Echo...


...echo, echo, echo...



Hello everyone, I'm back.  There was a similar echo on my blog back in February I believe.  I'm sorry I left my blog alone for a few months,  I did not feel I had much to show you although I have been busy!

One of the things I did was make a miniature kitchen.  I know what you're thinking: 'What, another one?'.  Yes, yes, another kitchen.  But this time it was slightly different.  I was asked if I could duplicate an old handbuilt miniature kitchen, as closely as possible.  





So I did.  It wasn't easy.  In fact it was quite difficult as I had to copy the style and method of someone else's work.  I also tried to use the same materials which were used in the original kitchen.  Again not so easy as for instance the marble used for the floor and countertop is no longer available as the marble is mined at a different depth now and so looks different.
With the very kind help from a local marble company and some experimenting with oil paint I came close though!


New 'old' kitchen
Old kitchen

There are real tiles on the wall into which I scratched tile grids.  I searched to find tiles which have the same size and colour variation as the tiles in the original kitchen.   Again I was very kindly helped by a local tile company.  

I had put the old kitchen in the back of my car and showed it to the people of different companies.  They were all so kind, helpful and interested!  Which was much appreciated by me as of course my orders of 9 tiles and a tiny bit of marble means nothing to them.  


Exact copy of one of the windows.
Turning the handle for the oven door on the drill press.
The oak for the cabinet was provided to me by my young cabinetmaker neighbour.  He kindly planed the oak to the many various thicknesses for me which left me with the task of building the cabinet and stand.  As my machines are built for making miniatures and the oak was up to 2 cm thick, again that was not so easy.  But my little machines and I managed ;-)

As I don't have a lathe (yet!!) I thought I'd have to find someone to make me the different metal fittings of the kitchen too, but after some experimenting I found that my big drill press did the job perfectly.   So I made all the metal parts myself as well.  The only thing in the entire cabinet I did not make myself are the hinges on the cupboard door, those I found at the hardware store. 





Another thing I found difficult was trying not to make it look perfect.  The grouting for instance had to be done slightly rough and let's say 'sloppy'as that's how the original was done.   I did not go overboard with putting patina on it, as time will do that all by itself, just like it did with the original.

I put a few of my own miniatures in the kitchen to give it some life for the photos.  Although the new 'old' kitchen differs slightly from the original old kitchen on some points, I am very pleased with the result.  And I had fun and learned a lot!



Comments

  1. Hello Josje,
    Congratulations. you did a terrific job. I just love this kitchen. All your hard work was well worth it. The fixtures are wonderful. You did such a good job that when looking at the new vs the old I would swear it was the same room that had been professionally restored. You impress me my friend.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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    1. Josje,
      What an amazing duplication! One would be hard pressed to determine which was the original and which one is the copy in your photo of the two kitchens beside each other.
      Martha

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    2. Sorry Josje and Giac, I see that my comment did not go in a box of its own!

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    3. Thank you Giac for your wonderful compliment! I had to repress my urge to do a little restoring to the original. Other than a lot of measuring, I did not touch that one.

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    4. No problem Martha, I can still read your comment. Thank you for your compliment!

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  2. Mission accomplie et brillamment ! Félicitations, c'est impressionnant.
    Karine

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  3. It's a beautiful kitchen; I like the details.

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    1. Thank you Faby. It is a charming kitchen, I was very pleased to have worked on it!

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  4. Hi Josje
    Wow, only you showed the two kitchens together you wouldn't know the difference. Amazing. It is hard enough at times to complete a room, but to duplicate one like that is a true skill. Brilliant.
    All the best
    Vivian

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  5. Oh, solo ora, col traduttore ho capito!!! Quando le hai mostrate in anteprima su FB, non avendo un traduttore, ho pensato che avevi costruito due cucine uguali! Hai fatto un lavoro incredibile, Josje! Sono impressionata!

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    1. Haha, no fortunately I only made one. Enough challenge in that for me ;-)

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  6. Goed om weer iets van jou te zien Josje. Wat een goed gelukte nieuwe-oude keuken, ik zie het verschil niet hoor. Wat werk je toch mooi, het ziet er prachtig uit.

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    1. Dank je Inge. Ja ik ben even druk geweest met andere dingen dan miniaturen, gewoon geen tijd en ik had daarom ook niet zo veel te melden op miniatuurgebied. Ik hoop snel op verbetering ;-)

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  7. Your duplicate kitchen is fabulous!

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  8. Wel heel erg goed geslaagd, zou ik zeggen! Ik vroeg me af hoe je het marmer op maat hebt gemaakt ? Ik kan me voorstellen dat er zo een verzameling van mooie miniaturen in tentoongesteld zal worden...

