"Can you do this in resin Cheaply?" Topic

We (Maneuver Group)have been working for ourselves at the minute trying to define how to do Trench Warfare.
As part of this work we needed to make some complex thin (0.6mm) markers to denote the trenches. The original idea was to use card but the interlocking feature was far to complex, so we printed them on our FDM printer. This gave flexible, durable complex markers using ordinary cheap PLA. Will a resin printer do as well? I ask because we may eventually put out a free bulletin on the definitions needed to do trench warfare to an acceptable level of credibility. If it works (whatch this space) we weree considering getting Shipyards to sell the STL's, but whether they are applicable to a resin printer is outside my knowledge base, as we only use FDM printers.

Not sure what you are asking, but, resin costs more than pla filament per volume. If you are asking can a stl made for fdm also be used for a resin printer, yes, although it might not be as efficient. The resin printers that exist now have a larger build plate and build area, although the smaller printers are more popular. Roughly 3 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches by 6 inches in height is a rough area that the cheaper elegoo can handle.

FDM will be more durable than resin. don't know if that is an issue.

what scale you looking at and eras? Foxhole terrain does some nice ones in 15 and 28mm

Pythagoras – That is what I thought but was not sure, so mot an ideal medioum.

Todd636 that is the sort of information I needed to know.

charles popp – We considered this but thre are reasons for not using "sterio Typical terrain". The standard models are nowhere near as flexible in terms of connecting trenches, comms trenches and Personaell bunkers.

They take up far more romm for kit that may not be used every week so not worth the storage space.

And finaly for me they do not achieve the right impression. They are taller typicaly than a man and certainly for us we are not going to swap figures during play, far to time intensive in a tence game and again duplicate figures is a none starter for us.
Art is on the bottom of my list but they just do not look "right" they are too high and there is a tendancy to forget that they are supposed to be flush with the ground so have a definite negative inpact on the game. A very thin marker is far better at indicating the position and neither look sensible when troops are standing on/in them, so no they to me . Hence for me personally, conventional models are the least viable option.

You didn't say how big they were. Resin printers are about 6" max give or take. They would not be flexible.

The bits are 3 to 4" long. If the resin printers have such a small bed it would be very expensive on time alone. A platoon even scaled back would need 1 position and an alternate position, several communication sections and 1 or two sections representing deeper underground bunkers so 20 to 25 pieces. Clearly only possible for 1/144 troops, possibly 1/300 but it would perhaps to fiddly at that scale.
Clearly the STL's would not be sensible for resin printers they are not up to that sort of task.
I print 6 to 10 pieces at a time so minimal effort. Clearly horses for courses.

Thanks I have learnt something.

UshCha you use Hexon; Hexon tiles are 12mm thick. You can make trenches that have real depth below ground level by making custom hexes or 6-hex tiles. The hex grid is perfect for making geomorphic arrangements of trench lines, supporting trenches, feeder trenches, separated foxholes, bunkers, etc.

If you don't want to make a whole set of extra tiles to store, just build your trenches into the bottom of some Hexon tiles, and install them in the terrain upside-down.

Yellow Admiral – I did specialist hex many yeas ago when I had my own system (not as good as Kalistra). I learn then that it requires too many hex to make it practical using too much storage place. Think roads, even if you like hex roads (I hate them) There are at least 4 types just to cover 1 and 2 road junctions. There are lots of road junctions on real paps so you need at least 4 sets of junctions for each junction, not practical. Our trench system needs only 3 types of flat markets as they can sit at any 1 of 12 angles, they are typically at minimum spacing so one spacer type is pretty much all that is needed.
Now for model oriented gamers these constraints may be acceptable but to me models are just a convenient playing pieces, so if a flat playing piece if it does the job (for me) and is more simple then that is better for me. Again its personal preference.

Don't make them geomorphic, then. Make specific custom trench systems that wander, bend, and cut across the hex grain at any angle(s) you like. If you cut trenches out of XPS sheet, you can mate up to the straight edges of the sheet with Hexon half-hexes, and match the Hexon ground cover perfectly with the right Noch flocking.

The thickness of the hex tiles was the main point. You have some depth to play with, certainly enough to put real miniatures below ground level.

- Ix

Yellow Admiral – The point is for me the effort not worth the effort,it does not improve the game directly and to me any potential visual gain is poor use of my limited time.

However thanks for the info folks on resin printer.

There are flexible resins. I use them to create railway tracks that conform to the terrain for example. Also 28mm figures for my 9-year old grandson, who can drop them, throw them, etc without any damage. Flexible resins are typically more expensive.

For 6mm, I use TimeCast latex trenches.

Robert

monk2002uk out of curiosity how much is a litre of Flexible resin. My FDM fillament is close to 1l per Kg so it may be an interesting comparison.

Monk2002Ik, the problem is most "model" trenches dont allow the positioningg of the troops. Typical they have 2 options a more exposed fire arc to the front and a more protected positin for enfilade fire.
At our level of play just allowing the arcs without recording the troop position is not acceptable it's not sufficently representative of thr real world. It's one of those cases where it's easyer to do in th ereal world but less so with minis.

Again this may be too much detail for some but its what we need in order to enjoy our game.

The price of resin from SUNLU is just about as cheap as filiment for FDM!!!

Ive used the Sunlu ABS-like and I like it a lot.

Resin prints look SOOO… MUCH…. BETTER.

You can hollow resin prints, you dont have to print them solid. They should be plenty strong, unless you plan on using them for hockey pucks.

SUNLU did not work for me, it just printed junck. Perhaps I needed to adjust the settings for it but I don't want to have to do that so I stick with my tried and true ones.