You should make a secound part of this video. Because now there are fluid resin printers on the market starting at 250-300€. And the results are much better than the ones made with filament printers

For those checking this out years later you can now get resin printers for in the 250-300 range which can produce amazing details and fantastic for printing out minis

Since this video, resin 3D printers have dropped in cost. For ~$200, you can get one with a print area of 3.85" x 2.16" x 4.92". They provide GW level quality for miniatures (including many vehicles).

It’s crazy how much more affordable 3D printing has become in 3 years

Used the wrong settings. There are plenty of KZfaq channels around that give tutorials on this stuff. It's never going to look as good as factory moulded materials, but you can still get fairly high quality stuff out of a 3d printer with the right settings.

"I don't think it's edible." "I've licked it."

ABS is Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene - LEGO is made from it.

watching this years later makes me laugh a bit, cause there was a fully 3D printed army that recently won a tournament haha

you can also adjust how much you fill whatever you're printing. That can save hours and lots of meters of material

"I've licked it" -TM on 3D printing

Terrain is a good use for these printers. I printed the three story ruined building multiple times. Even if the print screws up, put a little filler putty on it and it still is usable terrain. The second thing these printers are perfect for are custom bases. I had to print up five 40mm bases for some terminators because Revell boxed them with 25mm bases.

That moment when you plan to equip a squad with four special weapons and the box only contains one special weapon of the intended type.

Maybe people wouldn't be considering this sort of thing if companies like GW didn't charge 100 bucks for a model it cost them 10 cents to make. My son was interested in playing as was I then I started looking into the prices and well I find them just plain ridiculous. I live in Canada, maybe it is different elsewhere, but for instance when a single Dreadnaught cost over 80 dollars, a little piece of plastic about what, 2 inches tall? Which sucks because the game looks great, everything about it is great, but the pricing just makes it so ugly.

This has already taken off. it doesn't matter if the models don't look at clean as the official models. Some gaming groups care more about the game than the hobby. And it fits my gaming group perfectly. Hell none of them even paint their armies. what they want is models to play with.

In my mind it would be great for the casual for models maybe even for making DnD campaign models and the like.

You've a personality, tone and manner that makes me like you immediately. I'm sure others will agree.

I'm sorry but why buy 10 miniatures for $51, when I can print 10 miniatures on an ender 3 of similar quality for $3?

With the Wanhao Duplicator 7 and Anycubic Photon, there are finally resin-based (DLP, not SLA, but same idea) printers in the somewhat affordable range. I picked up mine for about $700 and it makes absolutely stunning miniatures.

You're going down the road I just did on 3D printing. Welcome to a whole new world of wargaming. It's fantastic.

Nice points, solid video and I love how you are able to digress at will all over the show and get back on topic quickly without stating you have digressed, but I digress - great video. Keep it up

Guess the TL DR version is: give the technology a couple of more years and the printing quality for "home use" printers will be on pair for GW store bought models.

Printed a dreadnought proxy recently and it looks mint. Also checkout XTC 3D it's a resin epoxy that you brush on and fills gaps, seals and protects your prints.

Monoprice 3D printers both filament and Resin are now going for around 200, would love to see a part two of this.

Love the videos. Just getting into the hobby myself and your videos have helped me out a ton.

I weighed in on this a while back when this video was released, and I just wanted to check in and say I just got an Anycubic Photon (DLP printer) for 299 USD and a liter of resin for 40 more. Printed an entire 2k army of Sisters of Battle including Celestine, 2 penitent engines, and an exorcist. No mold lines to clean up, no layer lines, can pose on the computer or print out the bits and pose the old fashioned way. The minis were all free, equal quality to GW (if not better in many cases) off Thingiverse. Made a couple Dreadnoughts too for another army and I’ve still got a bit of resin left. Total cost about 5-6 hours of time preparing prints plus about 350 bucks. Got more resin on the way for the Adeptus Astartes, so probably 40 bucks for another 2-3k of army. GW jokes about this as a magical future 10-20 years out, but I’d say the “someday” is already here, we’re just waiting for people to realize it. TL;DR- 3D printed an entire, high quality, 2k point army for 40 bucks on a 300 dollar printer. GW is a mad king ignoring facts about their industry.

That t-shirt is amazing! The joke is gonna be lost on many people, but that's a part of its charm.

This was very helpful in informing my decision on 3D printing in general, not that I could afford any at all right now and I already had my reservations on the finished products quality, I also believe it will be quite some time before the quality of a printed mini matches up to the ones you buy, all in all for me this was an informative and helpful video so thank you good sir.

give it a few years, the technology will become more refined

the real good thing about 3d printing for this kinda thing is u can design your own pieces. thats what i want a 3d printer for.

