As an example, Elegoo claims a lifetime of about 2000 hours on the Mars 2 pro mono screen (that is a lot of printing time!). If you want to avoid resin printing you can use it to print miniatures, but they wont have the same level of precision, and youll need to do some sanding and general post-processing to get them closer to the level youre happy with. Allow plenty of time for the primer to dry properly.
Most FDM printers heat up the plastic and drip it down into the shape it needs to be on a plate. So you got the two very popular brands that we have talked a lot about: Elegoo and Anycubic. Expensive compared to budget 3D printers for miniatures. You insert a usb stick with the file with the miniature on it you want to print (right now a lot of people use, The metal plate moves down to the bottom of the tank, The screen projects UV light in the shape required by the file, The smaller layer of hardened resin is now stuck between the build plate and the clear plastic. If you want to try your hands with a DLP printer, a good option is the Anycubic Photon Ultra. The build plate moves down to the bottom again and the screen projects light onto the resin, A new layer of hardened resin is now formed beneath the old layer, Over very many, many layers (1-2 k is not uncommon) your miniature will slowly form hanging upside down from the build plate, Mat (super useful to get everything with resin on it out of the way and cured before you despise of it). What I would worry about with the lesser known brands is customer service if something breaks and getting parts for the screen, FEP and so on (parts of the printer that will break at some point). When I bought my first resin printer I was amassed at how many parts of the printer I should expect to replace after not very long usage time. I Want to display Your Pictures on my Site, Where to buy your Warhammer and information about my Affiliate Links, Terms and Conditions for Age of Miniatures, $300 RRP on Amazon (but seen for $204 on sale), $300 RRP on Amazon (but seen for $199 on sale), Buy directly from Elegoo (cheap for Europeans), Elegoo will cover a similar you screen for 6 months, you can check out the differences between the two here, super sweet sculpted printing files that are flowing out of various Patreons each month, So if you want good quality printed miniatures, you will need good quality files, how to get the best 3D printing files for miniatures, you can check our introduction to Bloodfields here, Beginners Guide to 3D printing miniatures, Bigger printers with faster speed and more features, Even bigger models or fancy features or super big printers. This might not seem like much on paper, but means the Anycubic Photon M3 can produce much larger single models or batch print more copies of the same in one sitting than the Mono 4K, let alone the original Mono. Both will have enough volume to print monsters or terrain in one big piece. If you want to print Miniatures you want a resin 3D printer that can print in high detail. The Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Mono and the Anycubic Photon Mono 4k delivers everything you would want in a good quality 3D printer for miniatures, and neither will set you back a fortune. And minuscule details are the key to amazing-looking miniatures. Now getting in cheap was super, but if I could make another decision today I absolutely would. They are also more expensive, but you cannot have it all. More than double the price of the Ender 3 and Ender 3 V2. I have found the Elegoo system very easy to use as a beginner and found no big difference when I have tried the Anycubic system. You can find good and bad costumer service experiences with both brands, but neither are very bad overall (and neither are amazing). So starting out, get something that is just ready to print. You put liquid resin in a small tank (the vat). You can end up spending a lot of time just getting the damn thing to produce some okayish results. But in this blocking process, light will still bleed through making the miniature less crisp. Most (if not all) mainstream, home resin printers will easily give you the option of running layers that small and down to 0.01mm. Wether or not those extra features are worth that much is hard to know before you have printed for a while. So you need a big printer to print those monsters in one go! All that said, be careful with paying for extra features.
3DSourced is reader-supported. We would like to conclude this article by reminding readers to be careful, as intellectual property (IP) laws prevents the creation, download or 3D printing of trademarked characters.
And Should You Buy a Mono 3D Printer? It seems all printer are capable of comporable detail quality. We recommend ordinary sandpaper or a sand sponge they are cheap, effective, and come with grit coarseness levels for quick sanding, smoother finish, etc. As an example: the difference in price between the Elegoo Mars 2 Mono and 2 Mono Pro is right now 70 USD. When we tested it for our Elegoo Mars 2 Pro review, we were very impressed with the quality it delivered at such a low price. This means that you can now buy a very cheap resin printer and print miniatures that are comparable (and sometimes better) in detail and quality than what you can buy in a store. See, all of the printers we have talked about so far are mSLA. Leading this is a jump to a 6K display, an enhanced light matrix to improve curing uniformity, and a larger 9.25 LCD. So yeah, options are not what is lacking in terms brands and various printers. This is necessarily a downside if youre printing single large figures, but it does reduce the scope for batch printing multiples simultaneously, so if you want to produce large volumes for your business or home games, consider Phrozens Sonic Mighty range, the Anycubic Mono X 6K, or Elegoo Saturn S. Overall, if youre looking for the best quality miniatures, and arent too worried about a slightly smaller build volume, the Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K is largely unrivaled. The difference between the two are basicly super minor details, that you might not notice unless you had them both. But I suggest you do your own research to decide which route to go. So if you want to print a lot of miniatures, or some big ones, it is best to get a printer with a good-sized build plate and screen, as this determines how much you can print simultaneously. My build plate wobbles every time I take a print of, so it means I need to relevel the printer after each print. If youre leaning towards a budget FDM printer like the popular Ender 3, but its build volume doesnt quite measure up to the size of terrain youre planning to print, the Ender 5 Plus is a great alternative. While FDM 3D printers have larger print areas, and the filament is cheaper and non-toxic, you cant get anywhere near the same level of detail. It comes with CHITUBOX, the highly-praised resin 3D slicer which slices models quickly to save you time, and also includes useful features such as tools that hollow out models before you print to lower material costs, if you dont mind slightly less durable parts. If you design the model yourself however, if it isnt identical or a total imitation of anothers copyrighted work, then you arent infringing on their copyright or patents. So, the only factor that determines how long a resin print job will take is the height of the tallest model. To put it into perspective, if you saw an FDM-printed miniature in a shop, you probably wouldnt buy it.
