There can be a steep learning curve getting into the printing scene. If you are struggling get thee to google and see if you have a local Hackspace or Makerspace as they are usually full of friendly like minded people who can help (Leeds (UK) Hackspace member here). Some even run courses etc.
I had a Printrbot Simple Metal and have recently got a new Prusa i3 clone in kit form that I'm building (all built in a structural and wiring sense now I'm just dialing in the settings).
I'm mainly going for printing scenery and tiles on it rather than minis themselves as we tend to draw standups in our group (we have a few artists in). I have a full set of files on the DragonLock system that was on kickstarter and they print REALLY well.
I also have tile files but I have no idea what I am doing in terms of actually printing them. Any advice? It is all a bit more in depth than I expected.
Not able to find any place you mentioned around me for help.
I'm thinking about getting a 3D printer instead of buying miniatures. At what price point do the prints become of acceptable quality? Think something like reaper cheapest plastic figures.
If you are buying a $400 printer, you'd have to print 200 minis or so for you to break even on costs (machine, materials, upkeep, electricity, failed prints), and the technology isn't quite there yet at the lower price points, not for the detail level required for minis. It's a _much_ better proposition to be using it to print terrain and dungeon dressing, and using for other hobby and household projects.
There are increasing numbers of designers and publishers of 3D models, but if you want quality, you will have to pay for the files as well.
I have the Printrbot Simple Metal, which cost me $750. Regular-sized minis look terrible. Heads and faces are usually just a melted blob. Anything large-sized and above looks great, though. I printed a Flail Snail, an Ettin, a Stone Giant and a Demogorgon. All of them look perfectly fine.
I have been purchasing humanoid-sized minis and 3d-printing anything bigger. I have also started using it for terrain, which also works great.
Getting the 3d-printer to work requires quite a bit of tinkering. It's not like a regular printer that gets jammed occasionally. For example, a common problem is that the plastic won't stick to the bottom of the platform. It just ends up making a little ball of plastic that gets bigger and bigger. The solution is to put blue painter's tape down on the platform and print on top of that. Weird, but it works.
Nice! I have thought of printing dungeon tiles with a 3D printer but I don't have one and I no longer have access to one ether. I have never tried this but I know that by using acetone vapor to smooth out ABS prints and make them look a whole lot better. I have never tried it though and I don't know exactly how to do it. Just thought I might tell you in case you did not know.
I also got an MP Select Mini printer and I've bought a few of the DragonLock files. Everyone is right in saying that it takes some tinkering. When I got my printer, it took almost 2 weeks to get it running. Once I got it figured out, I was flying (relatively speaking, it's a slow process). I recommend finding the subreddit for your brand of printer. If it has a large enough user base, there should be no shortage of info.
I have never tried this but I know that by using acetone vapor to smooth out ABS prints and make them look a whole lot better. I have never tried it though and I don't know exactly how to do it.
Unless you know what you are doing and I mean REALLY know what you are doing, this can be very dangerous. If you heat it too much the vapors can combust and it is quite harmful to your eyes and lungs if you are exposed to it. If you do know what you are doing however, this is a great way to get rid of all/many of the print lines on your models. If you have tips that need to be pointed or small features that you want to keep, I would mess around with exposure time to see what your models can handle.
Just a heads up that this only works with ABS plastic. PLA can melt from acetone but not nearly as much as ABS does which makes this process somewhat moot while trying to do it with PLA. There are other chemicals that you can use as a vapor bath for PLA but they are extremely dangerous and I recommend against using them. If you do decide to try an acetone vapor bath for ABS, make sure to be in a well ventilated area with the model enclosed with the vapors. They don't tend to need a long exposure time to make them relatively smooth either, so be mindful of that.
Would love to do my own 3D printing but until the printers drop in price I would be more inclined to pay someone to print my miniatures. Being still new to DnD I know eventually the group I am in would love to be able to have someone create some miniatures of our custom made characters.
3D printing is GREAT for miniatures. You just need to learn how to do it properly. Layer Height for example: smaller = finer details in the Z axis but longer printing times.
Also, the nozzle diameter .3mm vs .5mm has a dramatic impact on resolution (bigger = lower detail but faster printing).
