Andrew M. Tan

Andrew M. Tan, PhD is a commissioned miniature painter, photographer, and writer with more than 15 years of hands-on hobby experience. He founded and edits Tangible Day, drawing on a PhD in neuroscience and peer-reviewed research to write about attention, learning, and the craft of making things by hand. Full bio: https://tangibleday.com/andrew-m-tan/

How to Paint an Imperial Knight (8 Easy Steps)

Painting Showcase - Imperial Knight: Dullcote Your Models

Painting a large model like a Warhammer 40k Imperial Knight has a number of unique challenges. Unlike the smaller tabletop miniatures of the 40k Universe, like Space Marines, Imperial Knights have much more surface area and details. In this article, I highlight several techniques I used to paint this Imperial Knight. For the sake of

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Grymkin: Skin & Moans Warbeast (How to Paint)

I never expected to pick up the Grymkin faction (Warmachine/Hordes tabletop game). But, when I saw the models and the night-marish style….Taking control of monsters of bad-dreams couldn’t be boring, right? I now own a large collection of Grymkin models. They are fun to paint! In this article, I quickly detail how I painted the Skin

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Top 3 Websites for How to Paint Non-Metallic Metal (NMM)

When I first started learning to paint miniatures–I mean really trying to improve my work–I searched everywhere on the internet for the best tutorials for how to paint non-metallic metal (NMM). NMM-style painting is the method of painting metallic-looking objects using regular paint that doesn’t contain any reflective metal flake pigment. Although, knowing how to paint

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The Citadel Medium Base Brush: A Brush for Speed Painting (Review)

Citadel Medium Base Brush Review - Games Workshop Brushes for Professional Miniature and Model Painting - Best Brush for Painting Miniatures

The Citadel Medium Base Brush is the most used brush in my miniature painting arsenal. The Citadel Medium Base Brush reviews like a car that sells itself. It has wide tuft surface that applies a good amount of paint, while providing you good control. Because the brush is made of synthetic fibers, you can use

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3D Printed Hydralisk (40k Tyranid Proxy) for Gaming or Collection

The goal of the 3D printing project was to make a proxy model for one of the 40k Tryanid pieces (in particular, for the Ravener miniature). In my opinion, it’s a neat looking model, but it doesn’t carry the respect of the much more iconic Starcraft Hydralisk. So, searching the internet, the Hydralisk 3D file was available for purchase (among other 3D files for video game models).

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A Philosophical View of Beauty and What it Means for Miniature Painters

Contrary to the popular adage, beauty is not solely in the eye of the beholder. Human perception is largely a multi-sensory experience, often initiated by visual stimuli. We live as machines, processing our environment through instinctual frameworks, hardwired for optimal for survival and reproduction. Is Beauty Rooted in Biology? Biologically speaking, our nervous systems operate

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How to Paint Tyranids for Warhammer 40k (Painting Skin Overview)

I’ve recently begun a new project painting an army of Tyranids, the swarming, all-consuming alien race of the Warhammer 40k Universe. Unlike my other projects, which have been vehicular or armored machinations, these Tyranid models are all organic, fleshy, scaly creatures of various shapes and sizes. In this article, I take a philosophical approach to describing

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