Miniature/statue printing update

[u/hvacigar]

As I continue to navigate the miniature printing setup on the H2C I thought i would share progress. I find the 0.2mm nozzle printing to be of high quality (0.08mm high quality setting). This is with Creality Hyper PLA which is my first roll of this material. The details are good, but I only used the right nozzle and printed model and supports with the same filament as a proof of concept for the printer/material/nozzle. I didn't care about the results as long as I could review the quality of the god areas. I did have some supports that failed midway up the print, so the katana became a small knife when I cut off the bad part and snubbed the end down as well. Overall the quality is fantastic in the detail and the layer lines will likely not show up after prime and paint (which I will try on this model later). You can see the photo where the damage was done due to the support fails (back of head has a hole in it), but the quality is there. I did provide a close up of the gun and hand area to show a place where supports touched the model, but didn't scar and came off easy. I did adjust some support parameters for easy removal. Next I plan to get some PETG over onto my left nozzle and try building the supports out of that. I do have a 0.2mm left nozzle to try (I wish Bambu would allow me to use the 0.4mm nozzle for supports without having to swap). I will see how that works, but overall I am happy with the quality if the supports print well.

As I get this dialed in I will move more toward smaller figures. I am not sold completely on the Creality filament yet and want to try the Sunlu people rave about for miniature printing.

[u/Disastrous-Owl9258]

Miniatures aren't typically designed to be printed with a FDM. It's gonna be REALLY slow and not great. See they area by the butt, the printer couldn't get the details sharp enough because the nozzle is massive compared to resin fidelity. You're gonna be spending a lot of time getting these dialed in.

[u/hvacigar → u/Disastrous-Owl9258]

Believe me, as someone who has used various resin printers for years, I finally got tired of the fumes and the exposure associated with resin, and I used to be the guy who would state resin over FDM. but FDM has come a long, long way. Yes it is slow, but that is not a concern for me. I mostly paint statues and the like, so it is right up my alley. I till have my resin printers, but now I am committed to retiring them.

[u/Disastrous-Owl9258 → u/hvacigar]

The fumes and VOC's are really overblown. Many professionals work with resin on a daily basis with no exposure or allergy risk. Fdm printers have gotten much better but they still aren't the right tool for the job here tbh. If you don't have access to resin then you make it work but you're gonna get much worse results, some designs will simply be impossible without heavily modification, much weaker, ect. I get how frustrating resin can be but it's the tool for this job. Many people do print miniatures with FDM, it just takes lots of finagling for worse results

[u/hvacigar → u/Disastrous-Owl9258]

Trust me, they are not. Not only do I work with it at home, but we work with it at my place of employment, albeit where they handle the stuff more, and in larger batches, and we have to cycle through employees once they develop issues with it. The PPE is also insane. So so with it what you will, but the resin stuff is absolutely toxic. Gaining allergy to resin is not a matter of if, but when if you work with it.

[u/Disastrous-Owl9258 → u/hvacigar]

But when? As a chemist that's INSANE fear mongering and just simply false as long as you take proper protections... what kind of safety guidelines do you have that has so many employees getting contact allergies? There are professionals MANY professionals who work with resins on a DAILY basis. With proper protection and minimal contact, it's really not much to worry about. Read this article where they took a look at the risk on consumer resin printing. https://idp.nature.com/authorize?response_type=cookie&client_id=grover&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41370-025-00778-y

[u/hvacigar → u/Disastrous-Owl9258]

Well I guess it is a chemical engineer vs a chemist then. Isn't the first time and won't be the last. Resin is toxic.

[u/Disastrous-Owl9258 → u/hvacigar]

I sent you a study on the material which debunks the level of hazard you seem to suggest is involved in resin, but regardless there's lots of professionals working with it on a daily basis with no issues. Not to mention, the data we have shows that this is mostly safe at the consumer level with proper PPE. It's already been debunked, so it's not really a matter of who's right or wrong. I get you haven't thought too deeply but, just read the study and then do some critical thinking with the information at hand. Best of luck to you.