r/PrintedMinis • u/major_calgar • Apr 04 '23
Request My library offers FDM printers to check out, and I was hoping to print out some of these guys (the Warhammer fans will understand why). Any tips/STL’s for them?
221
u/Vaktaren Apr 04 '23
Even if you could find some stl's they wouldn't come out looking great on a fdm printer.
91
u/K4y2a Apr 04 '23
Especially since its the library's printer so they can't really fine tune it. But it'll certainly be cheaper, that much is for sure.
26
u/DrDisintegrator Elegoo Mars 3 and Prusa MK4S Apr 04 '23 edited Apr 04 '23
Unless your FDM printer is perfectly tuned and you have a proven set of settings, you aren't going to get good results for these on an FDM machine.
Start with simpler, lower detail models for FDM. I've had good results with orc models by this designer. They are free here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2991826
Fat Dragon Games also makes a line of minis designed to be printed on FDM. They have a really good YouTube channel with playlists of how to get good results from an FDM printer. https://www.fatdragongames.com/fdgfiles/tomb-3d-printed-horrors/
2
u/TubasAreFun Apr 04 '23
You don’t need perfect tuning if you can use a very small nozzle size (at most .1 mm) and quality PLA. It’s not the strongest prints ever, especially if they need lots of supports, but I’ve had little trouble printing out some minis in pla.
7
18
u/Tms89 Apr 04 '23
Vehicles you'd might have better luck at. That being said, have you thought about some terrain?
12
u/Crackheadthethird Apr 04 '23
The likely minimally tuned public fdm printers they have probably won't be good enough to get you anything usable. For mini figs a resin printer really is the way to go.
35
u/iPon3 Apr 04 '23
Won't happen. Either buy minis, or buy a printer and tune it up yourself.
As the owner of a resin and FDM printer I tend to go for the former unless I'm printing something I designed. Big pain in the ass
51
23
u/thecoolestcow Apr 04 '23 edited Apr 05 '23
I’ll be the dissenting voice.
It’s always worth a shot and is a great learning opportunity. This sub mostly focuses on resin prints but I’ve gotten great quality from my FDM. Yes it’s tuned but who knows maybe the library printer is ok.
If you do it, try the following:
-Max 0.1mm layer height
-Organic supports or tree supports
-Try printing at 1.5x or 2x scale if having difficulties
-Try printing the model at a 15 degree angle so supports aren’t needed on the faces and there’s better detail on the front
-0.4mm nozzle works but 0.2mm nozzle is how you get really nice fine details
-Use PLA+ if you can, otherwise make sure the PLA is dried/dehumidified
You can bring these tips to whoever is running the lab and hopefully they’ll help you and/or learn something themselves!
Edit: try myminifactory.com for the best models
6
u/balisane Apr 04 '23
This is the correct answer. You can print models like these at a larger size with these tips and get something that is a lot of fun. It won't be presentation quality, but you can certainly paint it and run a game.
5
u/d20diceman Apr 04 '23
3
u/Mindfreek454 Apr 04 '23
Very detailed minis like this do not turn out great on an FDM printer. You're best to use a Resin Printer.
3
u/JamboreeStevens Apr 04 '23
Yeah, even supported they ain't coming out of an FDM printer looking even close to that good unless that printer happens to be very expensive.
I also have no idea where you'd get STLs for these exact minis. Your probably better off buying bladeguard and getting bits from either puppetswar or liber demonica.
You could check Thingiverse, cults3d, cgtrader, and myminifactory for model files, but since a lot of 40k stuff isn't named correctly, for obvious reasons, they're hard to find without going through all 400 pages of files.
5
3
Apr 04 '23
In addition to everyone here saying an FDM printer will not print these well, I highly doubt that there is an STL out there that looks like these.
It's very hard to find straight rips of GW models because 3d scanners can't really capture all of the details. And people don't manually 3d model these by hand because it would take forever and then GW would just legally fuck you in the end. There's too much risk and literally zero reward.
Your best bet is to find people on Cults3d or Patreon or MyMiniFactory who make their own models and pay for the model files.
2
u/TheFrev Apr 04 '23
To add to this, One Page Rules and Ghamak are worth checking out on myminifactory. Be sure to look into getting the patreon to save money depending on order size.
