Whether 3D printing is your hobby or not, there are various other reasons people love 3D printing miniatures. Nobody would like an empty tabletop at home or office, and many of us don’t like the gizmos available online. Thanks to the 3D printers for miniatures , you can design your own gadgets and gizmos for tabletop games and showcase your talent. You might be using resin or an FDM printer, but we’ve got you some advanced-level tips and tricks which will benefit you in 3D printing miniatures without breaking a sweat. Let’s get started!

Table Of Content

Tips and Tricks for 3D Printing Miniature

Layers:

One noteworthy and unique attribute of 3D printing is height- created through the layer method! Here are some tricks to do layering:

  • You can adjust the length to 0.01m while using the layer method to print faster.
  • Want more quality? You can increase the number of layers and start working with the adaptive layers to create more unique minis. The adaptive layering can also increase the print speed but sometimes reduce the quality.
  • Avoid pillowing in the layer method by adjusting the layer height and paying extra attention to the top layers.

Print Speed:

Print speed cannot be too fast as it causes blobs in layers and cannot be too slow to cause print failure. Thus, adjusting the print speed can be the toughest, but we’ve got you some tricks:

  • Good printing can be achieved by lowering the speed of initial layers to create a firm base.
  • The travel speed of the print head must be controlled at an optimum level to avoid bloating and tapering points. On the other hand, if the print head moves faster, the print can move from its original place as well.
  • The retraction speed plays a significant role- if the filament does not move back quickly, it can drip onto the model and ruin the 3D-printed miniature.

Support:

Your 3D printed miniature might have some hanging parts such as wings, tools, arms, or more. These parts can fall off during printing if not provided with support. Here are some tips and tricks for the supports:

  • Make sure you’re using as few supports as you can! The supports can leave marks on your 3D miniature model and ruin its beauty.
  • Use the support at 60-degrees which seems an optimum angle.
  • Tree supports are most used and are considered best of all! The tree support can hug the 3D miniature rather than being standing straight- this will help you remove the support seamlessly at the end.

Cooling:

Melting plastic and designing your 3D miniature will let you develop new shapes and models, but only if you immediately cool down the 3D print.

  • Ensure that the cooling is turned ON and the temperature is set at the optimum level.
  • The cooling requirements are different for each printer and model as PLA requires continuous cooling while PETG needs it for a few minutes.

I hope these tips will be very useful for you. Keep your 3D printer bed clean for great results.