learning the basics of 3D printing

[selenaq]

I’m still learning the basics of 3D printing—how do you guys deal with small, fragile parts on game character models? Mine keep breaking or printing badly.

[mvdveer]

5 hours ago, selenaq said:

I’m still learning the basics of 3D printing—how do you guys deal with small, fragile parts on game character models? Mine keep breaking or printing badly.

I'll hand this one to you as you, @claudermilk is the expert. @selenaq have a look at some of the prints in the print gallery.

[PFarm]

I think this is @claudermilk specialty!

[claudermilk]

Minis on FDM is really tough. The fine details are going to be fragile no matter what you do, so that needs to be kept in mind.

I use Revo hotends in part because of the tiny nozzle available. For most fine prints I'm using the 0.25 nozzle. Speeds are about the same as 0.4 and I run 0.08-1.2 layer height. This works really well with buildings, terrain, and vehicles. 

I've had a long struggle with the 0.15 nozzle. It has potential, but I haven't been able to get overhangs working to my satisfaction yet. It also requires slowing print speeds WAY down--it's a tiny bead of plastic and easy to outrun the flow limits. I'm running about the same speeds as for TPU on a standard nozzle.

Since you're just getting started, I would suggest getting the printer dialed in on the standard 0.4 nozzle with 0.2 layers. Print up utility stuff until you have things working well. By then you should have wrapped your head around the basics of slicer parameters. That will also give you a solid base to tweak from for the detail stuff.

[selenaq]

1 hour ago, claudermilk said:

Minis on FDM is really tough. The fine details are going to be fragile no matter what you do, so that needs to be kept in mind.

I use Revo hotends in part because of the tiny nozzle available. For most fine prints I'm using the 0.25 nozzle. Speeds are about the same as 0.4 and I run 0.08-1.2 layer height. This works really well with buildings, terrain, and vehicles. 

I've had a long struggle with the 0.15 nozzle. It has potential, but I haven't been able to get overhangs working to my satisfaction yet. It also requires slowing print speeds WAY down--it's a tiny bead of plastic and easy to outrun the flow limits. I'm running about the same speeds as for TPU on a standard nozzle.

Since you're just getting started, I would suggest getting the printer dialed in on the standard 0.4 nozzle with 0.2 layers. Print up utility stuff until you have things working well. By then you should have wrapped your head around the basics of slicer parameters. That will also give you a solid base to tweak from for the detail stuff.

thank you, I will try it

[willn]

Well, I’ve been struggling with small, delicate parts too—it’s one of the trickiest aspects when you're learning 3D printing. A few things helped me: slowing down print speed, lowering layer height, and adjusting support settings made a huge difference. Also, switching to resin for detailed miniatures gave much better results than FDM for those fragile features. I started using models from Gambody since they’re designed specifically with game characters in mind and tested for both FFF and resin printers. Their STL files come with detailed guides, which helped me understand how to position and print complex shapes without constant trial and error. It’s also useful to reinforce thin areas in the slicer before printing. Still learning every day, but refining print settings and using purpose-built files has made things smoother and less frustrating, especially when working on intricate game model pieces.

[claudermilk]

I've pretty much given up on figures on FDM. I can get 28mm mostly ok, but any kind of fine detail falls apart quickly. For those (and 15mm which I will want to do also) resin is preferred. I grabbed a Saturn 4 Ultra and cleaning station, just need to clear a space and acquire the supporting gear to safely run it.

Getting supports dialed in is a big step to get over for detailed prints. That's part of what pushed me over to Orca and deal with the painful transition from SuperSlicer. Their organic tree supports are great once you get things dialed in. I have it to the point sometimes the supports stay on the plate when I remove the part.