DIY Mini fridge with fans and heatsinks?

I recently took apart a cheap dollar store mini-fridge and was suprised by its components. I didnt expect it to have refrigerant due to its size and price but what I saw came as a suprise. It was a thin metal shell that acted as the interior of the fridge, surrounded by plastic and styrofoam for insulation with exception to a small spot on the bottom of the metal case that was left bare to allow space for a small heatsink. Sandwiched between the inner metal shell and the outer plastic case was a small cooling fan that was separated from the interior of the fridge entirely so I presume it was meant to be used in conjunction with the heatsink. After seeing that there were no other visible components, my question is if this simple fan-heatsink-insulated metal shell combo is really an effective way of removing heat from a metal shell to the point where it would actually cool the air contained inside and act as a refrigerator. Obviously the mini fridge was not that good, and acted more as a mild cooler than any sort of refrigerator but it still worked to the point of practicality. So my question is can I recreate this? Using a larger metal shell and more heatsinks and stronger fans, would I be able to recreate a cooler that is capable of 45 degrees Fahrenheit operation ?