3D Printing Tabletop Miniatures with Resin

3D Printing for the tabletop

For miniature and terrain printing there are 2 main types of printers: MSLA with resin and FDM with thermoplastics. For miniatures, resin is the king of fine detail and the preferred method for tabletop miniatures. 

MSLA uses a liquid resin and an LCD screen to print miniatures layer by layer. Layers are printed as small as .01mm, so thin the human eye won't be able to see them. Which gives resin printed miniatures beautiful and smooth details. The resin itself can affect the outcome of the miniatures and comes in a few varieties. 

Resin Types

Standard and ABS Like, 2 popular resins that act differently. Standard is often the most brittle and basic resin you can buy. The details will be there but the print won't be very sturdy. Resin is more fragile in general than FDM but standard resin is especially brittle and easily broken. For display pieces or anything you don't plan to move a lot, standard resin works fine. If you're planning on taking your miniature places you'll want to go with a stronger resin.

ABS Like resin is made to print sturdier models and as such can be more expensive than standard resin. There is no detail loss with the increased durability, which makes this the obvious choice for resin, in our opinion. We use SunLu ABS Like resin exclusively at ET Hobbies. 

Processing a Miniature

After printing a miniature you'll need to wash off excess resin with Isoproyl Alcohol (IPA) then cure it under UV light. Extra resin needs to be washed off your model otherwise you'll get resin everywhere and that's not something anyone wants. The extra resin can also muddle details if cured before being cleaned off. 

After being washed in IPA and allowed to dry, the miniature will still be a bit sticky. To finish processing the miniature, you'll need a source of UV light and an enclosed area. How long you let it cure depends on your lighting enclosure but you'll want to cure it until the miniature is ready, anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes. It's hard to over-cure miniatures, so, if in doubt you can leave it in for as long as you feel in necessary.

Dangers of Resin Printing

3D Printing resin in its' raw form is toxic and requires careful preparation before handling it. Gloves, a mask and long sleeves are all recommended when handling 3D printing resin. Once the resin is printed, cleaned and cured the model is safe to handle. These extra steps make resin printing more expensive and time consuming. The end product is a smooth and beautifully detailed miniature.