After cleaning up the print, glue or attach parts of the mini using a bonding agent (you can also do this after painting if you prefer), and fill in any drainage holes, seams, gaps, and cracks using a brush and a mix of resin and baby powder. However, keep abreast to new changes in laws that affect where creators and IP holders stand legally. Considered one of the best cheap 3D printers around, the Ender 3 is famed for its reliability and effectiveness for the price. In other words, the Anycubic Mono X 6K is as suited to printing large Warhammer tanks, knights, and warhounds as classic space marine 28 mm miniatures. When I bought my first 3D printer I went with a very standard, super cheap solution in the Elegoo Mars (no pro or 2 or anything).
Age of Miniatures is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies.Read more about our affiliate links here. Low quality will be very annoying to paint.
For example, the 2021 Appropriations Act changed the way holders of IP and perceived infringers interact. I view a plastic printer more as a second 3D printer, when you have a resin printer and know that this is something you enjoy. Some designers online publish their miniature files for free online (we include the best places later on), but even premium models are extremely cheap often just a few dollars. Is it worth buying a 3D printer for miniatures? If you have the money, go for an 8K printer but it isnt a necessity.
So this is a bit of a hot topic and something I will only briefly cover here. Positioned as an upgrade to the popular budget Mono X, the Anycubic Mono X 6K doesnt reinvent the wheel as much as building upon those solid foundations and fantastic build quality. This is focused heavily on getting you a printer with good printing quality for tabletop games or wargaming. Another way of doing it is using a projector and only projecting light to the areas that need to be cured (called DLP).
Since the price is very similar and the printers are also very similar, it gets very arbitrary to deem one of these 2 printers the best 3d printer for miniatures. Also, why is the USB on the back so I have to move my printer around?! Only get the 4k screen if the printers are very close in price (the important part is the mono screen, get that no matter what you do). But be warned: while resin printing can be frustrating, plastic printing is even more of a beast. My biggest takeaway from buying a printer myself and looking at all of the options is that the more expensive options of 3D printers do not really give you better quality prints but they might give you the ability to print faster, print more miniatures at a time or ease of use features. Now this is super important and something I used quite a lot of time on. Different 3D printers have different minimum layer heights, for example the Elegoo Mars 3 has a minimum layer height of 0.01mm, or 10 microns. What you will soon figure out in your 3D printing journey, is that failed print is no fun at all.
Even larger build volume for producing many miniatures at once. It can be hard to figure out how the structure of each brands printers are, so here is a big long list with some pointers on what is what. Overall, the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Mono is one of the best low cost resin printers around, and for creating miniatures, if you have the tech know-how, you may find resin printing meets your needs best. Lucky for you, in recent years they have come down dramatically in price and ease of use. The other thing I am bummed about is the areas where they have cheaped out on building the thing. For makers who have experience with 3D printing and are comfortable with the added complexities of resin printing, the Elegoo Mars could be your perfect 3D printer for miniatures and tabletop models. The first part features the best resin printers for miniatures in every price range, and then the best FDM 3D printers for miniatures we recommend are listed.
First, remove any support structures by either removing them by hand or using clippers, or in the case of soluble supports, immersing them in the appropriate liquid, usually water. As low-cost consumer-grade printers go, this volume size is up there and should cover all your terrain needs.
There are basically two different ways of printing miniatures: Plastic or resin. Miniatures commonly refer to games like Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons and 28mm miniatures, but 3D printing miniatures can mean any kind of small model. It is fine for big stuff or small tokens, where the superfine detail is less important. The Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Mono is a super value resin printer that consistently prints high-quality miniatures even for beginners. For miniature makers, this means a noticeable jump in quality over the Mono X, especially on finer parts such as hairs, scales, horns, armor detail, and facial features. The resolution and pixel density of the screen will help with making a more fine detail miniature, so more is better here (think 4k screen is super good, 2k screen is good). Products Released for Kill Team (The New 2021 Edition), Hi, I am Peter Thuborg and this is Age of Miniatures, I hope you enjoy the content. Also, it kinda defeats the purpose of printing which is to have the miniature come out in one piece without any issues. Categories Tools and ressources, 3d-printing. So not only do you have to print your terrain in a few pieces, it will also be quite expensive in the long run (resin is not super cheap). It does so fast as well, with a solid 50 mm/h print speed, which equates to roughly 30 minutes per 28 mm model. The build plate moves up and (hopefully) the small hard layer of resin sticks to the build plate. To put that into perspective, in a 6cm tall resin miniature print, with 0.05mm layers, that is 1200 layers to print.
