pencil - or, if you want to be really professional, a metal scribe.

Then start with the south facade:

Cut out and glue the turrets onto themselves and then cut out the white areas as shown. The flaps are folded inwards to receive the floors

Now move onto south facade part two:

I did try to squeeze everything into as few pages as possible to keep it nice and compact - so here is my way of building that tower wall as well as the south facade alcove all out of one piece of paper!

I think, once you've reached this stage you're flying, but do email me if you get stuck...