"Taking the Plunge, seeking advice..." Topic

Being completely ignorant to 3D printing I was hoping the hivemind could provide some guidance. I'm very tempted to to take the plunge, I've seen various printers recommended (e.g. Elegoo Mars 4 Ultra, etc).

I prefer miniatures in small scales: 6mm-15mm, small scale ships, small scenery bits, etc. I imagine this is what I'd print mostly.

I have limited space for my setup.

In addition to the printer itself, what other accessories should I purchase? What material is best for smaller scales?

Thank you all in advance for any insight.

I have heard that some 3D printers need to be setup in a temperature controlled room with filtered air extraction to remove toxic fumes.

Not conditions most wargamers hobby rooms have.

I'd love to wrong.

I have limited space at my place, no garage. Currently using the spare bedroom with a table over the end of the bed as a workbench.

I have both a resin printer and wash station along with a filament printer in an enclosure( for temperature control.

I have a Anycubic D2 resin printer with great resolution on prints. However the build plate is small. There are some fumes, but most are from the wash system. Resin printing is messy. You should be wearing gloves when working with it.

Get a larger build volume printer with the best resolution you can justify spending the money on. Mine was $550 USD when I bought it. Be sure the wash station size matches the printer build area.

Get a heater for the printer to maintain the temperature in the printer while printing. Really need it for the resin.

Have fun. I have printing a lot of trees for smaller scales. Figures can be good or bad depending on how they were designed. Lots of cool things to print.

Have fun. It will be frustrating at times.

I have my set up in the basement with a window for venting. I have an Anycubic Mono. I would recommend the latest version called the Mono 4 10k ($189 or so) or for additional bells and whistles the Mono 4 Ultra. The basic Elegoo Mars is probably similar. I use the Lychee slicer to prep my files, but you can determine which one you like best.

Accessories- Nitril gloves – Home Depot if in the US, 91% IPA for cleaning the figures. A Wash& Cure machine (Anycubic's basic one is $99 USD), that said you can use pickle jars for the IPA bath and buy a cheap UV nail curing machine on Amazon. Some people use water washable resin. Extra resin vat, silicone mat for your workstation, silicone funnel and soft small spatula. Resin – You need resin that is somewhat flexible for minis and there are several brands. I use a mix of Siraya Tech Fast & Tenacious (80/20).

Some ppl have heaters and now you can get heaters and filters with certain printers. Depends on your ventilation and temps. Need at least 60F preferably 70F. I find the fumes from the IPA much worse than the resin frankly.

Lots of good YT tutorials. I would recommend Uncle Jessy for some good tips and reviews. Once you get the process down you will always be able to print the exact number and type of figures you need. Personally, I have not had to buy anything other than stl files for printing for several years. Some of the stls are free as well. Large pieces of terrain excepted. Yes, it is a hobby within a hobby but well worth it in the end.

I run JS Wargamer Printing. I own 15 printers (resin and FDM). My favorite Elegoo resin printer is the Saturn 3. The buildplate is pretty large. The price is decent. I think my last one was 250-300.00. The performance has been outstanding!
I use a heater in a small room for all my resin printers. They come with a charcoal filter you plug into the printer. I also have 2 wash and cure machines. If you don't want to drop the money for those I also bought a salad spinner from Walmart. You pull a cord on the basket inside it and it spins. I place small figures (6-15mm) in it and just spin it in the 91% IPA. This way they don't get lost while spinning.

You'll need some microfiber cloths. I bought mine from Costco. A spray bottle to put IPA in to use on your buildplate after you remove the print. I also bought a rubber razorblade set. You scrape the resin out of the tank back into your bottle.
tinyurl.com/hhy22ra7

Filters to filter your used resin back into the bottle. I use these.
link
You'll also need a plastic filter to support these paper ones Dollar Tree has them, I think. Never spray your buildplate to clean it. Just use your microfiber cloth. It'll fog up your FEP screen. You'll want to buy some FEP's too. They are the clear screen on your tank. You have to install it yourself, although Elegoo also sells new tanks with it already installed. Two things are the biggest reason for print fails. Temperature (I keep mine at 70+ Fahrenheit) and levelling. When levelling (I use the card Elegoo includes it's when you first feel resistance to removing the card when you level. There are a ton of videos on YouTube. Or ask when you get there. More than happy to answer what I can. I agree about Uncle Jessy on YouTube. He helped me work my way thru the learning curve.

