My introduction and amateur guide to 3D Printing and how this has changed my wargaming hobby

3D printers have been around for a fair time, and I have occasionally wondered what they could do for my wargaming hobby. This Christmas my wife bought me one and I must say it has transformed my wargame life.

This is my introduction to 3D printing and relates to how I have found it and what is involved. Please bear in mind I am far from an expert here and there are some very good beginners guides online out there to watch and explore..

As a bit of background in the Early 2010s and the first 3D-printed miniatures appeared, but they were created using high-end, industrial-grade printers costing over £10,000. By the mid 2010 companies began using industrial resin printers to create prototypes like those from Forward March Miniatures, but it was not yet a mainstream home hobby. The real breakthrough in the hobby starting to come in 2018-19 with the introduction of inexpensive desktop SLA printers, such as the Anycubic Photon and Elegoo Mars. These printers allowed for high-detail, affordable models, transitioning from FDM (filament) printers to resin for wargaming figures.

Today the technology has become more widely adopted, with resin printers becoming safer, faster, and more detailed, establishing 3D printing as a major part of the hobby industry. Pricing has fallen from £10,000 to a few hundred pounds for a decent machine

My recent exposure to this world was seeing figures and terrain being printed my one of my long time wargame mates Paul Scott. His desire was to create cheaper miniatures that looked really good. He spent time researching which printers provided the best value for money and that were easy to use. He researched what resins worked best too. He mentioned some of the early resins he used created fragile figures when dropped would shatter – not great for our club where the figures go through some heavy handling at times.

Then he started to send me pictures on WhatsApp of the models he was printing

Then after he visited last year, I got to see them and hold them. They were very detailed with no imperfections and were pretty robust. They looked better in the flesh than in the photos.

At the time I mentioned that I had just tried a new set of rules – Midgard.  I thought were a great set for my GW/Warhammer Lord of the Rings figures. I was back painting my Riders of Rohan and Isengard army  for a few games in the club and mentioned that I would like to get around to painting up my other armies but they needed building up. However the cost of the GW figures would put these projects on the back burner and I was also conscious adding more to my lead and plastic mountain was not sensible either! I mentioned that I would love some Elf cavalry but did not want to pay £28 for just 6 plastic GW cavalry figures. As I was using Midgard rules, I did not need to use the GW figures and could use other figures to create my own LOTR armies but I did want any figures to match the GW scale which is smaller than a lot of fantasy figures in the market. He said for £20 (STL file costs and resin etc) I could have at least 36 Eleven cavalry figures and recommended a company called Medbury. He offered to send me some samples.

The Eleven cavalry were from Medbury which perfectly suit the GW figures in scale a proportion.

 

That was the tipping point for me. Having a printer that could create models that I could not get and at very low price. The next issue was where would I house it. The big draw back with printers and the wash (I will come onto that later) is that they do smell quite badly and you do not want to be in a room for too long whilst they are printing.  In addition, resin needs to be kept warm to print well (Over 25 degrees C) so leaving them in an unheated shed has issues too.

The printer is only one part of the equation, and I would recommend (as did Scotty) that you get a Wash and Cure machine to match your printer.  After you print the figures, they need to be washed to remove access resin. For the resin I use this needed to be done by alcohol.  After the models are washed they are cured by UV light.  You can wash figures in a small pot and use a Nail UV curer but having a dedicated machine makes life so much easier.

So, I needed space for a printer and wash/ cure machine – about 3 foot (1m) in width. The War Room was a consideration but it also very sensible to keep the printer away from direct sunlight as this cures the resin which was not easy in the War Room on the tops that I had free. I would need to do make some major changes to make the War Room work. At this point my daughter decided to leave the family home so I wondered whether I could sneak in a small table in a corner of her room to house them. I vaguely mentioned to my wife that one day I would like to get a printer and Isabella’s room might be a place I could house one.

No response either way which was big progress as I expected a flat rejection. Little did I know that she was speaking to Scotty about buying me one for Christmas as I was raving so much about it the weekend he was down.

