David Riley Model Making

Merry Christmas and good ‘elf to you all! Thanks to my clients, customers and everyone else who has supported me for another lovely year! Best wishes to you all!

Welcome to Gripple World!
I’ve been very quiet on Instagram etc recently but very busy making! Here is the first of a few recent projects I’ll be sharing soon.

Early in 2025 I was contacted by Gripple, a leading manufacturer and innovator of wire joining and tensioning devices, anchoring, bracing, and suspension systems, to design and make a model for their unit at the new Skills Street facility at Gulliver’s Kingdom, Rotherham. Skills Street is a hands-on world-of-work experience that brings children, young people, and adults closer to real careers through 15 interactive sector zones designed with employers and educators.
The purpose of the model is to showcase the various industries and applications in which Gripple products are used. These include high rise buildings, fencing, vineyards, solar farms, soil erosion control, railways and sports stadiums. The challenge was to create a model that could show all these in a fun and recognisable way, whilst also tying together somewhat realistically despite mismatching scales. Added to this is a representation of the Old West Gun Works in Sheffield - Gripple HQ, the only element of the scale model to exist in reality. The model base is approximately 1.5m in diameter, which helped to establish 1:200 as the ‘foundation’ scale from which there was creative licence to incorporate other scale elements where appropriate.

All set up for the Christmas market at today. Please come on down between 11am and 4pm!