How it's Made: Little Smeg Kettle
This tutorial will show you how to make a little kettle for your kitchen. You will need:
one length of 3mm thick bass wood (bass wood is available in most craft stores);
small block of balsa wood (10mm x 10mm x 20mm);
all purpose water based glue;
standard craft blade;
fine sandpaper;
toothpick;
paint (enamel hobby paints give the best finish).
**Note: the measurements given below are for 1:24 scale. If you would like to make the kettle in 1:12, double the measurements (including the wood thicknesses).
Begin your kettle with a block of balsa wood measuring 10mm x 10mm x 20mm. The Smeg kettle (and a lot of modern retro style kettles) have a gently curving shape, so you will need to shape the balsa block accordingly. Begin by carving the rough shape, and then sand it smooth as shown.
Tip: use balsa wood and not a harder kind of wood because it is more easily shaped.
Once you have shaped it, poke a tooth pick in the bottom. This will allow you to work on the kettle much more easily and get a smooth paint finish. I glued it in; because balsa is weak it can be easily pulled out later.
You will now need to shape a base out of the 2mm bass wood. Once you cut it to the same shape as the kettle base, you can sand it as shown above to give it small feet.
You will then need to paint the kettle white (or any colour you like!). I did this by dipping the entire kettle into the paint tin rather than using a brush. I did this about four times (letting dry each time and sanding with fine sane paper) for a seamless coat.
Next, shape a handle from 2mm bass wood as shown above, and a spout cut from thick paper. Paint the base, spout and handle chrome and glue them on.
Now comes the tricky part! You will have to carefully cut the letters “S M E G” from thick paper as shown above. Use the fine pointed blade I have in order to get the best detail. Glue these on with PVA. You may need to use the blade itself to stick them on.
And you’re finished!
