3d Printing for the Tabletop: The Future is Now

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > 3d Printing for the Tabletop: The Future is Now

moths: Aug 25, 2004; I would also still appreciate some danger.

a7m2 posted:

I can definitely see the lines on a 4k printed model. Especially when using an airbrush, but sometimes even with brush. It's not a big problem though.

You can eliminate a lot of those by fine tuning your slicer's anti-aliasing settings and level height.

# ? Jan 25, 2023 23:58

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# ? Jun 9, 2024 13:41

Sockser: Jun 28, 2007; This world only remembers the results!

4k increases x/y resolution, not Z
You'd need to drop your layer height to make a difference in print lines

# ? Jan 26, 2023 01:02

Baron von der Loon: Feb 12, 2009; Awesome!

I'm currently in the market for buying my first 3D printer, but have to admit that I'm getting overwhelmed by the large number of available hardware. Hope it's no issue if I'm asking for some advice here.

To summarize my case: I really am not 100% certain what I want to print, this is something I'd really like to experiment with. When looking at what's being printed, I imagine that my initial goal would be to print things that could help out in the house, like coat hangers, phone holders, etc. I am currently working on a little portable Raspberry Pi project and would love to be able to print a proper shell for it. Some containers, like vases and such, would really be nice. I've recently gotten back into tabletop gaming and it might be neat to also be able to print figurines, although they really don't need to be too detailed.

I would prefer to have an enclosed 3D printer and, if possible, require as little effort to put it together as possible. I can work with putting hardware together, I've just never been too comfortable with it and am willing to pay extra to avoid it. Given that it's also a beginner-thing, I would like to have it be as plug-and-[lay friendly as possble. From the videos that I've seen, I would like to be able to print something within the 300-400mm range.

My budget is up to around 1000E, but would, of course, prefer to spend less. The main printer that seems to tick all my needs is the Creality3D CR-5 Pro, but when I looked around in the Reddit subcommunity, there seemed to be a general idea that anything by Creality should be avoided.

I can imagine that I may be asking too much here, but still, would love to have some advice here before I spend any money.

(I'm also aware that this isn't entirely tabletop-related, but this is the only thread I could find about 3D printing)

# ? Jan 26, 2023 11:15

BlackIronHeart: Aug 2, 2004; PROCEED

Welcome! There's a 3D printing thread in DIY that's a bit more broad and tends to focus on FDM printers. Tabletop wargaming printing is almost entirely resin based and you're not going to get print volumes large enough for household goods with those, generally speaking.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3973815

I can't speak to too many enclosed printers but the Bambu X1C is right around your budget limit at $999 USD and is a fast FDM printer that's been getting some good praise lately as it's relatively new.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 11:24

Baron von der Loon: Feb 12, 2009; Awesome!

Not sure how I missed that thread. Thanks! Will also give the Bambu a look.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 11:36

Bucnasti: Aug 14, 2012; I'll Fetch My Sarcasm Robes

Yeah, they're going to be able to help you more in the general 3d printing thread, but really it sounds like you want a Prusa, you can get them pre-assembled and they're the closest thing to a plug-and-play print perfect right out of the box experience that you'll get with filament printers.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 14:54

Lumpy: Apr 26, 2002; La! La! La! Laaaa!; College Slice

BlackIronHeart posted:

You can, yep, though a flex plate really helps. I decided to go a different route and began printing 'positive' prints to make molds for casting my own resin bases.

This is intriguing. What is the workflow here; something like pour silicone in those, then you can use 2-part resin in the silicone?

# ? Jan 26, 2023 16:26

SubNat: Nov 27, 2008

Lumpy posted:

This is intriguing. What is the workflow here; something like pour silicone in those, then you can use 2-part resin in the silicone?

Yeah, that's usually how it goes.
It's worth mentioning that home poured resin and silicone both can be kinda bubbly (leading to surface artifacts) if you don't have a vacuum chamber. But for stuff like bases I imagine that doesn't matter much.

You can get either 2-part silicones you can pour in to make the mold, while if you just wanted to make a negative of an already printed piece there's a couple 'clay like' silicones you mix, smash on, and let cure.
It's a pretty easy process, but make sure to have appropriate safety equipment (Respirator & well ventilated space, gloves) if you give epoxy/resins a swing yourself.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 17:20

IncredibleIgloo: Feb 17, 2011

Baron von der Loon posted:

I'm currently in the market for buying my first 3D printer, but have to admit that I'm getting overwhelmed by the large number of available hardware. Hope it's no issue if I'm asking for some advice here.

