PERSPECTIVES IN MINIATURE

ARTIST STATEMENT

In the words of Wilbur Smith "War is the game played by old men with the lives of the young". The pawn in this game is the combat soldier, represented by the miniature toy soldier; an insignificant being on the battlefield. Combat is the most intense moment of war, where life and death balances on a knife's edge. The results are terrifying and reveal the worst part of our human nature. Conversely, there are moments when it exudes the best of our human spirit. Most of the miniatures you see here are diligently researched from historical sources and handcrafted between scales of 1/35 to 1/16 (approx 50mm to 120mm). The intricate rendition of human expression and fine details not only demonstrates the level of craftsmanship but also serves as a reminder of the fragile nature of human life. I represent no political bias though my miniature creations. My aim is to portray humanity through the chronicles of military history and thus it is my pleasure that I present to you my weblog Perspectives in Miniature.

Calvin Tan

WWII GERMAN UNIFORMS - PERSONAL MIXES BY CALVIN TAN

In conjunction with AK Interactive, this exclusive Gen 3 acrylic paint set is specially composed with the essential colours that I use to render WWII German Uniforms. It contains 18 colours and a small pamphlet with my personal colour mixes. If you are keen to acquire all the colours on my palette to paint a field grey tunic, a splinter pattern zeltbahn, an oak-leaf pattern smock or the Kharkov anorak, look no further, this is the set for you to get started.

CALVIN TAN'S BASIC GUIDE TO FIGURE PAINTING

This instructional DVD published by Model Art magazine was primarily developed for the beginner armour and diorama modeller in mind. The video presentation will feature a variety of easy to master techniques used to render a 1/35 scale plastic injected moulded figure.Topics include proper paint application techniques, choice of brushes as well as some little tricks for painting fine detail. It is fundamentally a showcase of some of my methods and techniques for painting military figures and I am certain it will prove beneficial for any modeller who wishes to improve on figure painting. It is currently available in both Japanese and English.

CALVIN TAN'S GUIDE TO CONVERTING AND PAINTING FIGURES

In this third instalment, I will share my techniques and materials to customize and detail an inexpensive stock plastic figure. Watch as I take you through the steps on how I modify a pose, model details such as hands, belts and webbing and insignias. Learn about working effectively with epoxy putty as well as plastic styrene and paper. As a continuation from my first two DVDs, I will demonstrate how to model and paint a simple groundwork as well as an alternate approach using a monochromatic underpainting to render both a field grey tunic and the World War 2 German Splinter Camouflage pattern on a helmet cover. If you have enjoyed and benefitted from those previous titles, this edition will be a welcome addition to your journey in scale figure modelling – regardless of your current skill level. It is my sincere hope that this could inspire you to embark on your own creative adventure in this fantastic hobby. .

Thursday, 15 May 2025

Lieutenant, US 45th Infantry Division, Bavaria, 1945

Labels: AK Interactive, Alpine Miniatures, Miniart Posted by Calvin Tan at 00:07

A little more progress on this compositional exercise. The main takeaway for such a project is to engage as much play as possible with the available material and improvise the layout and composition according to one's intuition and design knowledge. The scene is rather busy at this stage, and I will probably need to figure out how to harmonise all the elements to sustain the viewing interest of the audience.

Cheers,

Calvin

Tuesday, 13 May 2025

Lieutenant, US 45th Infantry Division, Bavaria, 1945

Labels: AK Interactive, Alpine Miniatures Posted by Calvin Tan at 14:59

As they say, inspiration can come from many places. I got the idea to create a street barricade from a clutter of trash and debris while I was assessing my expanding collection of MiniArt accessories. Let's see how this stacks up.

The barrels are undercoated with Real Color Marker RCM007 Wood.

A light wash of ABT1114 Dark Earth is applied to provide additional tooth for the paint to adhere.

The wood grain is simulated with several glazes of ABT1114 Dark Earth.

The hoops are painted with Rubber Black.

Cheers,

Calvin

Monday, 5 May 2025

US 104th Infantry Division, Germany 1945

Labels: AK Interactive, Alpine Miniatures, Hornet Models, Miniart Posted by Calvin Tan at 22:17

I finally placed the finishing touches on this weeklong project. It has been quite enjoyable toying with the composition, utilising some of the diorama accessories from Miniart from my stash.

For the first time, I used the RC markers from AK Interactive to lay in the base colours for the accessories. I find them incredibly convenient to use and, if I might add, virtually idiot-proof. The paint flows smoothly from the felt tip and dries to a very even finish. I was pleasantly surprised that it cures stubbornly strong (scratch proof when fully cured for a day). This product has definitely saved me a lot of time agitating paint, uncapping bottles and washing brushes. I do hope that they expand the offering of colours from this range of products.

Cheers,

Calvin

Sunday, 4 May 2025

US 104th Infantry Division, Germany 1945

Labels: AK Interactive, Alpine Miniatures, Hornet Models Posted by Calvin Tan at 23:00

I was hoping to complete this figure over this weekend, but it took a little longer as I somehow decided to replace the original M1 helmet with a more updated version from Alpine Miniature set 35312.

Cheers,

Calvin

Saturday, 3 May 2025

US 104th Infantry Division, Germany 1945

Labels: AK Interactive, Alpine Miniatures, Hornet Models Posted by Calvin Tan at 22:00

Made use of this weekend to continue work on this Alpine figure. I decided to change the colours from the brown M1937 wool trousers to the M1943 olive green trousers to better complement the wracked green wardrobe he is standing on.

Paints used to mix the colour tone for the M1943 trousers.

This is the support I am using to paint the figure.

The chair, wardrobe and pot are from Miniart; tossed together with several components from my scrapbox. As usual, all are painted with AK Interactive Gen 3 acrylics.

Cheers,

Calvin