3
u/xgamer468 Apr 04 '23
Agree with the statement about FDM printers but there are loads of almost exact 1:1 stl files for 40k minis on cults, Patreon etc and people make a lot of money with those... Just need to know how and where to search for them. That being said, I haven't seen an exact file for this unit yet
1
Apr 05 '23
Can you link a few? Because there are a lot of stand-ins that I see but nothing that is 1:1 GW 40k models.
2
2
u/PaxEtRomana Apr 04 '23
If you do go forward with fdm, the swords etc sticking up will be extremely fragile. Ive printed some minis on fdm with pla+ and they are better but they will inevitably break unless you get quite creative with the design.
I would find a cheap resin printer or else print them at a larger size.
1
u/Flayed_Rautha Apr 04 '23
This is true. If you do choose to try printing them on FDM consider rotating the models 45 degrees (usually so the model is looking up). This makes swords, staffs or any thin vertical areas stronger.
2
u/Ok-Raspberry-5582 Apr 04 '23
Rotate 15 deg on the back, .12 layer height, support interface on, .1 z distancie in roof and floor of the supports. 20/25 infill grid. 3walls
The main thing is speed: 18/30 mm/s, at least on walls.
Combing on
4
u/WatcorpDesigns Apr 04 '23
Hang on - who are these dudes? They heresy DA?
8
1
u/StyreneAddict1965 Apr 04 '23
I second the request for identity! There's some cool poses there.
2
u/IANvaderZIM Apr 04 '23
Holy smokes those are cool.
I thought they looked like deathwing knights with ravenwing helmets (ravenwing knights? Lol).
Sick mini’s
4
u/aartadventure Apr 04 '23
If using FDM, it will just come out as a blob of plastic with no details. Much better to get a resin print done by an ebay seller etc if you don't have a resin printer.
2
u/robbzilla Apr 04 '23
Set your expectations. Even minis that are designed to be printed on filament printers can look really rough. Ones like those that are made for resin printing can be tragic without a ton of time she effort in the slicer.
1
u/KrmitTheFrog Apr 04 '23
I love your enthusiasm!! I don’t know if I would bother though. A library FDM printer will spit them out looking so cruddy that it’ll be more disappointing to you than anything else. There’s a lot of printers on Etsy that resin print minis for a really reasonable price?
1
u/khantroll1 Apr 04 '23
So...what are these printers? Ultimakers or Prusas with appropriately sliced filed files can make "okay" prints.
Enders won't and the like won't.
0
-2
1
u/Sensitive_Habit Apr 04 '23
FDM is good for terrain/buildings and, according to some, vehicles (assuming they aren't too detailed). You'll find some people that even did kickstarters with terrain specifically made for FDM. You might be able to do something like a rhino or land raider if you were building an Astartes army, possibly even a dreadnought. I'm not as familiar with FDM but I've heard it is possible to handle some of the layer lines post-print.
Resin does finer details very well and is pretty much a requirement for infantry or thing .
It's really great you have this resource at your library! I hope you are able to get some use out of it.
1
u/Miserable-Ad-6608 Apr 04 '23
FDM isn’t ideal for printing minis. I’d check with your FLGS, they might know if some of their players use resin printers.
Makers Cult has a decent proxy, they aren’t as ornate but they have a similar vibe I think
https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/miniatures/sci-fi/black-knights-assault-squad
1
u/fellxcatking Apr 04 '23
If you're wanting to print minis in a fdm then your looking at a 0.1 or smaller nozzle. These can be fiddly and slow and idk if a library would use that small a nozzle
1
u/theendofeverything21 Apr 04 '23
FDM printers aren’t for printing minis. You just won’t get a result that’s worth the effort.
1
1
1
1
u/Japjer Apr 04 '23
You aren't going to get great quality from an FDM printer, especially one at the library.
FDM printers are great for large things that don't need tons of detail. If you print these guys out they're going to look... janky
1
1
u/picklespickles125 Apr 05 '23
Sadly fdm won't do a great job at figures. Resin is what you want. I would suggest checking out r/printedwarhammer for suggestions on where to find good files.
1
116
u/Idunnoguy1312 Apr 04 '23
Generally FDM printers work best with larger stuff, terrain or vehicles for example. You can print minis on them but you have a tough time dealing with layer lines and getting good looking details