If you dont need all 6K quality, opt for a Photon M3, Photon Mono 4K, or Elegoo Mars 3. Also, how high can the printer go up? You can only print as high as the build plate can move up, so if you want to printer super big things (without breaking them up into smaller parts), you will need to make sure the machine is high enough for it. Convenience features like automatic bed leveling and filament sensor. The Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K offers a best-in-class 22 micron XY resolution. Extra features, or lack of them, can be crucial to how the 3d printer feels and operates. If you are beginner, you will likely not notice what features you are paying for anyway. It will quickly expand you collecting with hundreds of resin miniatures! After getting really into 3D printing, I have realised that a lot of printers are very much the same. Picking a 3D printer for printing miniatures can be incredibly daunting. However, if you want to save money, the Photon M3 is a great shout if youre comfortable with 4K resolution, as the Mono X 6K costs double the price. It costs around $1 per miniature 3D print on average, though this will vary depending on the size of the model, and the type of resin used. In numbers, this means a slight downgrade to a 40 micron XY resolution compared to the Mono 4 Ks 35 microns, but at these low numbers, the difference is indistinguishable to the naked eye, even for veteran miniature aficionados. With custom characters and models for games becoming so pricey, many have decided that buying a 3D printer for miniatures and printing their own custom models is the way forward. The mono screen also means that it lasts a lot longer than the old screens (looking sadly at my old Mars 1). I picked the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Mono, but this was at a time where the price difference was about $100. Here are some sites that host free and paid files: And here are some articles where we recommend miniature-related prints: Really, a miniature isnt truly finished without some post-processing love and attention. That is time-consuming and very annoying. 3-in-1 3D Printers (with CNC & Laser Engraving), Check price at Creality Official Store here, Gambody (specialized in video game/comic book models), 3D Printed Anime Figures: Best Sites & 40+ Top Free Files, 30+ Warhammer 40K 3D Print Files & Best Sites in 2022, We also recommend an Elegoo washing and curing station . The rise of video games has pushed tabletop games to the fringes, but those who enjoy these games are often die-hard fans. Aside from the large format, Ender 5 Plus also features some handy benefits over the Ender 3. Patent laws prevent anyone from selling any object based on someone elses intellectual property. While I still think most printers are capable of mostly the same detail, the things you get with a more expensive machine is: So my Elegoo Mars is sloooow. As an example, no matter what version of the Elegoo Mars printer you buy, they can all print miniatures of the almost the exact same detail and quality. Super cheap printers will most of the time have a small screen and build plate. So a lot of the printers are basically the same specs, with slight differences that wont really matter unless you really print a lot of minis (like non-stop all day and night) or you a want a huge build plate +screen and loads of space to print on (for big miniatures). You can use non-cure products like the excellent Apoxie Sculpt to fill in gaps. There are so many various factors in terms of printing high quality models. For terrain, this is another matter. Rather than being limited by the models featured in the catalogs of miniatures companies, and having to pay in excess of $10 per model, with a 3D printer you can print whatever you want, and also save up to 90% on the purchase price! You can print a lot of things on an fdm printer, but what you will find is that the detail is not super good. This makes the build size of a resin printer important, as the more models you can pack into the area, the more models you can print in one job in the same amount of time. Perfect for small 28 mm figures with precise features and details. Precisions is super key with high detail printing, as we are talking about 0.01mm making a difference here. Some of the best affordable resin materials are made by companies like Siraya Tech, Anycubic, and Elegoo, letting you print fantastic details on your miniatures within your budget. In theory, this can result in more precise layers. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. You do not want cheap plastic that breaks down quickly or bends. I have no idea what makes the expensive printers better and I am nervous I will wreck something.
I have tried both systems and found them very, very similar. You need to print them out in pieces and glue them together. The 2K 6 LCD screen gives the printer great precision for solidifying resins, with layer resolutions between 0.01-0.2mm available. Also, getting replacement parts for the 3D printer will not be an issue. I suggest you do your own research if you are interested in this topic: There are a lot of 3D printers on the market. Underneath the tank you have a small screen (or a projector) that can project light up into the resin above. We still recommend the Photon M3 over the Mono 4K for the larger build volume at this level, a 5-micron difference is not going to make a difference, even in the most precise of miniatures. The quality of the miniature you print is super important. Both printers have a mono screen, which means they print good quality miniatures very fast.
So cutting through all of the tech jargon and BS, we can dramatically cut down on the options you should consider when getting a printer for miniatures. The Creality Ender 3 V2 has a minimum layer height of 0.1mm, or 100 microns. Oh yeah, and the naming conventions and schemes are of course convoluted and not straightforward. The only issue could be if you want to print large towers or terrain that doesnt fit within the build volume. The screen is one of those things that will break down after using it, and the lifespan you can expect from it is not that long. In tech jargon resin 3D printing is called SLA or MSLA. What they will skimp on to make their printer price competitively is sometimes the build quality (and most of the time size). You can get into trouble if you print a trademarked character such as a Pokmon, with some large companies becoming increasingly studious in pursuing people breaking these laws. Larger build volume than Photon Mono 4K and Elegoo Mars 3, Much larger print area for printing many miniatures in one job, Lower quality than a resin printer, but ideal for terrain. This means I mainly talk about resin printers. First, well need to prime the minis to create a strong first layer for successive layers of paint to adhere well.