To summarize my case: I really am not 100% certain what I want to print, this is something I'd really like to experiment with. When looking at what's being printed, I imagine that my initial goal would be to print things that could help out in the house, like coat hangers, phone holders, etc. I am currently working on a little portable Raspberry Pi project and would love to be able to print a proper shell for it. Some containers, like vases and such, would really be nice. I've recently gotten back into tabletop gaming and it might be neat to also be able to print figurines, although they really don't need to be too detailed.

I would prefer to have an enclosed 3D printer and, if possible, require as little effort to put it together as possible. I can work with putting hardware together, I've just never been too comfortable with it and am willing to pay extra to avoid it. Given that it's also a beginner-thing, I would like to have it be as plug-and-[lay friendly as possble. From the videos that I've seen, I would like to be able to print something within the 300-400mm range.

My budget is up to around 1000E, but would, of course, prefer to spend less. The main printer that seems to tick all my needs is the Creality3D CR-5 Pro, but when I looked around in the Reddit subcommunity, there seemed to be a general idea that anything by Creality should be avoided.

I can imagine that I may be asking too much here, but still, would love to have some advice here before I spend any money.

(I'm also aware that this isn't entirely tabletop-related, but this is the only thread I could find about 3D printing)

It may be slightly small for your use case, but my advice is a Neptune 3 from elegoo. It also doesn't have an enclosure. But the price point is low enough and it is so convenient and prints so nicely that you can dabble in the hobby for a very low investment, and if you like the hobby you will have the knowledge and experience to figure out which high end printer you want to move on to.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 19:06

berzerkmonkey: Jul 23, 2003

IncredibleIgloo posted:

It may be slightly small for your use case, but my advice is a Neptune 3 from elegoo. It also doesn't have an enclosure. But the price point is low enough and it is so convenient and prints so nicely that you can dabble in the hobby for a very low investment, and if you like the hobby you will have the knowledge and experience to figure out which high end printer you want to move on to.

I saw the Uncle Jessy Neptune 3 video a little bit ago - $350 for that buildplate and height is insane. I wish I could justify it, but I still haven't set up my Ender 3.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 19:31

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

IncredibleIgloo posted:

It may be slightly small for your use case, but my advice is a Neptune 3 from elegoo. It also doesn't have an enclosure. But the price point is low enough and it is so convenient and prints so nicely that you can dabble in the hobby for a very low investment, and if you like the hobby you will have the knowledge and experience to figure out which high end printer you want to move on to.

On this note I got a couple Neptune 3s from pre-order and I�ve got shiny object vision on the Neptune 3 Pro or the 3 Plus. Are those a big enough jump to warrant getting the new ones and selling the old ones?

There�s nothing wrong with my 3s but bigger build plate and/or direct drive is pretty cool.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 20:06

BlackIronHeart: Aug 2, 2004; PROCEED

Lumpy posted:

This is intriguing. What is the workflow here; something like pour silicone in those, then you can use 2-part resin in the silicone?

Yep, SubNat had it right. I use the 10 minute 2 part resin you can pick up at Michael's crafts stores and some Delrin blocks to squish the open part of the mold flat. It results in very fast casts with little post processing required.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 20:13

Bucnasti: Aug 14, 2012; I'll Fetch My Sarcasm Robes

SubNat posted:

Yeah, that's usually how it goes.
It's worth mentioning that home poured resin and silicone both can be kinda bubbly (leading to surface artifacts) if you don't have a vacuum chamber. But for stuff like bases I imagine that doesn't matter much.

You can get either 2-part silicones you can pour in to make the mold, while if you just wanted to make a negative of an already printed piece there's a couple 'clay like' silicones you mix, smash on, and let cure.
It's a pretty easy process, but make sure to have appropriate safety equipment (Respirator & well ventilated space, gloves) if you give epoxy/resins a swing yourself.

Couldn't you just print the negative and pour your epoxy into that?

# ? Jan 26, 2023 21:37

SubNat: Nov 27, 2008

Bucnasti posted:

Couldn't you just print the negative and pour your epoxy into that?