Also, how you "finish" the models at the end (prior to painting) is just as important as to how you setup the slicer to generate the gcode to print them. Finish with sanding or acetone vapor or? The material you use will also be a big factor: PLA, ABS, Nylon, Wood, Clay, HIPS, Carbon Fiber, etc., etc., etc.
You can also print in different colors (even with one print head you can used a different color base material). Multi-head printers are another option. But for me I like printing in black and then painting over that.
My printer "can" print at around 0.05mm layer height (less than 0.002 inch layer height), although I usually print at 0.2mm (0.008 inch) which gives me a good resolution vs time ratio. And I have seen others use the same model printer and get 0.01mm (0.0004 inches) but I'm not going to spend weeks and weeks fine-tuning my machine to get that resolution. (That's finer than some human hairs...)
You can start out with the finest 3D models in the world but if you don't "slice" it correctly for your 3D printer, and/or your printer isn't calibrated correctly, your results will be... bad.
So what I have learned here is that printing minis is way more of a hassle than I want to take on. Especially since they just released new minis that are like $2 each.
I have seen some really cool dungeon tile pieces though.
So what I have learned here is that printing minis is way more of a hassle than I want to take on. Especially since they just released new minis that are like $2 each.
I have seen some really cool dungeon tile pieces though.
Which new minis do you speak of?
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Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
So, one of the things I've been playing with recently is using my 3d printer to make some gaming tiles.
Anyone else playing in this area of D&D crafts?
It's technically cheaper, but it has to pay itself off through the number of minis you would have bought otherwise, which for some people may not hold true
I know this might sound like an advertisement for XTC-3D, but it's not. I'm just a huge fan of 3D printing. I agree that 3D printed minis of the quality you displayed discourages 3D printed minis. And even though I strongly hope 3D printing is the future, it's not particularly impressive at the consumer level right now. But, for me, XTC-3D or any other like it helps me justify making "lower cost" custom pieces.
I wish I could 3D print stuff for D&D, especially custom minis. But the printer I have isn't a very good one (da Vinchi 1.0) and it stopped functioning properly.
I am using a cheap XYZprinting 3D printer and have printed hundreds of D&D miniatures with it. Yes, it's cheap once you get to that amount. And I have been able to find pretty a model for pretty much every monster in the Monster Manual, or something that looks enough like it. However there are a number of problems:
If you use any filament printer, the layers are quite visible. It's a bit like old pixelated computer graphics having steps instead of diagonals, just in 3D.
The scale you need is "28 mm", or 1:60. Which means that any part which at life size would be thinner than 6 cm in your print is thinner than 1 mm. Printing such thin things in PLA is a problem, as it doesn't come out well, and then easily breaks.
3D printers can't print parts that start in the air, you need to add supports. And then you need to remove the supports with pliers afterwards. I recommend investing in special model-building pliers.
The overall result is a "cheap plastic" look unless painted. Yes, you can easily see on your battle map which miniature is the bugbear, which one is the wolf, and which ones are the goblins. But pretty it is not.
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There can be a steep learning curve getting into the printing scene. If you are struggling get thee to google and see if you have a local Hackspace or Makerspace as they are usually full of friendly like minded people who can help (Leeds (UK) Hackspace member here). Some even run courses etc.
I had a Printrbot Simple Metal and have recently got a new Prusa i3 clone in kit form that I'm building (all built in a structural and wiring sense now I'm just dialing in the settings).
I'm mainly going for printing scenery and tiles on it rather than minis themselves as we tend to draw standups in our group (we have a few artists in). I have a full set of files on the DragonLock system that was on kickstarter and they print REALLY well.
Matt
www.matthasawebsite.com
I also have tile files but I have no idea what I am doing in terms of actually printing them. Any advice? It is all a bit more in depth than I expected.
Not able to find any place you mentioned around me for help.
I have the Printrbot Simple Metal, which cost me $750. Regular-sized minis look terrible. Heads and faces are usually just a melted blob. Anything large-sized and above looks great, though. I printed a Flail Snail, an Ettin, a Stone Giant and a Demogorgon. All of them look perfectly fine.
I have been purchasing humanoid-sized minis and 3d-printing anything bigger. I have also started using it for terrain, which also works great.