The Phrozen Sonic printers are also gaining popularity, especially when their Phrozen Sonic Mini 4k was the cheapest 4k printer on the market. And when you buy these, you get to keep the STL file, so you can print the model over and over again. For amateur Warhammer players and those partial to the occasional Friday night D&D session, the Photon M3 remains the most cost-effective option. So I guess it is clear by now that I think you should just get the cheapest mono resin printer from a reputable brand. Learn more. Part of a 3d printer is expected to fail. Resin printing has been around for a long time, but it is only in recent years that the price of home printers have gone down AND the quality has gone way up. There are also dual z-axis lead screws to improve stability and, by extension, overall print quality.
The smallest layers that a plastic printer can print are so big that you can see each layer with the naked eye.
However, the lower the layer height, the more layers youll have in your model, which increases the time it takes to print, and also increases the chance of a failed print.
We recommend using regular acrylic paints found at any hobby store such as Vallejo Game Color. After all, 3D printers can only go so far when it comes to bringing out the lush detail and intricacies of a model. I have made a whole article covering how to get the best 3D printing files for miniatures. We were impressed with the details of the miniatures we printed with it. So if you want good quality printed miniatures, you will need good quality files. Then, optionally you can fix any imperfections, prime and paint them for your custom look. They will not differ super much in build quality and features, but the screen can make a huge difference. It can print smoother models with clearer, crisper finishes than FDM printers, and the resins used do not cost as much as they used to.
Bigger layers will mean less precise details, so you want a printer that can print small layers. Remember however that youll use around half the resin you use on miniatures on supports, so only around two-thirds of your resin goes into the actual models. At least I would make sure that the FEP and the screen is in standars sizes so I can get a replacment easily. The warranty on the screen from Anycubic is only 3 months wereas Elegoo will cover a similar you screen for 6 months (but neither will cover it if you damage it).
Right now printers that print in plastic use plastic rolls of filament (in tech jargon they are called SLS or FDM printers). Some premium files even come with their slicer profiles pre-made so that you just need to import the file, and print. Ideal for large backdrops and terrain models.
Focus on buying a well-made printer made by a reputable company with a high-quality screen. We recommend investing in different brush sizes to cover the painting of everything from large single-color portions to small intricate details. But they are expensive and a bit of a waste of money in my opinion. After each printer, I have also listed the release date for the model in parentheses. If you want to print big monsters and models, it is way better to print them in one piece instead of glueing them together. You can input a figure (on a file on a USB stick) into the machine telling it the dimensions and shapes of the figure as well as a lot of variables of speed, timings and so on. I made it for you!Learn more about the site and my mission here. Both spray and brush paint options are viable any old primer from your hardware store will do. These are great because they are cheap and the pixel density is quite good. This printer will let you do just that! It comes with a BLTouch automatic bed leveling probe to save time and effort, so you can concentrate on bringing to life terrain. The most important thing is to pick a mono 3D printer.
We recommendbuying your brands wash and cure station to save you time and hassle. There is post-processing involved after printing youll need to scrape the resin prints off the build plate, remove the supports (wear gloves), wash the resin off of the prints with isopropyl alcohol, dry them, and cure them in UV light. Both printers are amazing and the price is just so good. I have only worked with resin printers from the Elegoo, Anycubic and Phrozen brands so that is what I am recomending. Manufacturers say things like: 3 times faster layer curing time and 4 times longer durability than earlier screens. Skip Mars 1 and Mars 2 non-pro as they are outdated and not sold anymore. So if you try to print a miniature in plastic, you will see small rings on the miniature, which is the layers. I will not go into super much detail about it here, but instead cover that in my beginners guide to 3D printing. But pixel density is only a small part of what makes it possible to print high-quality miniatures. A 1L bottle of resin will print between 30-35 miniatures of a reasonable size, with hobbyist resins costing $20-40. Alternatively, you can buy a small nail grinder with different attachments suited to miniature post-processing.
You will need to replace parts the two main culprits are FEP films, and screens, which will need to be replaced over time. We also participate in affiliate programs with other companies. How Much Does It Cost to 3D Print Miniatures?
So any best 3D printer for miniatures must have a mono screen and you should NOT buy one without it (I certainly super regret my first purchase now that this mono upgrade is here). 6K LCD offers superb rendering of intricate details. That being said, there are noticeable differences at each resin quality level mostly after youve primed the models. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Standard miniature etiquette and techniques apply here. They cure and print resin layers often 3x faster, and often last up to 4x longer, too, so theyll save you money and hassle replacing parts continuously.
You got 3 main places to get good quality miniature 3D printing files: What you want to look for is cool looking minis that are pre-supported. The Mono X was already a top pick now its upgraded. I would not mind getting a 4k screen on the 3D printer, but it would by no means be my biggest concern (as it can be hard to see a big difference in print quality). But, the Ender 3 V2 is the best printer in its price range for terrain, and PLA filament is very cheap and super easy to print with.
So I am cutting through the crap here and just giving you options I actually think you should consider if you want the best 3D printer for miniatures. Wear a mask to avoid the fumes, generally try to avoid the room when printing, and if possible put the printer near ventilation.
The series the various brands offer are often: Elegoo has these lines of resin printers: Anycubic is a bit more troublesome in their series and models, so it is way harder to get what is going on. Above the tank you have a metal plate (build plate) that can move up and down (very carefully and very precise). While that is cool and all it is also super time consuming (and hard in the beginning). A lot of resin printers have used normal phone screens.