The Wanhao Duplicator I7 is a larger SLA printer for about $500 that's almost in full production, or you can go back SparkMaker and get an SLA printer for 150 bucks. I 3d print a lot of miniatures on my regular FDM (Filament) printer and anything that's not minuscule, especially larger units, come out really good. I've printed on multiple SLA printers, and the quality is indistinguishable from regular boxed miniatures. There are multiple open source game rule sets you can play by with any miniature you could want, so there's nothing stopping you from playing with or without GW rules. Pre-made models going away isn't the end of tabletop gaming. Even if it starts going that direction, GW could just sell 3D files for their miniatures, and we can all live happily ever after.

Now the premier location for finding STL files is yeggi. It's basically a search engine for physical objects that can be made using machines.

Holy fucking jesus, I want to wrap myself up in this guys voice like it's a blanket. It's just so warm and comforting. D=

To save lots of time (and cost) if you want multiple copies of the same item, is to 3D print the first item, then clean that up and use it as a master to make a silicone mold. Then simply resin cast the remaining pieces.

Can you print an STC template?

In our Infinity Meta, one of the gents we play with 3D printed a bunch of HVTs, Civs, Objective Markers and other terrain stuff and we use it in our monthly Tourneys. Great stuff and MUCH cheaper than buying the MDF or Resin version. Great vid as always!! Coming to Philly in November for PAX Unplugged?

Great video, Atom. Very exciting future for 3D printing.

the reason why im getting a 3d printer is to print my own minis for dnd since i want to be a dm. it sucks that it wont look super good painted but meh. when you want an army of kobolds...

So now I guess I'll be adding a 3d printer to my shopping list! Haha

Really glad that you recapped this topic, as someone who has owned and operated 3D printers for 4 years now, and put close to 13 thousand hours on each my three machines. For the FDM machines, aka the filament type there has never been a better time to get into it. There is still a learning curve to the machines, but it isn't as steep as it used to be. The cost has come dramatically down, like was stated during the video, the best bang for your buck on a tight budget is the monoprice mini at 200USD. The reliability of the machines has gotten so much better, even for the kits that are out there. Far as the SLA/DLP printers go, the prices have come down quite a bit, and there is a good option at the 500USD and two options at the 1k USD price bracket, it is another learning curve to these machines. The learning curve is slightly different just due to how the machine works either via a system of a laser and mirrors (SLA) or via a DLP projector. These are a lot more expensive to operate due to the pricing per litter of the resin that they use, it's not your atypically resin it is reactive to UV light. Exposure to the UV light hardens the resign creating the layers, and part of the reason why these are so expensive for running/ buying. Post processing (post finishing the print) is also a bit different, have to wash the print off with IPA to remove any uncured resin and then expose the finished print again to UV light to further harden it. If you are interested in 3d printing, there is a whole bunch of folks, forums, website and etc out there that are more then willing to help, be a sounding board for ideas and sourcing of information. If you are into reddit, stop by the 3D printing subreddit, tons of folks out there who are more then willing to help. (Not trying to steal away from TM just out to help folks who are interested in 3d printing to expand their hobbies or to add another hobby)

I cant usually just watch a video of someone talking but I love your videos. I'm just starting out with WH.

*laughs in UV resin printed knight army* sanding was minute and i find it difficult to determin FW/GW stuff with my 3D stuff

"I've licked it." XD Dunno why this cracked me up so much...

Thx for the information, i was wondering about it for a while ! :)

As usual, love the video. I have used Hero forge to design and print 2 minis now and I have to say, Sterolythic printing can produce beautiful minis! The technology is still young, but given time (maybe after we are all gone) it will happen.

Atom: "I licked it" Me: "What" Atom:"Huh?" Me:" You _licked_ it? Why? Atom:" Uh.. research?" Me: "WHAT? Atom" Wha- What?"

have you thought about casting the items you make, in resin, after sanding?

Thanks for explaining the process and printing wargaming.

90's Heroquest,WFB teenager, found girls, cars and bourbon, now a family man that works in a injection moulding factory, and now back into tabletop wargaming, your channel/posts are the best, 100% follower from down under Australia, even with my beard, tattoos, my Harley and drag car, deep down I'll always be the sci fi, war game nerd,geek lol

3D print a warlord titan saves you 1500$ :) considering the cost of some of these single models it would be well worth it. a dreadnought alone cost's 46$.

Best use of "effluvia" on KZfaq.

Your explanations are fantastic! thanks

Hey there uncle Atom, can you let me know what 3D priner u use for those conrete blocks?

Do more stuff involving 3d printers please

Pro-tip - print one set, clean them out, then make molds and make them quickly for next to nothing.

