I can tell by the comments alone that your community is mostly 3D printing hobbyists and that's fine. However, don't diss the process of casting and working with molds just because it's more rudimentary. I 3D print and have also cast molds in the past. They're both rewarding in their own ways, as Bum explains. Personally, there's a sense of satisfaction that comes from casting that I just don't feel when I 3D print something. Although I did not create the molds, the experience is personable, tactile, and satisfying. I'm not advocating for either one specifically but I would strongly recommend that you try casting if you haven't. For the experience alone, I think it's worth the investment.

Durability goes to 3D printing and this comes from a person that uses dental plaster (instead of hydrocal). Transport, if you are taking your terrain anywhere the weight of cast dental plaster pieces makes it a huge pain. Like you said, you aren't standing their while the printer is running so it frees you up. Personally, I don't print anything at less than the best resolution. 3D Gloop is bringing out an aerosol paint that promises to smooth the resolution lines on 3D prints, so that may level the playing field when it comes to detail. I have a Anycubic Photon DLP printer which is absolutely awesome for printing out miniatures, as good as miniatures as GW without the mold lines. It is really only good for small items though, the build surface is very small. Over the last 18 years, I have cast more than 2000 lbs of dental plaster (at one point I had a license with Bruce Hirst and was selling custom gaming tables) and I have to say that I am completely enamored with 3D printing.

Option 3: BOTH! Many of us tabletop 3d printing types started with Hirst and migrated to printing due to the pretty large workload plaster entails. I have a large number of moulds I now guiltily hide in the corner and pull out (very) occasionally to whip up some quick ruins or small terrain piece. In terms of speed, I'd say 3d printing still produces stuff faster than you'll ever paint it unless you really are hard up against the wall for next weekends game. Also I print almost exclusively at 0.1-0.15mm where you can barely see the print lines at all (like the buildings you showed) so not a lot of detail loss. I now have a TON of incredibly cool 3d printed terrain and just a few big plaster pieces that I'm scared to move to the tabletop (but are pretty nice once you've got them there!)

This is good info. I haven't yet attempted plaster molding terrain. I did buy the Prusa Mk3 last year though. Have you considered printing with the intention of using the print to make a silicone mold that could then be used to cast plaster?

Love your videos, helping me learn a lot for the hobby!

I know its an older video, but I am enjoying the comparrison. One thing to mention with printing time is that you can really play with it. As an example if you slice your print so that you are giong at .3 for the base, but then for the floor you go down to .1 for more detail, then to .2 as you print up the wall, and again back down to .1 for the top of the wall, you can focus on the areas that you want to have detail in, and then sacrifice the detail for time in areas that they eyes will not have much attention on. Tom Tullus does a great talk on one of his videos over on Fat Dragon Games for this technique and how he handles it.

Thank you for taking the time to do this community service video. We would love to send you some files to see what you think of the complex designs we have been developing. Keep up the great videos! Frederick & Jennifer

I started with Hirst arts.... havent touched them since getting a 3D printer!

Excellent stuff. Very creative, I like it.

Thanks for this comparison and explanation

I love printing terrain. I have a CR-10 and keep it running as much as possible. I also build terrain out of the bitz and bobs and blisters and pringles cans we all keep to use "someday". Depends on the mood and amount of time available for a project.

Considering weight and durability, another option is roto-casting urethane in silicone molds, “plastic” that sets in 14 mins. I use 3D printing for subsequent mold-making in gangs. Water-putty is def more durable than hydro cal or dental plaster, and has no shrinking. The single-most “draw” for plaster-like materials is its absorption of tinting solutions, emphasizing realistic stone-like texture

I just got into 3D printing and had looked into hirst arts for terrain. A couple things that I noted were that hirst arts scale doesn't work for 6mm which is what I need. Also, a spool of PLA should get you a lot more than a couple large buildings. I've printed more than a dozen buildings when I've adjusted the settings like infill, walls, and layer height. I also need more modern and sci-fi buildings which I've not found good molds. But agree with the points you've made.

