Scaling the World Since 1883

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As the oldest model making company in the world*, we’ve been

bringing ideas to life in miniature for a very long time. 

In fact, when our first workshop opened its doors in 1883, 

Britain itself was a very different place.

To put our deep roots and long history of craftsmanship into perspective, when our founders first set to work:

• It was four years before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced the world to Sherlock Holmes.

• It was five years before Jack the Ripper stalked the cobbled streets of Whitechapel.

• It was eleven years before London's iconic Tower Bridge was completed—meaning we were already master model makers before some of Britain's most famous architecture even existed!

When we started, Queen Victoria still had nearly two decades left on the throne, Robert Louis Stevenson had just published Treasure Island, and the London Underground was running entirely on steam trains.

A lot has changed across the nation since 1883. We've seen the turning of two centuries, incredible leaps in industry, and the transition from hand-drawn blueprints to the digital age. But through it all, our commitment to precision, scale, and uncompromising detail has remained exactly the same.

The world has transformed since 1883, and so has our workshop.

We may have traded the gas lamps and hand-cranked tools of the Victorian era for cutting-edge technology, but the core of what we do remains exactly the same: bringing your complex ideas to life with uncompromising precision. 

Over 140 years of British history means over 140 years of unmatched experience.

While the great architects of the Victorian era were building the modern world, we were already busy carefully scaling it down.

We are incredibly proud to be the UK’s oldest model making company. But we are even more proud that, after more than 140 years, we are still pushing the boundaries of what is possible in miniature. 

While our modern work continues in the studio today, the extensive historic archive of JB Thorp has found a permanent home under the meticulous care of the Historical Archive at Arts University Bournemouth.