I was really thinking hard about getting a 3D printer for terrain but opted against it because I have tons of cardboard boxes and decided to try my hand at creating my own with that, I will still revisit the idea of a 3D printer in the future however, great video!

Thanks for all your videos. I've seen some of them before but recently started going through all of them. Have you made a follow-up to this now that there are cheap SLA options like the Photon available? I've made a ton of stuff for terrain and dungeon dressings that's too small or too detailed to craft by hand with it.

I agree with half of what he said. I agree that FDM is best for terrain. It's even good enough for some good size vehicles. However, 3d printing can make fantastic 3d miniatures. YOu have to use SLA. The Wanhoa Duplicator 7 (I might of misspelled that) is the cheapest one that I see on the market right now at $400. It does a fantastic job. Others worth mentioning are Peopoly Moai and the Micromake L2. Some currently on kickstarter in the design process (or already shipping) is the bean ($400 I think) and OLO (shooting for $100). SLA can make very accurate miniatures at almost the exact same detail as professional 3d models made from casts. You can't leave out SLA like that. For those wanting to make miniatures with a FDM printer, good luck. It will make a miniature but it just cant make them anywhere near as accurate as a SLA printer. SLA for the miniatures and FDM for vehicles and terrain (thus I recommend buying an FDM with a large print bed so it can print full size buildings). Downsides to SLA, the resin is toxic (until it's cured) and you should use gloves when handling it. It can be messy because it's a liquid. It also cost more for resin then it does for filament in an FDM printer. However, SLA quality cannot beat for small intricate details. Really, if you (not talking about the Tabletop minions guy) don't know about this technology look it up. You will be amazed at what it can print.

What does a 3D printer do to your electric bill? is it closer to an average PC monitor or closer to a Fridge? Awesome video by the way.

I got the elegoo mars sla printer last year and its been a game changer and a fairly good machine.

Hi, very nice video, thank you. Could you give us the reference of the filler primer you're talking about? That would be great. Thanks!

I have a question, what does a wannabe war gamer do if there is no one else around locally to share the hobby

Wanhao duplicater 7 is a DLP printer for 400 us. Amazing resin printer for miniatures. Have a look at the facebook page for some impressive miniatures.

Seems great for printing tiny peices of terrain that otherwise you'd have to look for some kind of special seller for online to find. Could definitely see using it to make doors and tables and other cool stuff for role-playing games i love

3 years on, very affordable at-home printers are easy to get and they can print amazing quality models 😊

Fine for nurgle since it's supposed to be sloppy 🤣

Leaving a 3d printer printing without supervision is not a good idea. Something can happen and then you have a mess and a lot of wasted material when you come back. I setup a webcamera for those ocations to check progress from my phone.

Solid video Uncle Atom!

me and some friends recently started playing mordhein (warhammer fantasy thingy) and one of us has a printer, and thats perfect. we get to test if we like it, what we like, etcetera for less then 5 bucks each. we really enjoy it, and im assuming we will soon start doing more in this line of stuff, where we will probably start by printing again. but after 5 sessions we already started talking about actually buying and making the real deal. and i think 3d printing is amazing in this way. it really lowers the entry barrier for newcommers.

I'd call those Berlin barriers. Lol

Great video. Surely it's not as cheap as you suggest ? The manufacturing price of your barriers may be $1, but you're forgetting the cost of the investment in the printer, say $500 to $1000. If you are a small shop wanting terrain, it would still be cheaper to buy resin parts commercially. Want an army ? Think about what you could buy for $700. Seems to me that the true advantage of 3D printing is going to be flexibility, being able to make whatever you can source or create in the package.

This needs a Update ASAP..new Resin Printers especially the new Larger ones make this super easy an much more affordable...and the results are STUNNING

Pretty good discussion, enjoyed it.

Great video. Ive been doing a bunch of research on these printers. There are some incredible KZfaqrs doing great work on 3d printers. Check out "The 3d printing nerd" channel. If you really want to crank out terrain, the next step is to make a mold from the print and you can cast over and over. Many of the resins set in 5 to 10 minutes. Not sure if I missed it, but what printer did you get?

Considering GW's prices it would probably be cheaper in the long run to buy a $1000-$2000 higher quality printer.

Do you think 3-d printer is viable for historicals? I'm thinking specifically of printing tank and turret hulls with no embellishments to minimize the detail, and then adding fuel cans, railings etc. after taking off the "grain" lines with sandpaper. Thoughts?

I've always liked the idea of printing the 'base' model, then using molding putty or greenstuff to put on the unique finish you want. could get very unique models.