Most FDM printers heat up the plastic and drip it down into the shape it needs to be on a plate. So you got the two very popular brands that we have talked a lot about: Elegoo and Anycubic. Expensive compared to budget 3D printers for miniatures. You insert a usb stick with the file with the miniature on it you want to print (right now a lot of people use, The metal plate moves down to the bottom of the tank, The screen projects UV light in the shape required by the file, The smaller layer of hardened resin is now stuck between the build plate and the clear plastic. If you want to try your hands with a DLP printer, a good option is the Anycubic Photon Ultra. The build plate moves down to the bottom again and the screen projects light onto the resin, A new layer of hardened resin is now formed beneath the old layer, Over very many, many layers (1-2 k is not uncommon) your miniature will slowly form hanging upside down from the build plate, Mat (super useful to get everything with resin on it out of the way and cured before you despise of it). What I would worry about with the lesser known brands is customer service if something breaks and getting parts for the screen, FEP and so on (parts of the printer that will break at some point). When I bought my first resin printer I was amassed at how many parts of the printer I should expect to replace after not very long usage time. I Want to display Your Pictures on my Site, Where to buy your Warhammer and information about my Affiliate Links, Terms and Conditions for Age of Miniatures, $300 RRP on Amazon (but seen for $204 on sale), $300 RRP on Amazon (but seen for $199 on sale), Buy directly from Elegoo (cheap for Europeans), Elegoo will cover a similar you screen for 6 months, you can check out the differences between the two here, super sweet sculpted printing files that are flowing out of various Patreons each month, So if you want good quality printed miniatures, you will need good quality files, how to get the best 3D printing files for miniatures, you can check our introduction to Bloodfields here, Beginners Guide to 3D printing miniatures, Bigger printers with faster speed and more features, Even bigger models or fancy features or super big printers. This might not seem like much on paper, but means the Anycubic Photon M3 can produce much larger single models or batch print more copies of the same in one sitting than the Mono 4K, let alone the original Mono. Both will have enough volume to print monsters or terrain in one big piece. If you want to print Miniatures you want a resin 3D printer that can print in high detail. The Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Mono and the Anycubic Photon Mono 4k delivers everything you would want in a good quality 3D printer for miniatures, and neither will set you back a fortune. And minuscule details are the key to amazing-looking miniatures. Now getting in cheap was super, but if I could make another decision today I absolutely would. They are also more expensive, but you cannot have it all. More than double the price of the Ender 3 and Ender 3 V2. I have found the Elegoo system very easy to use as a beginner and found no big difference when I have tried the Anycubic system. You can find good and bad costumer service experiences with both brands, but neither are very bad overall (and neither are amazing). So starting out, get something that is just ready to print. You put liquid resin in a small tank (the vat). You can end up spending a lot of time just getting the damn thing to produce some okayish results. But in this blocking process, light will still bleed through making the miniature less crisp. Most (if not all) mainstream, home resin printers will easily give you the option of running layers that small and down to 0.01mm. Wether or not those extra features are worth that much is hard to know before you have printed for a while. So you need a big printer to print those monsters in one go! All that said, be careful with paying for extra features.
3DSourced is reader-supported. We would like to conclude this article by reminding readers to be careful, as intellectual property (IP) laws prevents the creation, download or 3D printing of trademarked characters.
And Should You Buy a Mono 3D Printer? It seems all printer are capable of comporable detail quality. We recommend ordinary sandpaper or a sand sponge they are cheap, effective, and come with grit coarseness levels for quick sanding, smoother finish, etc. As an example: the difference in price between the Elegoo Mars 2 Mono and 2 Mono Pro is right now 70 USD. When we tested it for our Elegoo Mars 2 Pro review, we were very impressed with the quality it delivered at such a low price. This means that you can now buy a very cheap resin printer and print miniatures that are comparable (and sometimes better) in detail and quality than what you can buy in a store. See, all of the printers we have talked about so far are mSLA. Leading this is a jump to a 6K display, an enhanced light matrix to improve curing uniformity, and a larger 9.25 LCD. So yeah, options are not what is lacking in terms brands and various printers. This is necessarily a downside if youre printing single large figures, but it does reduce the scope for batch printing multiples simultaneously, so if you want to produce large volumes for your business or home games, consider Phrozens Sonic Mighty range, the Anycubic Mono X 6K, or Elegoo Saturn S. Overall, if youre looking for the best quality miniatures, and arent too worried about a slightly smaller build volume, the Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K is largely unrivaled. The difference between the two are basicly super minor details, that you might not notice unless you had them both. But I suggest you do your own research to decide which route to go. So if you want to print a lot of miniatures, or some big ones, it is best to get a printer with a good-sized build plate and screen, as this determines how much you can print simultaneously. My build plate wobbles every time I take a print of, so it means I need to relevel the printer after each print. If youre leaning towards a budget FDM printer like the popular Ender 3, but its build volume doesnt quite measure up to the size of terrain youre planning to print, the Ender 5 Plus is a great alternative. While FDM 3D printers have larger print areas, and the filament is cheaper and non-toxic, you cant get anywhere near the same level of detail. It comes with CHITUBOX, the highly-praised resin 3D slicer which slices models quickly to save you time, and also includes useful features such as tools that hollow out models before you print to lower material costs, if you dont mind slightly less durable parts. If you design the model yourself however, if it isnt identical or a total imitation of anothers copyrighted work, then you arent infringing on their copyright or patents. So, the only factor that determines how long a resin print job will take is the height of the tallest model. To put it into perspective, if you saw an FDM-printed miniature in a shop, you probably wouldnt buy it.
