Printing miniature figures for table top games  

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

just remember that someone's profile is never a magic bullet as each printer and filament are different, and difficulty goes up exponentially with layer heights that small. I guarantee he spent days or weeks getting that profile working perfectly for him, plus any number of random failures you might have for no reason. You can translate most of that into slic3r if you wanted or just use cura.

I'm not sure why he wouldn't just save a lot of hassle and use a smaller nozzle to start with, but it is impressive still.

though honestly if I was purely concerned with printing minis like that....you can do resin for 500$ now and have far better and more consistent results.

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

Thanks for answering.

I have considered resin (like anycubic photon) but was put off when I read that the resin itself is toxic, causes skin rashes and irritates eyes etc. To make things worse, the IPA is highly flammable and can potentially self-combust ?! Storing and using those liquids in an unventilated room in the same house as my wife and two small children doesn't seem like a good mix.

That's why I was so happy seeing the resin-like results of FDM-printing and was hoping someone with a prusa had actually tried/modified his settings to work with prusa printers.

Getting a smaller nozzle is not a problem, but it feels weird if this would be needed on a premium prusa when it is not needed on a 200$ printer.

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

Dingus,

If you look in the awesome prints forum you can find an example of a Dwarf with a Battle Axe that someone printed using a .20 Nozzle that looked pretty amazing. I think that was using a mk3 printer.

Also, have you seen Miguel Zavala's 3d Model work on shapeways?

https://www.shapeways.com/designer/mz4250

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

Hello,
I have been getting excellent results using cura and my PowerSpec Duplicator i3 plus... but haven't been able to recreate that success with my prusa i3 mk2S. Cura doesn't seem to work well with it at the speeds and extrusion I am working with. I've attached pics with the cura settings I am using. When I use them on the mk2S the tree support sticks to the 'skin' of the model making it useless. I'll keep working at it....

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

I am also trying to get this work on my mk3. Till now no success 🙁

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

I have had success printing minis with minimal adjustments to the default profiles. I slowed them down to 35mm/s for perimeters, 25 for external perimeters, 100% infill, 0.05mm layers, and then bumped up my filament temps just a tad. I can post my full profile when I get home later. I use Slic3r.

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

I have had success printing minis with minimal adjustments to the default profiles. I slowed them down to 35mm/s for perimeters, 25 for external perimeters, 100% infill, 0.05mm layers, and then bumped up my filament temps just a tad. I can post my full profile when I get home later. I use Slic3r.

I would also appreciateif you had some photos of your prints. 😉

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

[...] Getting a smaller nozzle is not a problem, but it feels weird if this would be needed on a premium prusa when it is not needed on a 200$ printer.
It's hardly anything unique to Prusa printers. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to print anything smaller than the nozzle size with any printer. Think of painting with a large brush. You're not going to be able to get smaller details, although you'll be able to paint more quickly. The recent Prusa video on nozzle sizes had a perfect analogy: Not changing nozzles on your 3D printer (any make) is like buying a high-end DSLR camera and never changing lenses. You can still take some nice pictures, but you're going to be limited.

I don't actively tabletop game anymore, but I do like to print 1:100/15mm miniatures for calibrating instead of endless Benchys. Here's a comparison done using bog-standard Slic3r settings. Both were printed with identical Slic3r settings, except I used a 0.40mm nozzle (top) and 0.25mm nozzle (bottom) @ 0.10mm layer heights:

The print with the smaller nozzle took 3X as long, but you can see far greater detail around the tracks and wheels, notably the sprocket bolts up front. Lots of other tuning to do, but the hard parts are working, and the smaller nozzle makes a big difference. I'd use Cura to refine the details, but even these rough results (blown up 200%+ in the pics) are better than any cast miniatures I played with in the past. And at a fraction of the price.

The great thing is that I can easily swap in a 0.60 or 0.80mm and quickly print large, rough things like scenery or markers or anything that will be painted.

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

Wow thats impressive bobstro. I guess I should wait for my 0.25mm nozzle arriving tomorrow. Really nice work. For now I am getting better details with 0.15 than with 0.1 prints. Even when slowing donw till 25% speed, but might be due to the 0.4mm nozzle I am using.

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

One thing I suggest: Make actual physical appearance your criteria, not how the models look in photos. Lighting and material matter quite a bit when taking pictures at 200-400% zoom, but the same figures may look stunning at tabletop distances. If you're painting them anyhow, perfect finish isn't as much of an issue.

Keep in mind also that layer height and nozzle diameter are going to matter significantly depending on how the model is laid out on the print bed. If using a smaller nozzle, try to orient things so small details are facing up. With a 0.40mm nozzle, details on vertical surfaces might look great. You might want to slice detailed models into parts for this reason. You may well find that layer height matters very little if you're laying models down to print (or vice-versa).

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

Thank for the hint. I think slicing into parts actually might be a good idea. Lets wait for my 0.25 nozzle tmr.

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

I bought my printer specifically for printing miniatures. Prusa seemed the best quality in my price range, and I didn't want to go for resin because the fumes and material costs are an issue. I'm not having any luck at all so far. Managed to successfully print two minis so far but have had countless fails. Honestly, if I'd known it was like this I might never have bothered! That said, I have a much higher success rate on pretty much anything that isn't a mini. Will keep plugging away for now...

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

[...] Honestly, if I'd known it was like this I might never have bothered! That said, I have a much higher success rate on pretty much anything that isn't a mini. Will keep plugging away for now...
Put up a post with what you've tried and where you're getting stuck. With any luck, someone here will be able to get you going.

