A fragile piece: Saigon teacher makes miniatures of US, North Korea leaders

Nguyen Thanh Tam, 69, shows off the figurines of the two leaders at his house in Go Vap District.

Tam says: "This is a small gift from Ho Chi Minh City to the North Korean-U.S. Summit in Hanoi. I wish the conference will be a success."

He first saw their photos from various angles on the Internet to accurately capture their appearance.

"I had to find the most straightforward portrait and then the left and right profiles to get all the details."

He used eggshells, lead and clay to make the Trump figurine months before the summit because he was a fan of the U.S. president.

"Making North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was more difficult. I had to carefully select the eggshell shape before sketching his face and then the [rest]," he said.

It took Tam more than two hours to make Kim’s glasses from lead.

Tam carefully studies the eyes and other facial features before sketching.

"Decorating eggshells is very difficult since it requires meticulousness and calmness from the artist and the ability to capture a character's charisma."

He also staged a meeting between Trump and Kim in front of Ben Thanh Market, a symbol of Ho Chi Minh City.

Tam has crafted more than 900 eggshell figurines, including of national world leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and former U.S. President Barack Obama.