After cleaning up the print, glue or attach parts of the mini using a bonding agent (you can also do this after painting if you prefer), and fill in any drainage holes, seams, gaps, and cracks using a brush and a mix of resin and baby powder. However, keep abreast to new changes in laws that affect where creators and IP holders stand legally. Considered one of the best cheap 3D printers around, the Ender 3 is famed for its reliability and effectiveness for the price. In other words, the Anycubic Mono X 6K is as suited to printing large Warhammer tanks, knights, and warhounds as classic space marine 28 mm miniatures. When I bought my first 3D printer I went with a very standard, super cheap solution in the Elegoo Mars (no pro or 2 or anything).
Age of Miniatures is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies.Read more about our affiliate links here. Low quality will be very annoying to paint.
For example, the 2021 Appropriations Act changed the way holders of IP and perceived infringers interact. I view a plastic printer more as a second 3D printer, when you have a resin printer and know that this is something you enjoy. Some designers online publish their miniature files for free online (we include the best places later on), but even premium models are extremely cheap often just a few dollars. Is it worth buying a 3D printer for miniatures? If you have the money, go for an 8K printer but it isnt a necessity.
So this is a bit of a hot topic and something I will only briefly cover here. Positioned as an upgrade to the popular budget Mono X, the Anycubic Mono X 6K doesnt reinvent the wheel as much as building upon those solid foundations and fantastic build quality. This is focused heavily on getting you a printer with good printing quality for tabletop games or wargaming. Another way of doing it is using a projector and only projecting light to the areas that need to be cured (called DLP).
Since the price is very similar and the printers are also very similar, it gets very arbitrary to deem one of these 2 printers the best 3d printer for miniatures. Also, why is the USB on the back so I have to move my printer around?! Only get the 4k screen if the printers are very close in price (the important part is the mono screen, get that no matter what you do). But be warned: while resin printing can be frustrating, plastic printing is even more of a beast. My biggest takeaway from buying a printer myself and looking at all of the options is that the more expensive options of 3D printers do not really give you better quality prints but they might give you the ability to print faster, print more miniatures at a time or ease of use features. Now this is super important and something I used quite a lot of time on. Different 3D printers have different minimum layer heights, for example the Elegoo Mars 3 has a minimum layer height of 0.01mm, or 10 microns. What you will soon figure out in your 3D printing journey, is that failed print is no fun at all.
Even larger build volume for producing many miniatures at once. It can be hard to figure out how the structure of each brands printers are, so here is a big long list with some pointers on what is what. Overall, the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Mono is one of the best low cost resin printers around, and for creating miniatures, if you have the tech know-how, you may find resin printing meets your needs best. Lucky for you, in recent years they have come down dramatically in price and ease of use. The other thing I am bummed about is the areas where they have cheaped out on building the thing. For makers who have experience with 3D printing and are comfortable with the added complexities of resin printing, the Elegoo Mars could be your perfect 3D printer for miniatures and tabletop models. The first part features the best resin printers for miniatures in every price range, and then the best FDM 3D printers for miniatures we recommend are listed.
First, remove any support structures by either removing them by hand or using clippers, or in the case of soluble supports, immersing them in the appropriate liquid, usually water. As low-cost consumer-grade printers go, this volume size is up there and should cover all your terrain needs.
There are basically two different ways of printing miniatures: Plastic or resin. Miniatures commonly refer to games like Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons and 28mm miniatures, but 3D printing miniatures can mean any kind of small model. It is fine for big stuff or small tokens, where the superfine detail is less important. The Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Mono is a super value resin printer that consistently prints high-quality miniatures even for beginners. For miniature makers, this means a noticeable jump in quality over the Mono X, especially on finer parts such as hairs, scales, horns, armor detail, and facial features. The resolution and pixel density of the screen will help with making a more fine detail miniature, so more is better here (think 4k screen is super good, 2k screen is good). Products Released for Kill Team (The New 2021 Edition), Hi, I am Peter Thuborg and this is Age of Miniatures, I hope you enjoy the content. Also, it kinda defeats the purpose of printing which is to have the miniature come out in one piece without any issues. Categories Tools and ressources, 3d-printing. So not only do you have to print your terrain in a few pieces, it will also be quite expensive in the long run (resin is not super cheap). It does so fast as well, with a solid 50 mm/h print speed, which equates to roughly 30 minutes per 28 mm model. The build plate moves up and (hopefully) the small hard layer of resin sticks to the build plate. To put that into perspective, in a 6cm tall resin miniature print, with 0.05mm layers, that is 1200 layers to print.