From what I understand the resin prints are far more detailed and put out a better quality than the filament versions. That sort of solves most of the problems you brought up about model quality. Just have to wait for them to go down in price really. Or if your in a gaming group you'd only really need one for all the people involved. If you can trust your friends to pool together a thousand dollars or so, but given how much people spend on miniatures already it's not as insane number as you think. While it's sad it would cut GW out of profits I think it helps the hobby a lot. I mean the biggest part of stuff like WH40k was always customizing your own models in interesting ways with bits of scrap and stuff lying around. To be able to do almost anything you want with your troops would be so awesome I don't think there would be any player who would turn it down eventually. Consider how people now buy several sets of miniatures just to cut them up and use the pieces to make truly epic looking hero units you'd know there is need there for customization.

Pa-Chow!

This video was a very well thought out and informative look at the topic. I'm glad KZfaq put it as a suggested video. I, too, bought a 3d printer with aspirations of printing my army and I came to the exact same conclusions. While I am sad at how expensive GW has become, I also ask myself - if I don't support the company that produces the universe that I have loved for decades, how will they produce more fun stuff? Great video! Can't wait to binge watch all your others. If they are of similar quality, I'm in for a treat.

i have Cura software but it does not look like i can edit existing models. what FREE software allows me to chop or slice models i download from places like thingaverse?

Saw the printed dreadnought and was like: "KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE BROTHERS!"

yeah but here are 2 things, What if the gaming companies actually sell 3d models to print. That would help their income a lot, it's a one time model, you can sell over and over And resin printers, One hit with a decent primer and no sanding needed.

Would be cool if you can update this video with the DLP Printers.

Kind of related, you can buy molds to be created for terrain using plaster. The end result for those can be quite high quality, but obviously it still involves time.

I want 1 to make terrain, and if had 1 I'd print a blood angle dreadnought. So my Chaos Reaver would Titan look like its stomping a blood angle dreadnought in to a mud hole.

Yea, filament printers are good enough for terrain, but please, don't use PLA for this, ABS is better material as it's softer, easier to sand and it can be smoothed by acetone vapours.

where do you get the miniature on 8"44?

i am thinking about getting a 3D printer for making terrain. i see that Wood PLA are available as a filament option any thoughts on that

I didn't mind the printed dreadnought. After millennia of warfare, scrapes, scars, pockmarks and blemishes are to be expected. The standards of "quality" in GW products has been getting on my nerves, personally. I am frankly sick unto death of Aquila, wings, blood drops, skulls, scrolls and all of the other "details" that they pile on to a model. I look at a lot of the new models and think "No, thanks. Too busy" leave me some room to make it my own. If I want a model with 100's of purity seals, I'll add them thanks. My commander is the guy who has been fighting the longest, serving the Emprah more faithfully, and the most experienced marine of the bunch. He has the plainest, most durable, functional armor. His honor is to get the job done, not for glory or baubles.

Very informative though I think GW and Perry miniatures still have first claim to my wallet.

Some great insight! Thanks Fella! :D

@tabletopminions you can also get a 3d scanner, scan the original GW miniatures, and then print that. also, that depends on how thin the filament you make it, also there are sprays specially designed to eliminate the lines, get a printer with 0.05 line, and its going to look amazing

Burning isn't the right word, "curing" the resin is more correct.

The Question is, do you want to? Answer YUP. Games Workshop are over priced.

Great video man. Very clear and informative. I'm *this* close to getting a 3D Printer. I've been fighting with myself about getting one for a few years now. Problem is the amount of use I'd get out of it. Prob do some terrain. Maybe a couple of ornaments (Boltgun hanging on the wall ;) ). But feel what I get from it may not be worth the £500 price tag... But I really want one! I've designed a few bits here and there, which is by far the hardest part, but it's a LOT of work, for relatively little reward... I really look forward to seeing some of the stuff you print.

could you recommend a good filler primer? Would most automotive primers work ok? -thanks!

"I gotta say the results aren't great" I coudn't disagree with you more. That dreadnought looks fine

One point you didn't make is what happens when 3D printers get to the stage where they can print models that are as good as the official ones, and 3D printers are a cheap as regular printers? What happens is that miniature companies go out of business. They don't make new games because the miniatures (the vast majority of their income) can now be printed at home. I suppose they could just retails the print files but what's to stop one person buying it and then just giving it on to someone else? I don't want to see the hobby diminish because of this. To those that do 3D print I say this: be careful what you wish for; you may well be slowly destroying the hobby.

I used 3D printing for a board game prototype I'm working on.

Much has changed in the past year. I don't know if you've done an updated video, but the Anycubic Photon is a DLP resin printer that sells new for $450-ish.