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

Sorry for taking so long. I've lost my 0.25mm nozzle profile, but it is VERY similar to this 0.40 profile for 0.05mm layers. I've only included pages of the profile that are not the default. Something that I was having major issues with when trying to print with a 0.25 nozzle was that the supports just would not build reliably. I increased the extrusion width on them to the nozzle diameter. This works great for the small nozzle, but on the 0.40 nozzle they're a bit thick. I was planning to drop that down to maybe 0.38mm.

Here is the last mini I printed at 0.40 x 0.05mm. Please pardon the janky sword. It printed fine, but I broke it while removing supports. This miniature has a 23mm diameter base.

Here is my 0.40 x 0.05mm profile.

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

It's been 15+ years since I last played Warhammer Fantasy Battles with my sons. I decided to give this Orc Shaman a try:

Oh, the fun we would've had and the money I'd have saved back in the day!

FDM printed pieces will be tricky to paint I imagine, but this looks pretty good for a quick result. He did take 5 1/2 hour to print at 0.08mm layer height with a 0.30mm nozzle.

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

PLA takes to modeling paint pretty well. However you can always print in HIPS and have the full set of modeling paints, glues and other treatments available.

Regards,
Martin

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

Hey all! New to this, but I'm just about to order a Prusa i3 MK3 and some extras, largely to use for tabletop gaming miniatures & scenery. This topic has been very helpful, and I know I'm going to be doing some fine tuning and trial & error for quite a while. 🙂

Just a few quick questions for the experts -

1) Once fine tuned, I know the .25mm nozzle is going to be the best bet for fine details on miniatures, with slower printing. I plan to order several nozzles for different projects. Are there any E3D nozzles in particular that are best for this? Like the Plated Copper 1.75x0.25mm (here - https://e3d-online.com/v6-nozzles-plated-copper ) or is the hardened steel better, or any recommendations on that? Also, any reliable resellers here in the US or should I just order directly from their website? UPDATE - just realized you can order the different E3D sizes directly from the Prusa online store, so it's more a question of whether those special nozzles are worth it, or just grab the Prusa ones listed.

2) I know I can order the Smooth PEI Surface for the worktable and get the Prusa quickly, or wait 5-6 weeks for a powder coated TXT version - would the powder coated make any difference with regard to tabletop printing? I don't mind waiting if it would be worth it.

3) Any other extras anyone with more experience would recommend? I know I want to order the PLA spools, as they seem to be the way to go to hold acrylic paints and glue, but not sure on some of the other extras available for tweaking the kit.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

Get the best..... Ruby Nozzle and it will last for ever 😀

Re: Printing miniature figures for table top games

[...] 1) Once fine tuned, I know the .25mm nozzle is going to be the best bet for fine details on miniatures, with slower printing. In general, this is true. However, you can experiment with layer heights to cut down on print times. Slic3r has a nice variable height feature, and Cura has an auto-adjustment feature you'll want to experiment with.

I plan to order several nozzles for different projects. Are there any E3D nozzles in particular that are best for this? Like the Plated Copper 1.75x0.25mm (here - https://e3d-online.com/v6-nozzles-plated-copper ) or is the hardened steel better, or any recommendations on that? If you only plan on printing with PLA, there's no real need for the plated or hardened nozzles. If you want to use filled materials (e.g. fiber carbon, glass, wood) then you'll want hardened. Plated are supposed to conduct heat well, but won't make a big difference for PLA.
Also, any reliable resellers here in the US or should I just order directly from their website? UPDATE - just realized you can order the different E3D sizes directly from the Prusa online store, so it's more a question of whether those special nozzles are worth it, or just grab the Prusa ones listed.I fully support Prusa, but if you're in the US, postage and shipping time may be a problem. I've had very good luck with MatterHackers for nozzle & filament purchases.
2) I know I can order the Smooth PEI Surface for the worktable and get the Prusa quickly, or wait 5-6 weeks for a powder coated TXT version - would the powder coated make any difference with regard to tabletop printing? I don't mind waiting if it would be worth it.IMO, it's better to get your printer now and order the sheets later. The textured sheet sounds amazing, and I do want to pick one up. However, for your intended use, it probably won't matter much. Miniatures tend to be printed with the base down, so you won't see the texture. If you were doing faceplates for equipment, it might matter more. I'm glad I got my printer and could get started playing and learning more quickly.
3) Any other extras anyone with more experience would recommend? I know I want to order the PLA spools, as they seem to be the way to go to hold acrylic paints and glue, but not sure on some of the other extras available for tweaking the kit.Get some 91%+ pure isopropyl alcohol and 100% acetone up front.

Read up on the "life adjust z"method of 1st layer calibration to save time getting started.

I'd recommend this nozzle kit. It contains a variety of cheap brass nozzles which work fine for PLA. More importantly, it includes the 17mm and 7mm socket wrench you'll want for nozzle changes. Those are really useful to have. Unfortunately, it doesn't include the 0.25mm nozzle, which is really the sweet spot for detail IME. The 0.20mm was a problem for me, at least in the attempts so far. The 0.30mm works well.

Be prepared for your 1st jam. Make sure you have the tools (those wrenches) handy for the inevitable jam and read up on dealing with it. It's not a big deal, but it's nerve-wracking the 1st time it happens. Don't be afraid of swapping nozzles or filament as needed. You get to where it takes a couple of minutes, and it really increases your flexibility.

Check out Paramount's PLA collection if you're after military or more muted colors.