If you dont need all 6K quality, opt for a Photon M3, Photon Mono 4K, or Elegoo Mars 3. Also, how high can the printer go up? You can only print as high as the build plate can move up, so if you want to printer super big things (without breaking them up into smaller parts), you will need to make sure the machine is high enough for it. Convenience features like automatic bed leveling and filament sensor. The Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K offers a best-in-class 22 micron XY resolution. Extra features, or lack of them, can be crucial to how the 3d printer feels and operates. If you are beginner, you will likely not notice what features you are paying for anyway. It will quickly expand you collecting with hundreds of resin miniatures! After getting really into 3D printing, I have realised that a lot of printers are very much the same. Picking a 3D printer for printing miniatures can be incredibly daunting. However, if you want to save money, the Photon M3 is a great shout if youre comfortable with 4K resolution, as the Mono X 6K costs double the price. It costs around $1 per miniature 3D print on average, though this will vary depending on the size of the model, and the type of resin used. In numbers, this means a slight downgrade to a 40 micron XY resolution compared to the Mono 4 Ks 35 microns, but at these low numbers, the difference is indistinguishable to the naked eye, even for veteran miniature aficionados. With custom characters and models for games becoming so pricey, many have decided that buying a 3D printer for miniatures and printing their own custom models is the way forward. The mono screen also means that it lasts a lot longer than the old screens (looking sadly at my old Mars 1). I picked the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Mono, but this was at a time where the price difference was about $100. Here are some sites that host free and paid files: And here are some articles where we recommend miniature-related prints: Really, a miniature isnt truly finished without some post-processing love and attention. That is time-consuming and very annoying. 3-in-1 3D Printers (with CNC & Laser Engraving), Check price at Creality Official Store here, Gambody (specialized in video game/comic book models), 3D Printed Anime Figures: Best Sites & 40+ Top Free Files, 30+ Warhammer 40K 3D Print Files & Best Sites in 2022, We also recommend an Elegoo washing and curing station . The rise of video games has pushed tabletop games to the fringes, but those who enjoy these games are often die-hard fans. Aside from the large format, Ender 5 Plus also features some handy benefits over the Ender 3. Patent laws prevent anyone from selling any object based on someone elses intellectual property. While I still think most printers are capable of mostly the same detail, the things you get with a more expensive machine is: So my Elegoo Mars is sloooow. As an example, no matter what version of the Elegoo Mars printer you buy, they can all print miniatures of the almost the exact same detail and quality. Super cheap printers will most of the time have a small screen and build plate. So a lot of the printers are basically the same specs, with slight differences that wont really matter unless you really print a lot of minis (like non-stop all day and night) or you a want a huge build plate +screen and loads of space to print on (for big miniatures). You can use non-cure products like the excellent Apoxie Sculpt to fill in gaps. There are so many various factors in terms of printing high quality models. For terrain, this is another matter. Rather than being limited by the models featured in the catalogs of miniatures companies, and having to pay in excess of $10 per model, with a 3D printer you can print whatever you want, and also save up to 90% on the purchase price! You can print a lot of things on an fdm printer, but what you will find is that the detail is not super good. This makes the build size of a resin printer important, as the more models you can pack into the area, the more models you can print in one job in the same amount of time. Perfect for small 28 mm figures with precise features and details. Precisions is super key with high detail printing, as we are talking about 0.01mm making a difference here. Some of the best affordable resin materials are made by companies like Siraya Tech, Anycubic, and Elegoo, letting you print fantastic details on your miniatures within your budget. In theory, this can result in more precise layers. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. You do not want cheap plastic that breaks down quickly or bends. I have no idea what makes the expensive printers better and I am nervous I will wreck something.
I have tried both systems and found them very, very similar. You need to print them out in pieces and glue them together. The 2K 6 LCD screen gives the printer great precision for solidifying resins, with layer resolutions between 0.01-0.2mm available. Also, getting replacement parts for the 3D printer will not be an issue. I suggest you do your own research if you are interested in this topic: There are a lot of 3D printers on the market. Underneath the tank you have a small screen (or a projector) that can project light up into the resin above. We still recommend the Photon M3 over the Mono 4K for the larger build volume at this level, a 5-micron difference is not going to make a difference, even in the most precise of miniatures. The quality of the miniature you print is super important. Both printers have a mono screen, which means they print good quality miniatures very fast.
So cutting through all of the tech jargon and BS, we can dramatically cut down on the options you should consider when getting a printer for miniatures. The Creality Ender 3 V2 has a minimum layer height of 0.1mm, or 100 microns. Oh yeah, and the naming conventions and schemes are of course convoluted and not straightforward. The only issue could be if you want to print large towers or terrain that doesnt fit within the build volume. The screen is one of those things that will break down after using it, and the lifespan you can expect from it is not that long. In tech jargon resin 3D printing is called SLA or MSLA. What they will skimp on to make their printer price competitively is sometimes the build quality (and most of the time size). You can get into trouble if you print a trademarked character such as a Pokmon, with some large companies becoming increasingly studious in pursuing people breaking these laws. Larger build volume than Photon Mono 4K and Elegoo Mars 3, Much larger print area for printing many miniatures in one job, Lower quality than a resin printer, but ideal for terrain. This means I mainly talk about resin printers. First, well need to prime the minis to create a strong first layer for successive layers of paint to adhere well.