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    1. Dank je wel Idske! Voor het marmer had ik mallen gemaakt van de originele vloer en die zijn precies op maat nagemaakt door het marmer bedrijf. Het marmer dat ze hadden gevonden was veel dikker dus het is ook op dikte gemaakt door het bedrijf. Het aanrecht heb ik thuis toch nog aan moeten passen omdat ik de mal niet helemaal goed gemaakt had, maar dat bleek verrassend eenvoudig te doen met mijn schuurschotel (wel héél stoffig!). Ik denk dat je dunne stukjes marmer aardig kunt bewerken met een dremel of zo.

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  9. You have a special gift of patience, to seek solutions and get to the perfect result. I love your talent :-)
    You have performed the miracle of the multiplication of the mini kitchen ;-)
    Lovely hugs,
    Flora

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  10. Your attention to detail is, as always, perfect. I'm impressed that you made the metal ware on a vertical drill press. Fabulous. Don't be away for so long next time. I miss your posts =0)

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    1. Ah thank you Pepper, that's very sweet of you to say! I was quite chuffed with how the drill press worked. A metal lathe is on its way though!

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  11. The new one looks like the old one would after a sensitive renovation, great work. They are practically identical.

    Sarah x

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    1. Thank you Sarah for such a lovely compliment!

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  12. You've done an amazing job with the kitchen as well as the reproduction. Lovely!

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  13. Astounding work, Josje! Your work is immaculate and is hard to imagine anyone could actually do.

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    1. Thank you Shelley! It was interesting to work on as it was quite different from how I would normally approach the things I make. But still fun and I learned a lot.

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  14. Wow perfect job duplicating! I really like the kitchens---

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  15. They look like twins! Congratulations on your new baby kitchen! :D

    elizabeth

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  16. Wat ontzettend mooi geworden Josje.
    Het is gewoon een replica van je eigen keuken.

    Groetjes Thea

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    1. Dank je Thea. De originele keuken is niet van mij hoor.

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  17. It's almost impossible to tell the two kitchens apart. Well done, Josje! (And let's have more frequent echoes please - we all miss your posts!)

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    1. Thank you Anna! I'll try to be more frequent in my posts again. I'd better get busy making miniatures again then ;-)

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  18. I, too, looked at the images and wondered why you made two identical room boxes! Fantastic job and welcome back.

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  19. Josje, I am impressed! It is not easy to duplicate others work and have it look nearly identical, and from what I can see you succeeded! I really could not tell them apart if I was pressed to do so.

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    1. Thank you Doug! It was an interesting roombox to work on.

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  20. It looks like a perfect duplicate to me. What a fun (though difficult) project. How nice you were able to get those materials too. You did a beautiful job!!!!

    I am looking forward to seeing what you made in your class in Tune.

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    1. Hi Catherine, Thank you! Yes it was difficult, but interesting and fun. I tried finishing it before I went to Tune, but needed a few day more. Tune was great! I'll tell you in my next post ;-)

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  21. I love the duplication :) great work

    Hugs
    Marisa

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  22. Un gran trabajo. Es exactamente igual.

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  23. Hi Josje, so glad to see you once again and what a challenge to undertake duplicating the kitchen. I have been speculating why and the best reason I can think of is that someone could not favour one child over another so a duplicate had to be made!
    An amazing talent to be able to do the metal turnings using the drill.
    Regards Janine


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    1. Hi Janine, you are good at speculating! ;-) The drill was great to work with, I was surprised it did so well. But my next purchase will be a metal lathe!

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  24. Beautiful! It is hard to see any difference at all between the two kitchens! Great work!!

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  25. Wat zal de opdrachtgever blij zijn Josje met dit prachtige resultaat. Complimenten voor je werk.

    Groetjes Xandra

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  26. Jee, iets maken is inderdaad 1 ding, maar iets namaken dat door iemand anders is gemaakt is van een hele andere orde en stelt je voor lastige problemen.. Maar heel netjes gedaan Josje, het is een erg goede replica geworden!

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    1. Dank je Monique. Het was een interessant project en leuk om eens te doen.

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  27. You did an amazing job Josje and I am sure the customer is totally in love with the new version also. Brilliant!

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  28. Hoi Josje
    wat mooi gemaakt,ik reageer laat hier veel veranderd,gescheiden ,verhuisd,Ik heb je nog in apeldoorn gezien maar je was in gesprek anders had ik je gedag gezegd,denk vaak terug aan de leuke workshop bij jou.blijf je volgen
    groetjes adrie bosman ex kortleve

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    1. Hoi Adrie, Wat jammer dat ik je niet gezien heb! Ach, ik ben altijd in gesprek ;-) Gewoon aan m'n jasje trekken de volgende keer hoor. Tjonge wat een veranderingen voor je! Ik hoop dat het goed met je gaat en lekker in je vel zit. Nog wel met miniaturen bezig dus! Lieve groet, Josje

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