Thanks for the video! I am still in the fence as to getting a 3D printer, I can see the versatility for sure (especially with some of the kickstarter’s you have backed previously). I just worry its too late for me to purchase one to get into some of them

Thank you. I appreciate the info related to using plaster casting. I don't think the detail comparison is very valuable since I think most 3d FDM printers are using at least .1 and many are going to a .08, which GREATLY reduces the layer lines. Overall, good video to watch.

Love Hirst Arts molds!!! I have several, and and made his chess board project. its Awesome

Hmmm...for the price of 8-10 molds you can buy an Ender 3. With plaster you can only make what you have molds for there will continue to be a cost escalation, the printer can make anything in any scale.

Great video! Thanks for the upload. Maybe you could do another on how you paint these scenery? That would be most appreciated =)

I have found that using pizza boxes for the plaster cast pieces works well for storage. I have been casting these molds for nearly 15 years. The large tower or cottage pieces are a different story...lol

For a 22 dollar roll of PLA+ I can make everything on that table. While the next piece is printing I can have the last one painted. Anything you have on that table I can print. I know this is an older video maybe all the patterns didn't exist then but now there is so much out there.

Great to hear your view on the subject. I used molds before getting a 3d printer, I only had 3 hirst molds and tried to make my own molds to duplicate bits I'd made. Theres a lot you can do with those but it requires a lot of time and work, now I'm older I really dont have the time. Also the terrain i built is very fragile and heavy which is a bad combination. I also scratchbuilt terrain using materials like grafix medium chipboard and xps foam and any plastic bits i could convert and again theres tons you can do with those and i'll still use those to complement my 3d prints but its still work intensive and the cost of all those various materials adds up. A 3d printer is WAY more versatile than casting, I can print thousands of different bits for next to nothing, many of which I would have had to buy individually or buy a mold for, (which is not viable if i only need like ~20 of that item) and with both of those i would be paying a premium price as well as postage. With 3d printer, those small detail bits i can print for a few cents and it would only take a few hours, so its cheaper and faster (no postage wait) than ordering what i need online. For tiny details like 28mm scale beer bottles i would have paid ~350x more if I ordered them online AND i can print them any size i want. For larger terrain pieces it does take a long time to print but the way I look at it I get that time back because previously I would spend that much time building the terrain, now i can do other things while i wait. I still love making terrain the old fashioned way but 3d printing has turbo charged my hobby capabilities as well as cut costs and work by a huge amount.

Thank you for making this video. After spending a small fortune in molds from Hirst Arts, I worried I may have made a mistake and could have gone a cheaper route with 3D printing.

So I still haven't gotten into 3D printing yet, but the big bonus I see with 3D printing is that you can start the printer going and then not have to worry about it other than occasionally checking to make sure there are no printer issues. I have about 20 Hirst Arts molds and used to cast them all the time, but the big difference with them is that it takes time to cast the blocks and I don't always have that time! I do like the quality of the Hirst Arts builds and the weight, but storage is a concern, not quite as worried about breakage as I use Merlin's Magic for my plaster which has a quick drying time and a high PSI rating. I've dropped pieces in the past and while the pieces might come apart at the glue line, so far none of my blocks have broken.

The initial cost of the printer goes away once it pays for itself, and you have a far wider range of things you can make for less money rather than buying a mold for one wall. Also, as you said, casting plaster requires you to be present as opposed to the printer doing it for you. For people who work 40+ a week, you just start a print, go to sleep, go to work, and it's there when you get home, so it's better for people who don't have time to spend on casting. Material cost is not the only factor, as you point out. Informative video.

