Cramlington joiner recreates mini version of Del Boy’s ‘cushty’ Peckham flat
A joiner from Northumberland has recreated a mini version of Del Boy Trotter’s flat from Only Fools and Horses, complete with his “weird” bed and the drinks bar which is synonymous with the show.
Kevin Jones, 38, who lives in Cramlington, Northumberland, took roughly a month to make his take on Del Boy’s Peckham flat at Nelson Mandela House, where he lived with his partner Raquel Turner and their son Damien Trotter, his brother Rodney Trotter, their grandfather and uncle Albert.
In January, he went viral for “reliving” all 64 episodes of the show through his unique take on Peckham – where the sitcom was situated – complete with the Nag’s Head pub, Sotheby’s and Del Boy’s three-wheeled Reliant Regal.
His latest project also includes a reference to every episode and features show nods he was unable to fit in to his first mini masterpiece.
This includes blow-up dolls to pay homage to a scene in Only Fools and Horses episode Danger UXD, where inflatable blow-up dolls explode, and Jolly Boy posters, which references his favourite episode – The Jolly Boys’ Outing.
Other items which make an appearance in the superfan’s model include “the weird bed with car stereos on the bedside table” and the bar which has drinks on it in the sitting room.
“The green kitchen unit is also in it and I’ve tried to get that as close as I can to what you see on screen,” he told the PA news agency.
“I’ve actually gone through episodes and taken screenshots of everything to try and get it as accurate as I can possibly get.”
He even made sure to try and get the exact red, floral carpet.
“You can’t buy that carpet anymore,” he said.
“For the carpet design, I managed to draw that up and get it printed.”
His model has eight rooms, including the kitchen, three bedrooms, the bathroom and passage, as well as the balcony.
He said he spent “at least” £1,000 buying pieces from doll house shops online and second house items from boot sales and market places, as well as 3D printing whatever he could not find including the lion cigar jar and musical singing cat.
He said some one of his favourite additions to the model include a portrait of Del Boy and his family above the fireplace, which was in the Time on Our Hands episode.
“I had to get that and the blow-up dolls in the flat, those were the first two things I made for it,” he said.
He said the trickiest element was getting the scale right as “there isn’t a layout for the flat” and had to wait a while for a miniature bottle of Pernod.
“I had to get it as it was a perfect reference to an episode (The Second Time Around),” he said.
“Blackcurrant and Pernod is Del’s drink of choice in that episode.”
Hundreds of people have interacted with a post on Facebook which highlight the flat through a series of photos, which Mr Jones said has left him “absolutely blown away”.
“I’m very critical of my own work,” he said.
“I look at something and if it doesn’t look right to me, I’ll expect people to pick up on it and say that doesn’t look right, but I didn’t really get anything like that.
“There were comments saying this is brilliant, but also a lot of comments saying I’ve sat down with a cup of tea and been through the pictures and it’s like watching the show again, trying to catch all the references.
“They liked the obscure references and managed to piece it all together. so the fact that people are sitting there and looking through all the references is very satisfying.”
As for what’s next for the joiner, he said he would like to replicate Del Boy’s living room once he and his wife buy their own house.
“This is all practice for building the full size set in future,” he added.
He said he hopes David Jason, who plays Del Boy, sees the model and if he does he would like to tell him: “Thank you for being part of the best British TV comedy that we’ve ever seen.”