Sunday 23 March 2014

Half-scale kitchen


For the half-scale kitchen, I made a stove of the same model as in my Victorian house, just half the size.


The body of the stove is made from cardboard, simply painted black. The doors are bits of cardboard glued to the front. You cannot have as much detail in half scale because they become too conspicuous, so I just made simple handles from wire. The pipe is of course a drinking straw. The pots and the kettle came in some large lot, and strangely they fit perfectly in scale. I will make some utensils to hang on the rack.

Next I made a butler's sink with instructions in Vivienne Boulton's book, only she makes everything from clay, while I found an old butter container, the kind you get in hotels. I think I have had this container ever since I started making miniatures, just waiting for the right occasion. I wanted a butler's sink rather than a more modern sink like I have in the Victorian house simply because I wanted to make something new. Let's agree that this kitchen hasn't been modernised yet.


The room is very small so I cannot put as much in it as a typical kitchen would have. But at least a table is necessary. It is very easy to make a simple table: take a wooden strip and attach legs with blue tack...

However, this feels highly unsatisfactory for a furniture maker with self respect. Instead, I made it using my experience from making the Tudor and the Georgian tables - very difference experiences, but both proved useful. I also studied carefully the very first kitchen table I had in my very first kitchen. And this is what I did:


First, glued a smaller strip (a domino piece) on the underside. Cut four legs and the bars. Glued the legs at the corners of the smaller strip and glued on the bars - I promise, that took some time!


This feels much better. I had some half-scale dishes and food, but I will make more. And add more details. But so far, this is what the kitchen looks like. A bit crammed for a Victorian kitchen, but will have to do.



For a comparison, I took a picture of a full-scale and a half-scale table. It gives you a good sense of scale.



3 comments:

  1. Hi, saw your post on facebook in the group about Hints and tips for making miniatures,
    would love to follow your blog, but cant find the follower's button! Best greetings :) Anne from mikropragmatakia@blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you need a G+ account to add the follower's button on your blog, but I will explore this. Since you use Blogger you can simply add a blog to your reading list from your dashboard.

    ReplyDelete