ATTENTION: Help on fixing your printer’s settings, sir! To the gentleman in the video, If it’s taking you 3 days to print a tower then you definitely need to adjust your slicer settings because I have 6 affordable 3D printers of different brands, one is an unmodded Ender 3, and none of them take remotely that long to print a 3 story 28mm scale tower. I have completed 3 Wizard Towers from ProntableScenery.com’s Winterdale collection, so you can see have a reference for what my Ender settings allow as for speed and quality of prints. I completed the full structure models on a cr10 (28 hours) an i3 (33 hours) and an ender 3 (37 hours). Here is the model for reference: www.printablescenery.com/product/evil-sorcerers-tower/ I should mention that I placed 2 to 3 floors or sections on the build plate to print at once. The CR 10 finished the fastest as it has a larger build plate and so it can hold more pieces at once. Your layer height for that type of object shouldn’t be lower than 1.5mn recommended 2mm. If your print has broad lines that are very visible at a 1.5mm later height then the problem lies with the quality of your printer. If so then you’ll need to resort to a 1-1.24mm later height, but you said that it doesn’t bother you. And honestly, if you just apply your paint a tad thicker, it should fill it in easily enough. The second thing to check would be your filament. I assume you’re using PLA for the tower; however, I assume you’re using PETG for the transparent parts, so I’m not sure if you’re using PETG for the tower also. If you are, go with PLA on the next large object as it does require less heating and so should allow for slightly smoother layer transitions. The third thing to check is infill. This is a massive problem people seem to have, causing their print times to be ridiculously long. For a tower with basic stone detail and some typical fantasy decor, you’re infill needs not be any thicker than 15mm. Your wall integrity will maintain plenty of strength and so can even be brought down to 10mm, but given that I’m not familiar with your printer, I wouldn’t recommend it the first time. I would do a wall tile check by printing off a devonjones wall from thingiverse and printing one off with a 10mm infill and one with a 15mm infill. The place each wall between your fingers and squeeze a bit to see if the walls have any flexibility. If there is no difference then go with 10mm. This is the setting I use for each of mine and they are at no risk of being broken without excessive force. That will cut your print time significantly and still give sturdy pieces. People use 50-80 infill and it’s an absolute waste of filament and time. You only need denser infills for objects with pointy pieces like tower topper decor, gargoyles or whatever decor that protrudes from the base walls or roof. Next we look at shells. For a tower, a setting of 2 is sufficient. Shells can be substituted for lacking infills if will process faster as the result is the same. But definitely do not exceed a setting of 4. If you insist on going that high then reduce your infill to 5mm. Likewise. You can increase your infill to 15-20mm and bring your shells setting own to one, however, I do not recommend that. It is best to find the lowest balance between infill and shells. Again, I recommend you do a print test on the walls mentioned before to see where your printer, specifically, gives the most superior results within those ranges. And finally, let’s check the print speed. This is obviously a big deal as well. For a tower, one lacking significant fantasy trim decor, it is best to set the print speed to 70mm as that is about as fast as modern, affordable printers can go without sacrificing much detail. Some cheaper printers, however, have a lower print speed threshold and just simply aren’t designed to go that fast. Generally, they can achieve that, but for cheaper printers, it isn’t advised to exceed that as it causes skips or unnecessary jerking and problems with retraction. But your print speed for an object structure such as that should be somewhere between 50-70. You could also test that during the prior walk test. I would definitely try a speed of 70 to see how your printer handles it because that will also make a enormous difference over the course of your next few large prints. I hope that helps you figure out what the set back is. But if you’re insisting on printing objects off with more intensive settings than recommended above then it is certainly an unfair comparison for this video as your print times only represent your specifics experience with one individual printer while using personal settings which actively force the printer to delay completion when it is unnecessary and also wasteful of filament (especially in regards to infill and shell thickness). But if you could just try the wall test prints then I’m sure that you’ll find a muh happier solution to an undoubtedly stressful problem. I wish you the best on figuring out your printer’s sweet spots, as every printer under $1,000 has them. The cheaper they are it seems the more picky they are as well.