Come Christmas I got a big surprise my wife bought me the Anycubic Photon Mono 5s Pro printer and the Anycubic Wash / Cure 3 Plus. The same machines that Scotty had purchased and spent a lot of time researching the market.  My mum was present on Christmas morning and said my face was just like it was when I was a little boy getting some model kits for Christmas….ahhh…

I was also allowed to set them up in Isabella’s old room. So, before my wife could change her mind, I had ordered a small table and rubber mat and started to set it all up.

Next stage was to acquire the other tools that are needed to start printing.

You need is a computer or laptop to run the slicing software that can read the STL Files and a low you to add models to plate for printing.  My first attempt of getting the software were wrong but did get the correct software from the Anycubic website. One thing I did notice is that my computer did struggle with the software as some of the files are quite large due to the detail they carry and when you have a plate full of images my computer did struggle a bit with this. I have since upgraded my computer which has made a big difference in loading plates.

Next on the list are scrapers. Luckily my printer came with two scrapers. One plastic one and one metal one – details on what they do later. Paul recommended a tray to put the printing plate (with the newly printed models) on after printing. I bought a large heavy duty black plastic tray that was advertised for car oil. A mesh jewelry bag for putting in small parts when washing them. A cutter was recommended for removing supports. I was also going to need lots of gloves and kitchen towel as this is a messy business.

Finally, I needed to buy Resin and Alcohol to wash my figures with. More on  the types that I got later.

Printing is a bit daunting to start with and being the star he is,  Scotty came down in January to spend the weekend with me showing me the ropes and how to use the machines and check if I had the set up done correctly.

First task is to how to use the software, putting figures on a plate, move them around to fill the plate to get the maximum number models on a plate. When I first put a model on a plate my software suggests repairing them which I do. You can also change the scale and duplicate figures on the plate. He showed me how to add supports to non- supported figures. When printing a figure, they all need supports to allow the machine to create intricate models. When you have finished putting all the models you want on the plate (Anycubic calls it a scene) one you need to slice the plate, so the machine works out how to print each layer (in my case each 0.05mm) Then transfer this to a USB stick and put this into the machine.

The machine itself needs some setting up. You need to put a screen protector over the light screen. The light screen sets the resin which is held in a resin tray placed on top of the screen. You also need to check the plate levelling to make sure the plate fits flat on the light screen before you start. This is done but putting a piece a paper on the light screen and lower the plate down and make sure the paper cannot move.

The printing itself was simple just select your scene from the USB and press the start button. At this point my machine told me how much resin the print will use and how long it will take. The speed is down to the height of the print not the amount of resin used. Printing times so far have varied from 1 hour 45 minutes to just under 9 hours.

 

Once the printing has been completed the plate moves up out of the resin tray.

 

You remove the tray with the figures stuck on them and then use the metal scraper to remove them from the plate without scratching the plate too much and damaging the figures.

 

Before I put the plate back on the machine I check for print failures using the plastic scraper to see if there is any resin stuck to the bottom of the resin tray. Print failures are the downside to this process, and I have a number since I started and indeed my first print had a part failure where I had not added supports to a model and the resin did not stick the plate properly. I have also had a software malfunction and the print stopped halfway through the print run. All figures have to scrapped off and bin. All of the others have been where a few models have failed to print properly. It is difficult to know what the reason is. The Resin tray has a film on the bottom which holds the resin and allows light through it. This film degrades as you use it. My machine tells me when it is time to change although I have continued to do a number of print runs after it but the longer you do that the more risk of a print failure as light may not go through properly or is distorted. It could be also due to not repairing the model in the first place and occasionally I have overlapped models too which ends up in a bit of a mess.

 

 

My next step is to take off the supports. Now I have read different things about this. Some wash their figures first and then remove supports and other as I do, remove supports and then wash them. If you do the former it is recommended that you place them in hot water which helps soften the supports. Removing the supports can be quite tricky. I also have a cutter with me to assist, and it very much depends upon the model and how the supports are designed. I have found some very easy and others I need to cut away supports and they will not budge. For delicate part such as sword arms, you need to be very careful as you can break the sword. I have now built in additional parts in my prints in anticipation that I may break a few removing supports. As time goes on you do get a feel for the best way to remove them but even after 80 prints, I still have broken models or once I go to paint them realise that a tail or leg is missing which I did not notice at the time. I have glued broken legs back on as the break is very clean and superglue hold quite firm after it has dried.

