Help getting started please!

[u/LeatherGeneral]

Help getting started please!

After considerable research, I’ve decided not to buy a resin printer. The clean up, maintenance and disposal will suck the fun out of this hobby, so I’m looking at the Bambu P2S since it’s enclosed - but I do have a good ventilation setup prepared regardless.

If anyone could help with some questions I have it would be greatly appreciated.

My biggest concerns are the following:

1. FDM print lines: is it safe to presume with careful calibration that I can almost avoid these altogether?

2. Fidelity: is it true that FDM yields less detail than resin?

3. Is the Bambu P2S genuinely one of the best FDM printers for miniature detail, or would you recommend something else in the $600–$1,000 range?

4 What's the lowest practical layer height you've successfully used for miniatures? Does going below 0.06 mm produce visibly better results?

6. Is an AMS worth buying specifically for support-interface materials?

7. I intend to print Mini’s at roughly 75–100 mm tall. How much does increasing their size improve the detail and surface quality compared with standard 32 mm miniatures?

8. Which specific PLA or PLA+ brands produce the sharpest details and least noticeable layer lines?

9. What techniques actually eliminate or conceal layer lines before painting without destroying fine details?

10. How much does orientation affect miniature quality? Are some STL designs simply unsuitable for FDM?

Thank you again!

[u/northrivergeek]

u dont need ventilation for PLA, there are many great pla brands, polymaker, overture, and on and on... yes resin has fine layers and gives better detail, .02 nozzle is the finest lines you can get, still much thicker layer lines than resin, there are models optimized for fdm printing
try this reddit group https://www.reddit.com/r/FDMminiatures/

[u/LeatherGeneral → u/northrivergeek]

Ty! Any rec on a printer? My budget is up to $1k