I used to do casting - not so much scenery, but Prince August figures, and there are limitations in the detail possible, challenges avoiding bubbles, and other issues. As you say, the layer lines are quite visible on your 3D printed scenery, but you have cavern pieces with angled tops that particularly show those vertical layers compared to scenery like castles and other buildings, and you're using 0.3mm layer height, which is quick but very high for something like scenery. 0.2mm would be more common, or 0.1-0.15 if you won't want overly visible layer lines. You can do quite presentable minis with a sufficiently small layer height - I've seen test prints going down as low as 0.02 or 0.04mm even on a low-quality CTC printer, and I know from experience the FlashForge Finder is more capable than the CTC (at least for smallish PLA prints). If you're fully involved, then sure, casting may prove quicker. My approach has been to build up a selection of 3D printers - currently mainly looking at Creality machines for their balance of price and reliability, as you can then kick of a bunch of prints and just leave them printing several pieces overnight. It's good that you noted some of the other uses - like practical pieces, but the use for large miniatures like dragons is also quite appealing for many wanting to do scenery, and you'd struggle to get comparable moulds for those.

Aside from up front cost, which you will make back within the first year or less, 3D printing hands down. No comparison. Most stl files are free, or a reasonable cost for premium. Time saver with 3d printing. (you could cast while you print if you wanted to lol). No durability with casting, storage for 3d printing is easier, unlimited options with 3d printing. Proper post processing you can mostly eliminate striations easily. Love the vids keep up the great work!!! just my humble opinion.

Well printers are much cheaper now but I still do Hirst Arts molds and use my 7 printers

I view KZfaq videos on a mobile device. Can you put the links you were pointing to in the comments or info section?

scale is another factor. If you play in a scale other than 28/32mm than the printer would be the way to go.

Sorry mate but 3D printing is more versatile, you aren’t limited to just blocks Or the molds you have

I paid 170 dollars (I would only be able to buy 6 molds) for my ender 3 and 1kg of pla is 16 dollars. I can print like 60 dungeon tiles with just 1kg. that's 0.26 cents apiece. You are being quite unbiased here mate

You still continue to use magnetic tiles ? Since I'm using dungeon blocks (and remixes) I don't use them.

I disagree that you’ll only get two regular-sized buildings per spool. I get 4 two-storey buildings in 1/56 per 1kg spool plus a few smaller items.

I have been doing molding and 3d printing for a while now. I have hirst and 4bot molds nd they are awesome, but 3d printing is a lot cheaper. I have a few ender 3 pro and a ender 5.

You can 3d print anything you want... and make molds out of it. just a thought.

You should make your own Molds from prints win win lol

How we can contact with you?

I started with Hirst Arts and am EXCEEDINGLY lucky since one of the suppliers of Merlin's Magic is about a mile away. I like it, but it is heavy. If you have to build something fast, Hirst Arts is the way to go. But, where 3D Printing wins, is longevity. You can't cast 24x7. You can print 24x7. So the sprint goes to casting, but the marathon goes to 3D Printing. Though, I'll admit, having the broken pieces and remnants from the castings makes good debris to put into 3D Printed parts to give them a bit of character. As you said, a resin printer can match a mold, but I don't think I would want to spend that much money. Resin is a lot more expensive, even if properly hollowed out. It may be interested to try out. But, you could resin print certain parts that are key to an encounter or something. I printed a dragon from Lost Dragons. The body/wings are all in PLA but the head I did in resin, since you are kind of drawn there. It is more detailed and crisp. So, there are ways of combining them to optimize quality and costs. I do agree that you can have more freedom with casting, but you are still locked into what you own. So, you may have more choices with say a castle, you can't say switch to an Asian feel without new molds. And, being able to buy and download (or even just download free) and STL file you need is pretty dang nice. Last night, I was figuring out a character to possibly play this weekend for a small RPG convention. It is using Pathfinder Society Rules. I built my character, then jumped on Hero Forge and built the character. I can now DL and print him tonight and at least the mini is ready for tomorrow. Maybe not painted, but physically there. :-) I think that is also where 3D Printing wins. Though, for larger bildings and terrain, you are very correct, it does take more time.