3D Printer for HQ miniatures

[Syco54645]

I have an Elegoo Saturn on order and already have a heavily modified Ender 3 Pro. The ender 3 is actually producing minis in table top quality when using .12 layer height. I have printed skeletons, chaos warriors, chaos mage, the gargoyle and the heroes and all look great. The concern about resin is justified, washing and dealing with the mess is not going to be fun but I am excited for the quality and speed I will be able to print miniatures. I am currently building a clone of the anycubic wash and cure with intention to release the plans on thingiverse, that system really helps with washing and such.

But yes water washable resin is supposed to be pretty brittle and it really is no safer than the other stuff. My concern is people will wash it in their sink rather than dispose of it in an appropriate manner.

[Thantos]

@Anderas resins usually spread toxic fumes during the process of printing or vulcanizing, but not after they have become solid.
@Thantos I am curious to know about the print resolution in micron and realize if it is better than Anycubic or Elegoo. I want to buy a 3D printer and yours could be a good solution.

The Sonic Mini has a 62 micron XY res. And can comfortably print at 25 microns Z. (it says 10 micron on paper, but it's moot to print at 10 microns slices when XY is 47 or 100 or a larger multiple)
It's 15 less than the Elegoo and some types of Anycubic, but it's a sharper LED mono array. With less light bleed (what andreas is experiencing where details blur together) I think it is a better print quality in reality.
Plus Im developing a diffusion upgrade which will remove any XY banding

Stocking the water washable resin, it's still not drinkable and should be treated as an irritant. BUT it avoids the need for Iso alcohol which is another irritant and highly flammable. It will actually void your house insurance if you store a large can of iso in your spare room!
So while not perfect, water washable is more suited to hobbyist printing.

Here is the store write up. It is £392 which should work out cheaper than buying anywhere else for EU folks (taking into account import tax and shipping costs of other sources). It is an EU plug, so needs an adapter for us OK lot. Im working on developing a UK supply so we dont need an adapter.
Just need to populate the store with the resin listings now!

___

The Phrozen Sonic Mini is a DLP LCD Resin based 3D printer for producing finely detailed miniatures and models. It is the perfect first 3D Printer for hobbyists wanting to produce quality miniatures.

It is simple to operate with minimal maintenance or technical experience required. You can start your first print within 5 minutes of unboxing the machine.

Having used and reviewed a selection of over a dozen resin 3D printers, we feel the Phrozen range of LCD DLP printers are the best suited to miniature printing hobbyists.

The Sonic Mini excels in four main areas -

The exceptional detail of 62 XY micron pixel size and down to 10 micron layers means this printer is exponentially more detailed than any FDM extrusion printer available and also better detail than other resin based printers, even some Resin Printers which retail at more than 10x the price!
The Sonic Mini's reliability and ease of maintenance. Using stable Mono-LCD technology, rated at over 2000 hours of life, and as few moving parts as needed - the Sonic Mini has less to go wrong than other printers, less to maintain and so more time to enjoy your successful prints.
The speed! At its peak, you can be printing models at 50mm height per hour. Print an entire army in a day? Sure!
Third party comparability. You can use third party resins with all Phrozen machines, don't get locked into just one brand; find the resin with the right material properties for you. Or just buy some mega-cheap ABS Grey resin direct from us! It's your choice.

The Sonic Mini is a compact, consumer resin 3D printer. For miniature hobbyists wishing to print their own resin 3D models. Its quality Taiwan construction and minimal moving parts means little to no maintenance and high reliability. This affordable entry to the miniatures 3D printing hobby comes with a selection of ancillary tools to get you started ASAP. Technical support is included direct from the manufacturer, Phrozen3dp.com.
It comes with a 1 Year Manufacturer's Warranty and a 3 Month Warranty on the LED Array.

General

Printing Technology: LCD-based Masked Stereolithography (MSLA)
LCD: Custom 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 mono-LCD, 405nm ParaLED 2.0 Lite UV LED Array
Build Volume: 120 x 68 x 130 mm
Z-Layer Resolution: 10 micron to 300 micron
XY Resolution: 62.5 micron pixel size
UI: 2.8-inch IPS touchscreen display
Connectivity: USB
Materials: Resins suitable for 405nm LCD-based printers
Power: Supplied with UK or EU power options. Locations with other plug types will need an appropriate plug adapter.
SOFTWARE

Software bundle: Phrozen OS, ChiTuBox included.
File types: OBJ, STL
WEIGHT AND DIMENSIONS

Weight: 4.5 kg
Dimensions: 250 x 250 x 330 mm

[Anderas]

The Sonic Mini has a 62 micron XY res. And can comfortably print at 25 microns Z. (it says 10 micron on paper, but it's moot to print at 10 microns slices when XY is 47 or 100 or a larger multiple)
It's 15 less than the Elegoo and some types of Anycubic, but it's a sharper LED mono array. With less light bleed (what andreas is experiencing where details blur together) I think it is a better print quality in reality.
Plus Im developing a diffusion upgrade which will remove any XY banding

Is it some sort of antialiasing?
I am still experiencing layer lines, even at extra slow 10 micron lift speed, even when antialiasing is activated. Strange that.

