Hello and welcome!

I’m Darren McGuinness and this is the home of The Scale Model Hangar studio online. I’m am a scale model artist who has been loving the hobby of scale modelling for many years. I’m a proud member of IPMS UK and I am active on social media where you can find my work on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X. 

My love of scale modelling came back after of a low point in my life. After  15 years of serving my country and community in law enforcement my world was turned upside down by head trauma and spinal injury that left me  without the use of my right arm and right eye. Nerve damage had almost disabled the right side of my upper body.  I was in terrible pain and had no hope. It was more or less a certainty that my career was over and I was passed around from one doctor to another when eventually I met a surgeon who was able to help. Two operations and a lot of physio later I was back in uniform  once again working in some of the most challenging environments in the UK’s criminal justice system. 

 In 2018  I suffered a second severe trauma head injury and subsequently I was told that this and a lifetime of service was a catalyst for clinical depression and PTSD caused by decades of working long hours in  hostile environments. There is no doubt that I was in a very dark place and the people closest to me could see me slowly fading away. Pain and anger were ruling my life and I was on a path to certain self destruction. 

Eventually I found myself in front of a psychotherapist who had treated many men just like me. Torn up, bitter and angry at the world.  My treatment was a long and difficult process, I had to find my way back to the man I used to be. I was encouraged to take up a hobby to get my brain to engage in a process of flow-a relaxing  activity that makes a person need to concentrate on tasks other than their work, or personal problems and I rediscovered scale modelling.

 I re-engaged with the hobby and something incredible happened, I was enjoying building models and before too long I was being asked to build commissions and display at shows. Now after a quarter of a century of service,  I have hung my uniform up for good , hung my medals on the wall at home and with my head held high  I have embarked on a new career.

Now I relax on my days off in my studio building whatever inspires me to pick up a model , dive into researching my subject  and begin another project.

My passion for scale modelling is as strong as ever and I love the research, planning, building , painting, weathering and finishing a subject. To take an idea from my minds eye , bring it to fruition and capture a moment in time of an aircraft’s history. I also love to share my work with all of you. Thanks for stopping by my online studio. I hope you enjoy looking around and like what you find. 

Happy Modelling! 

Darren @thescalemodelhanger