The Phrozen Sonic printers are also gaining popularity, especially when their Phrozen Sonic Mini 4k was the cheapest 4k printer on the market. And when you buy these, you get to keep the STL file, so you can print the model over and over again. For amateur Warhammer players and those partial to the occasional Friday night D&D session, the Photon M3 remains the most cost-effective option. So I guess it is clear by now that I think you should just get the cheapest mono resin printer from a reputable brand. Learn more. Part of a 3d printer is expected to fail. Resin printing has been around for a long time, but it is only in recent years that the price of home printers have gone down AND the quality has gone way up. There are also dual z-axis lead screws to improve stability and, by extension, overall print quality.
The smallest layers that a plastic printer can print are so big that you can see each layer with the naked eye.
However, the lower the layer height, the more layers youll have in your model, which increases the time it takes to print, and also increases the chance of a failed print.
We recommend using regular acrylic paints found at any hobby store such as Vallejo Game Color. After all, 3D printers can only go so far when it comes to bringing out the lush detail and intricacies of a model. I have made a whole article covering how to get the best 3D printing files for miniatures. We were impressed with the details of the miniatures we printed with it. So if you want good quality printed miniatures, you will need good quality files. Then, optionally you can fix any imperfections, prime and paint them for your custom look. They will not differ super much in build quality and features, but the screen can make a huge difference. It can print smoother models with clearer, crisper finishes than FDM printers, and the resins used do not cost as much as they used to.
Bigger layers will mean less precise details, so you want a printer that can print small layers. Remember however that youll use around half the resin you use on miniatures on supports, so only around two-thirds of your resin goes into the actual models. At least I would make sure that the FEP and the screen is in standars sizes so I can get a replacment easily. The warranty on the screen from Anycubic is only 3 months wereas Elegoo will cover a similar you screen for 6 months (but neither will cover it if you damage it).
Right now printers that print in plastic use plastic rolls of filament (in tech jargon they are called SLS or FDM printers). Some premium files even come with their slicer profiles pre-made so that you just need to import the file, and print. Ideal for large backdrops and terrain models.
Focus on buying a well-made printer made by a reputable company with a high-quality screen. We recommend investing in different brush sizes to cover the painting of everything from large single-color portions to small intricate details. But they are expensive and a bit of a waste of money in my opinion. After each printer, I have also listed the release date for the model in parentheses. If you want to print big monsters and models, it is way better to print them in one piece instead of glueing them together. You can input a figure (on a file on a USB stick) into the machine telling it the dimensions and shapes of the figure as well as a lot of variables of speed, timings and so on. I made it for you!Learn more about the site and my mission here. Both spray and brush paint options are viable any old primer from your hardware store will do. These are great because they are cheap and the pixel density is quite good. This printer will let you do just that! It comes with a BLTouch automatic bed leveling probe to save time and effort, so you can concentrate on bringing to life terrain. The most important thing is to pick a mono 3D printer.
We recommendbuying your brands wash and cure station to save you time and hassle. There is post-processing involved after printing youll need to scrape the resin prints off the build plate, remove the supports (wear gloves), wash the resin off of the prints with isopropyl alcohol, dry them, and cure them in UV light. Both printers are amazing and the price is just so good. I have only worked with resin printers from the Elegoo, Anycubic and Phrozen brands so that is what I am recomending. Manufacturers say things like: 3 times faster layer curing time and 4 times longer durability than earlier screens. Skip Mars 1 and Mars 2 non-pro as they are outdated and not sold anymore. So if you try to print a miniature in plastic, you will see small rings on the miniature, which is the layers. I will not go into super much detail about it here, but instead cover that in my beginners guide to 3D printing. But pixel density is only a small part of what makes it possible to print high-quality miniatures. A 1L bottle of resin will print between 30-35 miniatures of a reasonable size, with hobbyist resins costing $20-40. Alternatively, you can buy a small nail grinder with different attachments suited to miniature post-processing.
You will need to replace parts the two main culprits are FEP films, and screens, which will need to be replaced over time. We also participate in affiliate programs with other companies. How Much Does It Cost to 3D Print Miniatures?
So any best 3D printer for miniatures must have a mono screen and you should NOT buy one without it (I certainly super regret my first purchase now that this mono upgrade is here). 6K LCD offers superb rendering of intricate details. That being said, there are noticeable differences at each resin quality level mostly after youve primed the models. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Standard miniature etiquette and techniques apply here. They cure and print resin layers often 3x faster, and often last up to 4x longer, too, so theyll save you money and hassle replacing parts continuously.
You got 3 main places to get good quality miniature 3D printing files: What you want to look for is cool looking minis that are pre-supported. The Mono X was already a top pick now its upgraded. I would not mind getting a 4k screen on the 3D printer, but it would by no means be my biggest concern (as it can be hard to see a big difference in print quality). But, the Ender 3 V2 is the best printer in its price range for terrain, and PLA filament is very cheap and super easy to print with.
So I am cutting through the crap here and just giving you options I actually think you should consider if you want the best 3D printer for miniatures. Wear a mask to avoid the fumes, generally try to avoid the room when printing, and if possible put the printer near ventilation.
The series the various brands offer are often: Elegoo has these lines of resin printers: Anycubic is a bit more troublesome in their series and models, so it is way harder to get what is going on. Above the tank you have a metal plate (build plate) that can move up and down (very carefully and very precise). While that is cool and all it is also super time consuming (and hard in the beginning). A lot of resin printers have used normal phone screens.