By the way, what would be really great for new buyers would be a detailed introduction / Users manual. Or a link to a user group.

I found out the hard way that 3d printing is an art in and of itself - the right way to position, to slice, to combine or cut up the models, the interrelation between light exposure and layer height and resin and room temperature, the FEP foil tension.... I can't say that I am on top of it yet, really not. Sometimes it works, sometimes I scratch my head and clean everything out once again.
For my printer, I found a big and helpful user group on facebook - If yours has something similar, a hint in the package would be just right.

[Syco54645]

Stocking the water washable resin, it's still not drinkable and should be treated as an irritant. BUT it avoids the need for Iso alcohol which is another irritant and highly flammable. It will actually void your house insurance if you store a large can of iso in your spare room!
So while not perfect, water washable is more suited to hobbyist printing.

Do you have any issue with the water washable resins cracking or being extra brittle? I keep seeing reports of this.

[Thantos]

The Sonic Mini has a 62 micron XY res. And can comfortably print at 25 microns Z. (it says 10 micron on paper, but it's moot to print at 10 microns slices when XY is 47 or 100 or a larger multiple)
It's 15 less than the Elegoo and some types of Anycubic, but it's a sharper LED mono array. With less light bleed (what andreas is experiencing where details blur together) I think it is a better print quality in reality.
Plus Im developing a diffusion upgrade which will remove any XY banding

Is it some sort of antialiasing?
I am still experiencing layer lines, even at extra slow 10 micron lift speed, even when antialiasing is activated. Strange that.

By the way, what would be really great for new buyers would be a detailed introduction / Users manual. Or a link to a user group.

I found out the hard way that 3d printing is an art in and of itself - the right way to position, to slice, to combine or cut up the models, the interrelation between light exposure and layer height and resin and room temperature, the FEP foil tension.... I can't say that I am on top of it yet, really not. Sometimes it works, sometimes I scratch my head and clean everything out once again.
For my printer, I found a big and helpful user group on facebook - If yours has something similar, a hint in the package would be just right.

Antialising will help with the XY banding lines, but not with layer lines really. If you are still seeing visible layer lines when printing under 25 um Z, it will be due to the printer construction not being solid enough / lead screw wobble. Any little slop of 3-5 microns in that build plate and it will offset layers.

In the process of writing a miniatures 3D printing guide - 11 years of 3d printing miniatures experience every day, all condensed down for folks to read and learn Watch this space!

Stocking the water washable resin, it's still not drinkable and should be treated as an irritant. BUT it avoids the need for Iso alcohol which is another irritant and highly flammable. It will actually void your house insurance if you store a large can of iso in your spare room!
So while not perfect, water washable is more suited to hobbyist printing.

Do you have any issue with the water washable resins cracking or being extra brittle? I keep seeing reports of this.

I haven't noticed any cracking yet, but I will run some more tests. Models I print here are used as masters for moulds, so dont survive long anyway But i'll print some to keep and test

[juiceboxB]

I have been looking into getting a 3D printer and making my own figures. This thread has been valuable for all the tips and suggestions. Thanks!

[Lowery_79]

Hello All,
I’ve been reading through this post. And wanted to ask if anyone could recommend a few 3D printers here in the stats that does good work and can print mini without the bases getting wavy. The resin printer I used on Etsy did a great job apart from the bases having issues. Also I’m hoping to find a printer that can design STL files too. As I have a few drawing I would like made into minis but I don’t know what a realistic price would be to get that done thanks

[lestodante]

Also I’m hoping to find a printer that can design STL files too. As I have a few drawing I would like made into minis but I don’t know what a realistic price would be to get that done thanks

Do you mean you need a 3D artist that is able to convert your drawings into STL models?

[Lowery_79]

Yes lestodante,

I guess, I would need a 3D artist that is able to convert my drawings and or pictures into STL models. I never thought I would have the want to 3D print anything but I did find a few custom minis on thingaverse and that were all this has started for me. I guess when I asked the question I just thought the printer and the 3D artist would be the same person. But I can understand my error in thinking, seeing how I have a degree in graphic arts but I'm not a printer.