Getting the 3d-printer to work requires quite a bit of tinkering. It's not like a regular printer that gets jammed occasionally. For example, a common problem is that the plastic won't stick to the bottom of the platform. It just ends up making a little ball of plastic that gets bigger and bigger. The solution is to put blue painter's tape down on the platform and print on top of that. Weird, but it works.
Nice! I have thought of printing dungeon tiles with a 3D printer but I don't have one and I no longer have access to one ether. I have never tried this but I know that by using acetone vapor to smooth out ABS prints and make them look a whole lot better. I have never tried it though and I don't know exactly how to do it. Just thought I might tell you in case you did not know.
I also got an MP Select Mini printer and I've bought a few of the DragonLock files. Everyone is right in saying that it takes some tinkering. When I got my printer, it took almost 2 weeks to get it running. Once I got it figured out, I was flying (relatively speaking, it's a slow process). I recommend finding the subreddit for your brand of printer. If it has a large enough user base, there should be no shortage of info.
I've had no luck with printing miniatures.
My logic is SOUND!
Would love to do my own 3D printing but until the printers drop in price I would be more inclined to pay someone to print my miniatures. Being still new to DnD I know eventually the group I am in would love to be able to have someone create some miniatures of our custom made characters.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
3D printing is GREAT for miniatures. You just need to learn how to do it properly. Layer Height for example: smaller = finer details in the Z axis but longer printing times.
Also, the nozzle diameter .3mm vs .5mm has a dramatic impact on resolution (bigger = lower detail but faster printing).
Also, how you "finish" the models at the end (prior to painting) is just as important as to how you setup the slicer to generate the gcode to print them. Finish with sanding or acetone vapor or? The material you use will also be a big factor: PLA, ABS, Nylon, Wood, Clay, HIPS, Carbon Fiber, etc., etc., etc.
You can also print in different colors (even with one print head you can used a different color base material). Multi-head printers are another option. But for me I like printing in black and then painting over that.
My printer "can" print at around 0.05mm layer height (less than 0.002 inch layer height), although I usually print at 0.2mm (0.008 inch) which gives me a good resolution vs time ratio. And I have seen others use the same model printer and get 0.01mm (0.0004 inches) but I'm not going to spend weeks and weeks fine-tuning my machine to get that resolution. (That's finer than some human hairs...)
You can start out with the finest 3D models in the world but if you don't "slice" it correctly for your 3D printer, and/or your printer isn't calibrated correctly, your results will be... bad.
Hope that helps.
I have printed off the dragons and like to have them at the side of my DM screen. I like the effect it has to always have a dragon mini at hand.
"The Best Status Effect Is Death" WebDM
So what I have learned here is that printing minis is way more of a hassle than I want to take on. Especially since they just released new minis that are like $2 each.
I have seen some really cool dungeon tile pieces though.
Do not expect people to be smart, but do not allow them to be stupid. If there is one thing I have learned it is this.
Nolzur's marvelous unpainted miniatures
http://wizkids.com/dnd-unpainted/
My response is limited to the pixelated look of the 3D-printed minis.
Before any coat of paint or primer is applied, you must first lay down a coat of something that will mitigate the striations of the 3D printing process. There may be other products out there, but I only know of XTC-3D. Here is a link to it. Here are examples of minis without XTC-3D where the striations are evident. Here are examples of minis that use XTC-3D where the minis look much smoother.
For those who found the hyperlinks inoperational, here they are:
http://www.reynoldsam.com/product/xtc-3d/
http://imgur.com/a/57Ypa
http://imgur.com/gallery/3KWXN
I know this might sound like an advertisement for XTC-3D, but it's not. I'm just a huge fan of 3D printing. I agree that 3D printed minis of the quality you displayed discourages 3D printed minis. And even though I strongly hope 3D printing is the future, it's not particularly impressive at the consumer level right now. But, for me, XTC-3D or any other like it helps me justify making "lower cost" custom pieces.
I wish I could 3D print stuff for D&D, especially custom minis. But the printer I have isn't a very good one (da Vinchi 1.0) and it stopped functioning properly.
I am using a cheap XYZprinting 3D printer and have printed hundreds of D&D miniatures with it. Yes, it's cheap once you get to that amount. And I have been able to find pretty a model for pretty much every monster in the Monster Manual, or something that looks enough like it. However there are a number of problems: