Thorp Modelmaking Archive

The water wheel model has been running again! It is a delight to have this 100 year old model working so smoothly still.

For the transport enthusiasts among our followers - does anyone recognise this station? It includes a tram (?) and bus interchange below and may never have been built. Model likely dates to the 1920s.

An advert for Thorp modelmakers that was produced just after WW2 featuring some of the company's greatest models from the previous decade.

A rare copy of the handout given to visitors attending Thorp's 'Great Fire of London' performances at the 1911 Festival of Empire. A huge model of 17th century London 'burned' in front of an astonished audience, a very cleverly animated model that proved to be extremely popular.

A lovely model of John Thorp’s unrealised proposal for a rotating model of London made by Jasper sure, on display at #newbladesshow

And there’s more!

We’re at #newbladesshow today and loving the architectural models on display!

For all our modelmaker followers, a reminder that tomorrow is New Blades, the annual modelmaking recruitment fair and industry networking event. There will be hundreds of models on display from this year's graduating students from 5 universities across the UK. Holborn Studios N1

4D is a much loved part of the Thorp ‘family’ having started out taking over Thorp’s shop counter in 1993 and then launching as a separate business the following year. An incredible legacy and a very big loss to see the shop closing. Best wishes to all the staff.

The Thorp Archive contains not just images of architectural models, but lots of documents relating to the 140 year history of the company, such as these lovely promotional items. The late-1990s ruler is something many modelmakers of the time will remember.

Some of the glass plate negatives are of models that we do not yet have prints of in the collection, such as this lovely model of a chapel, date unknown. Lots of new discoveries being made at the moment!

One of the glass plates of the 1930 Charing Cross Bridge model, being carefully cleaned and catalogued.

This fascinating model made by Thorp in circa 1927 is of Charles Holden's 55 Broadway in London, and shows the steel frame construction method that enabled the building to become the tallest office building in London when completed in 1929.

Thanks to support from the Dorset History Centre @DorsetArchives we have begun the conservation and cataloguing of the hundreds of glass plate negatives held in the collection. This is an ongoing project that requires patience and a steady hand!

Difficult to make out, but this is one of John Thorp's original hand drawings he prepared when planning his impressive Tower of London model. One of many such drawings the archives holds relating to the 'Old London' models, many of which are still held by the London Museum.

Usually, Thorp's models were photographed as close to eye-level as was possible, however this image of Cambridge University Library dating to 1931 shows a bird's eye view of the complex, with Giles Gilbert Scott's impressive tower at the centre of the photograph.

A model of the interior of the London Masonic Hall, made by John Thorp in 1932. Thorp was a member of the Freemasons and proudly contributed this impressive model to show how the chamber would appear when it was completed in 1933.

An impressive model of a proposed development in Repulse Bay, Hong King, made by Thorp circa 1963. We can't help hearing incidental music from Thunderbirds when we see this...

A 1977 model made by Thorp for Portakabin. The large scale is demonstrated by the posed onlooker. This image and 1200 more will be available to view on the updated online catalogue later this year.

This interior model was to show the layout of a planned exhibition at Olympia in 1936, one of many similar models Thorp made during the interwar years as commercial and trade shows became in an increasingly important part of British industry.