this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2023
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What is the level of detail possible for 1:72 figures with PLA? (obsolete) (diyrpg.org)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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(I've been informed that I had been told complete BS by the person trying to tell me that resin printing 1:72 wargame minis would be stupidly expensive. As such, my question here is no longer relevant.)

I am considering the option to get back into miniature painting by starting with 3D printing my own custom figures.

Given the price difference, it would have to be plastic (I read PLA is a good option), and for my purposes it would mostly be 1:72 scale figures.

The deciding factor is whether at such a small scale PLA can achieve a level of detail that doesn't look completely terrible. I'm used to 1:72 injection mold figures, and my previous paint work in the past was always so thick that much of the detail present on those would disappear anyway. So I'm really not looking for much.

But looking for existing images of such prints is very much not search engine friendly and I mostly just come up with Chinese soldier figures made out of some mystery material or figures of unknown scale.

Can anyone help me to find some reference pictures of 1:72 PLA figures so I can take a look if this level of detail is acceptable for me?

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (11 children)

Not answering your question exactly, but consider this:

Creality Ender 3 Pro (common entry level PLA printer) - $236

Elegoo Mars 3 Pro (common entry level resin printer) - $194.99

I own both for different reasons. As many will tell you, resin for minis, PLA for terrain.

Here is the best PLA mini I ever printed:

You simply cannot get the level of detail you would desire for mini painting from PLA. I know others out there have done better than I have in the above photo, but it still pales in comparison to an entry level resin printer.

Edit: I have a photo of the same model printed with resin, but having a hard time uploading it for some reason.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

What nozzle and layer height were you printing with? I’ve printed a few minis with a 0.2mm nozzle and 0.08mm layer height and the results look much smoother than what you had…

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dude, that looks rough as hell compared to any resin print. I don't get why some people just have to cope so hard over this, resin is just better for detail, it's not a comment on your print skills or whatever.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Oh, I agree, resin prints are much more detailed. I just wanted to provide another point of reference for FDM mini prints, since the parent commenter’s FDM prints looked… rough.

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