Good luck and welcome aboard. You're gonna love this!

If you have questions just ask here or at my website.
wargamerprinting.com

Thank.

John

I could go on and on, but the best advice I can give is to watch as many of the tons of videos on youtube. When you decide on a specific machine, watch every one on that model you can find.

How many hobbies do you have, and do you have time/money for another?

Resin, of almost any variety is an issue. Chemicals, waste, safety.

Smaller figures suffer more, more obviously, from printing quality and issues. A mm on a 28mm figure isn't as much as on a 6-15mm figure.

Also remember 3d printing is a constantly evolving space, a growing bubble, one may say. So what you buy today may end up obsolete and unsupported tomorrow. You have been warned.

Using a printing service is one alternative option.

Just buying things in general from any reputable business or individual is a better one.

Or have a go at making things your self, such as terrain, which is still part of the wargaming hobby.

Remember Segway is yesterday.

Knowing what i know now, I would recommend a Bambu A1 with an optional 0.2mm nozzle. And a lot of grey filament. My filament 3d printer runs all the time doing terrain, buildings, movement trays, measuring sticks, etc. Resin printers are far better for figures, but you will quickly print more than you can paint.

If you can afford it then consider something like the Formlabs Form 4. It has its own heater and there is no smell with use. Everything is plug-and-play. Resins come in containers that just plug into the printer. You can get build plates that pop off the prints. Formlabs produce all of the accessories too, though the only one I purchased was the curing station.

With smaller figures, the other issue is the STL files. Previous posts have covered what you should consider for resin types. You cannot scale a figure designed to print at 54 or 28mm down to 10 or 6 mm. The proportions are very different. Fortunately there are good ranges of STL files for 6, 10 and 15mm. Turner Miniatures is one example.

Robert

"Everything is plug-and-play. Resins come in containers that just plug into the printer. You can get build plates that pop off the prints. Formlabs produce all of the accessories too"

This highlights the concern I raised earlier.

As with so many products.

If form labs goes under, or simply alters their range, a specific 3d printer may be left high and dry.*

I guess there may be 3rd party products?? But these can have issues, if they exist at all.

At most, it's best to leave these concerns to a printing service, in my opinion. Or buy/make physical models.

"If you can afford it then consider something like the Formlabs Form 4."

More specifically, perhaps, if you can afford the risk? Doubley so, if it costs so much as to warrant such a statement.

Good to see quality information flooding in though.

* Yes, so what is the life expectancy of a 3d printer? Both in the quality and durability of the machine, and in future availability of components?

I remember the build your own 3d printer magazine partworks. Got the first issue for a laugh.

I always felt sorry for anyone who bought it, as after about 2years an $1 USD-2 grand they would have (if they were lucky enough to get all the issues, partworks) an obsolete machine, with likely no further support.

I then, just this year, saw one complete on eBay going for cheap. Almost bought it for a laugh. Almost.

PS

Its called 3d create and print, by eaglemoss. Individual issues are still holding value, as far as eBay. May be a way to get parts for it, or other endeavours.

Also a couple of books called build your own 3d printer. Less than a printer, so may be worth it to buy and read, may end up saving you money in the end.

Reads part way through book. "Pffff," drops book in recycling, goes to model shop. Well, I could imagine.

More options, none the less.

Formlabs, like almost all companies, will go under someday. My first printer from them (a Formlabs 3) is out of support but still going strong. One day that printer will fail. That is the nature of things in general, just like various ranges of metal figures that were not completed, are out of production or the companies have gone.

Caveat emptor.

As the emptor in my case, I am really enjoying 3D modelling and printing. Long may that last. I suspect I will fail before the printers do but who knows.

Got to get back to modelling a tramp steamer…

Robert