The supports are binned. They cannot be melted down and reused and the same applies to broken or figures that have not come out right.

Once all the supports are removed, I put the larger pieces straight into the wash and the smaller pieces in the mesh jewelry bag. I also clean the plate and put this back on the printer. The wash goes on for 3 minutes but this can be shortened or extended if needed. This removes the excess liquid resin that covers the model.

 

 

 

Once washed I swap the wash bin for the cure plate and place the items on this. This also goes on for 3 minutes although for large items I sometimes turn them over and put them on for a few minutes more.

You then have your figures ready for painting!

That is the mechanic of the printing, but what I have created. Well, that is the exciting part

For me I have sourced figures that you cannot get conventionally. This is shown by adding to Back of Beyond collection where I have created AA guns with lots of different heads and arms from various different STL files to create unique crew figures.

I also created some ammo porters to use in my campaign rather than my Darkest African figures which are not quite right to say the least!

A real eye opening, were some of the armoured cars I printed off for my future BOB games. The detail was very good.

As many would have seen I also printed off a fantasy Zeppelin which I converted for BOB Campaign. It has not yet flown in combat!

 

I had recently bought a Zulu figure collection from Noel. I have added a Sarissa Precision Rorke’s drift and was looking around for some suitable huts  to create a Zulu village. To my delight I found some perfect STL files and have printed off a small Zulu village with Karal walls, cattle and different huts! I also added Bell Tents for the British to furnish for Isandlwana!

To help my painting I also printed over 18 Printing handles which I tested out and thought were great although they do consume quite a bit of resin!

So far, I purchased all my STL files through My Mini Factory which is a giant marketplace for designers selling their STL files. I must admit there is some unusual stuff on there, most related to Si-FI and Fantasy figures.

Many manufacturers encourage you to join their ‘tribe’ which for a monthly subscription gives you some free STL files on joining and free files each month. It normally also includes a discount on their store. I have joined 2 tribes so far Medbury + Wargames Atlantic which have great historical figures.

Average STL file cost ranges from $5.00 – $20.00. MY Mini Factory is priced in US dollars. There are some cheaper and more expensive files online and many suppliers offer package or bundle deals which give you a set of STL files at a discount. Some also offer free files for you to check out their model.

All of the models I have printed I have used one resin type. This has been recommended to me by Scotty which produces robust models with some flex in the model which is quite important when they will be handled quite a bit. What I have used is ANYCUBIC ABS-Like Resin Pro 2 in Gray. I bought this from Amazon and often get 2KG for circa £25.

I wash the figures in Isopropyl Alcohol 99.9% Pure | Lab Grade IPA. I get these in 5L containers and buy them in batches of 4 to get a discount. 4 cost circa £60.

On top of which you need lots of gloves and kitchen towel. I have calculated that the average figure costs around 12p ignoring electrical costs, time to do this, STL file costs and the cost of the printer and curer. Compared to metal figures they are very cheap and indeed cheaper than many plastic figures. Where it really starts to show is when printing buildings or vehicles. The armoured cars I have printed are costing about 75p to £1.00 in resin compared to retail price of £20-£25 for the equivalent resin model.

Printing is not a quick activity as I have already mentioned. The shortest print run for me has been 1 hour 45 and that was for forty 25mm bases. The longest has been just under 9 hours for a large building. I do the longer runs overnight or whilst I am at work.

In 5 months, I have done over 100 print runs and used 24KG of resin, 40 litres of alcohol and over 200 gloves….. Scotty told me I” I should print what I need and not what I want”. As usual I have not stuck to that advice but printed some great models and very recently I have managed to put together 3 Pillage tables with my printed goodies at a fraction of the cost. For this new club campaign I basically printed off everything that I have needed.

 

 

The next test to come is how robust the figures will be under playing conditions. My Vikings in their first outing resulted in one of my spearmen losing his spear broken but I managed to glue this back on. My guess is that they will be slightly more robust than plastic but not as a robust as my metal figures.

I am not alone in the club and I believe there are at least 4 other members that have printers and I see this only growing as more quality STL files are produced and printers get better, cheaper and quicker.

I just need to paint this growing resin mountain that sits alongside the lead and plastic mountains……