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

I developed this instructional DVD with Model Art magazine to help beginner armor and diorama modelers master the art of the 1/35 scale figure. In this video, I demonstrate easy-to-follow techniques for painting injection-molded plastics—from choosing the right brushes to the 'little tricks' I use for fine details. This is a complete showcase of my personal methods, and I’m confident it will help any modeler take their work to the next level. For your convenience, the DVD is available in both English and Japanese."

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.

Wednesday, 14 August 2019

US 2nd Armored Div., (Hell On Wheels) Germany, 1945

Labels: Tamiya - US Tank Crew Set (ETO) Posted by Calvin Tan at 00:30

On the Tonight Show.....

This is a snapshot of the color palette I used to paint the tanker's jacket snd overalls. I created two tones; greenish for the jacket and brownish for the overalls to distinguish them apart. The basic tone is created by mixing Japanese Uniform, Deep Sky Blue and Gunship Green. A brownish tone is created by adding SS Middle Brown to the basic mix. Alternating the ratios of each component paint will yield varying tones and thus I tinkered around until I reached the desired tone. Toying in this fashion helps to generate many subtle variations of tones identical to that of classical oil painting.

Cheers,

Calvin

Tuesday, 6 August 2019

US 2nd Armored Div., (Hell On Wheels) Germany, 1945

Labels: Tamiya - US Tank Crew Set (ETO) Posted by Calvin Tan at 23:21

Moving on nicely this evening....

Cheers,

Calvin

US 2nd Armored Div., (Hell On Wheels) Germany, 1945

Labels: Tamiya - US Tank Crew Set (ETO) Posted by Calvin Tan at 09:00

A little progress on the details during Monday's painting session.

Cheers,

Calvin

Sunday, 4 August 2019

US 2nd Armored Div., (Hell On Wheels) Germany, 1945

Labels: Tamiya - US Tank Crew Set (ETO) Posted by Calvin Tan at 23:05

The outcome of a productive Sunday afternoon. Painted with Vallejo acrylics and Andrea Color.

Cheers,

Calvin

Friday, 19 July 2019

Young Miniatures - SS Schütze with Panzerschreck, Fall 1944-45

Labels: Young Miniatures, Young Miniatures - SS-Schütze with Panzerschreck Fall 1944-45 Posted by Calvin Tan at 19:37

Finally found some time to get the painting of this fine sculpt squared away. I swapped out the kit's helmet and modified the Model 24 Stielhandgranate to a M43 variant with a blue fuse.

Cheers,

Calvin

Thursday, 11 July 2019

Young Miniatures - SS Schütze with Panzerschreck, Fall 1944-45

Labels: Young Miniatures - SS-Schütze with Panzerschreck Fall 1944-45 Posted by Calvin Tan at 22:35

I am so glad to finally clear the stock pile of work in the office after Penang Show from two weekends ago. This week I treated myself to some bench time to continue work on the example piece I used for my demo on painting camouflage patterns from the show. It is the first time I am trying to replicate the Blurred Edge camouflage pattern and it is still a work in progress as I hammer out the kinks on how to effectively render this pattern.

Cheers,

Calvin

Thursday, 20 June 2019

Young Miniatures - Alter Hase Version 2

Labels: Young Miniatures - Alter Hase Posted by Calvin Tan at 18:14

This a second version of the original box art I painted for Young Miniatures. It started out as the subject for a painting demonstration of the face at the Shizuoka Hobby Show last May and subsequently the camouflage smock at the Belgian Scale Modelers Convention earlier this month. I continued work on the scarf and the accessories upon my return and modified the kit pipe into a calabash pipe. A very fun project in all and now back to clear some of the existing projects lying on the back burner.