You can, but with silicone you can easily bend it to pop the thing you're casting out. Also castable resin (atleast the kind I tried, glasscast) sticked really well to PLA (atleast when I tried that route), but pops right off silicone pretty easily.
That is somewhat harder with a printed mold (depending on thickness/material), unless you're printing something very simple you can easily pop out like a token/base, or have a multi-part mold, etc.

Depends a lot on what you're casting, tokens/bases? Probably, especially with a good release agent. Figures and more complex 3D shapes? Probably going to save a lot of hassle having a silicone mold.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 21:45

Sockser: Jun 28, 2007; This world only remembers the results!

This seems like a good time to link Billie Reuben's guide to 3d printed sex toys, skipped the traditional step of a silicone mold
Unsure how well this would work for casting resin, though.

https://www.billieruben.info/post/3d-printing-sex-toys-a-quick-easy-and-safe-method

# ? Jan 27, 2023 07:22

The Eyes Have It: Feb 10, 2008; Third Eye Sees All
...snookums

Coating the inside of a 3D printed mold with beeswax is a pretty clever solution.

# ? Jan 27, 2023 08:14

queeb: Jun 10, 2004; m

crossposting from the 5e thread:

do you guys think there's enough people doing in-person D&D with actual dungeon tiles to make a go at selling full on tile sets and stuff? I've been doing tons of painting and printing for my own campaign but i wonder if theres more of a shift to VTT's and all that. I mean dwarven forge shows people still buy tons of stuff, and looking at etsy people are selling like, random doodads and terrain and individual tile sets but i don't see many selling actual big complete kits of stuff. I could easily make a full on rebrand hideout or cragmaw, stuff like that with all the random thousands of dungeon tiles and stuff I have accumulated to print.

or do you think people lean more towards just building things for neat encounters and not an entire dungeon or whatever, which i kinda find myself doing lately

I think I've sold around 100 random things off my Esty shop but I don't really want to be a shop that just adds 3000 random rear end terrain things and renders and prints them on demand, id rather make cool dungeon rooms or outdoor encounters and sell those.

# ? Jan 27, 2023 18:54

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

queeb posted:

crossposting from the 5e thread:

do you guys think there's enough people doing in-person D&D with actual dungeon tiles to make a go at selling full on tile sets and stuff? I've been doing tons of painting and printing for my own campaign but i wonder if theres more of a shift to VTT's and all that. I mean dwarven forge shows people still buy tons of stuff, and looking at etsy people are selling like, random doodads and terrain and individual tile sets but i don't see many selling actual big complete kits of stuff. I could easily make a full on rebrand hideout or cragmaw, stuff like that with all the random thousands of dungeon tiles and stuff I have accumulated to print.

or do you think people lean more towards just building things for neat encounters and not an entire dungeon or whatever, which i kinda find myself doing lately

I think I've sold around 100 random things off my Esty shop but I don't really want to be a shop that just adds 3000 random rear end terrain things and renders and prints them on demand, id rather make cool dungeon rooms or outdoor encounters and sell those.

I think so, yes. It would be convenient for the buyer to just get a "dungeon in a box." It wouldn't hurt to whip one up, list it, and see how fast it sells.

# ? Jan 27, 2023 19:07

The Eyes Have It: Feb 10, 2008; Third Eye Sees All
...snookums

I've been trying out some ideas of my own in that direction. I see the value in offering "sets", too.

# ? Jan 27, 2023 20:04

queeb: Jun 10, 2004; m

yeah its easy enough for anyone to just post random dungeon tiles, but having actual cool rooms and dungeon in a box style things would be neat. plus there is SO much cool stuff out there, openlock and dragonlock style that you can get real weird with it.

aether studios has an insane amount of dragonlock stuff, plus drivethrurpg has a massive amount of remixed dragonlock stuff too.

https://aether-studios.com/

# ? Jan 27, 2023 20:52

The Eyes Have It: Feb 10, 2008; Third Eye Sees All
...snookums

I kind of see two use cases: parts enough to create an entire dungeon layout, or enough parts to build ad-hoc "battle maps" as needed.

My own limited experience is that #2 is more actually useful gaming-wise, but I suspect people chasing #1 are the folks who are spending the $$$ :shrug:

# ? Jan 27, 2023 21:42

Scipiotik: Mar 2, 2004; "I would have won the race but for that."

The Eyes Have It posted:

I kind of see two use cases: parts enough to create an entire dungeon layout, or enough parts to build ad-hoc "battle maps" as needed.

My own limited experience is that #2 is more actually useful gaming-wise, but I suspect people chasing #1 are the folks who are spending the $$$

I'd definitely prefer 2, but I also probably won't be playing many WotC produced D&D adventures in the future. As I'm getting back into in person I really just want like interesting walls and scatter to put on my maps.

# ? Jan 27, 2023 21:46

queeb: Jun 10, 2004; m

yeah im actually leaning towards dropping some big money on the printable scenery licence, their stuff is insanely cool, huge catalogue, and is more like, fun stuff to place on your tabletop kinda deal.

licence is 4 grand tho lol

# ? Jan 27, 2023 22:08

w00tmonger: Mar 9, 2011; F-F-FRIDAY NIGHT MOTHERFUCKERS

queeb posted:

yeah im actually leaning towards dropping some big money on the printable scenery licence, their stuff is insanely cool, huge catalogue, and is more like, fun stuff to place on your tabletop kinda deal.

licence is 4 grand tho lol

That's nutty, I'd honestly hunt down. Some
$40 a month Patreon that happen a to make a few buildings and buy it some back-catalog. Or check out Kickstarter.

$4k goes a long way

# ? Jan 27, 2023 22:15

queeb: Jun 10, 2004; m

True, but their backlog is like, 6-700+ items as well, plus all their renders, painted pics, etc, which is nice. the licence gets you the entire catalogue to sell

edit: its 2 grand if you go region specific, so if i did US only

queeb fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Jan 27, 2023

# ? Jan 27, 2023 22:37

Class Warcraft: Apr 27, 2006

Spectre Miniatures on patreon is imploding right now. They're strung people along for a couple months now promising lots, but hardly delivering anything. Now they've suddenly announced they both lost the license for their titular ruleset (Spectre) and also they're shutting down their patreon in February. So far they haven't offered any refunds and their patreons are mutinying.

# ? Jan 30, 2023 03:08

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

queeb posted:

yeah im actually leaning towards dropping some big money on the printable scenery licence, their stuff is insanely cool, huge catalogue, and is more like, fun stuff to place on your tabletop kinda deal.

licence is 4 grand tho lol

poo poo for 4k, I�ll design stuff for you. That�s kind of ridiculous. Probably want to test the waters with a cheaper license.

# ? Jan 30, 2023 22:54

Lumpy: Apr 26, 2002; La! La! La! Laaaa!; College Slice

Expressing my thanks to this thread yet again for all the advise and help. After watching a couple Blender tutorials, I made some 40mm bases for Necromunda (heavily inspired by GWs) all by myself and printed them!

Only registered members can see post attachments!

# ? Feb 2, 2023 19:13

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Lumpy posted:

Expressing my thanks to this thread yet again for all the advise and help. After watching a couple Blender tutorials, I made some 40mm bases for Necromunda (heavily inspired by GWs) all by myself and printed them!

Sweet! They look good!

# ? Feb 3, 2023 01:33

Communist Thoughts: Jan 7, 2008; Our war against free speech cannot end until we silence this bronze beast!

got my custom white scars tabletop ready, aka WIP-but-onward-and-upward!

the bodies are the awesome Space Mongols from 3dcults but the heads were scratch sculpted by me in blender and are my first proper sculpts apart from some big cartoonier stuff i've been doing for my family

i don't actually have any primaris to compare to but here he is one compared to an oldass deathwatch guy. i find scale is the hardest thing in 3d printing. everyone wants to do Truescale aka Wrongscale and size is all over the place.

very chuffed with how these faces turned out, theyr not all bangers but a couple of them are

Lumpy posted:

Expressing my thanks to this thread yet again for all the advise and help. After watching a couple Blender tutorials, I made some 40mm bases for Necromunda (heavily inspired by GWs) all by myself and printed them!

hell yeah these look nice! i'll come crying to you if i ever make more GSC

# ? Feb 6, 2023 15:18

Lumpy: Apr 26, 2002; La! La! La! Laaaa!; College Slice

Communist Thoughts posted:

hell yeah these look nice! i'll come crying to you if i ever make more GSC

I'd be happy to help!

# ? Feb 6, 2023 16:03

Springfield Fatts: May 24, 2010; Pillbug

Cross posting from the hobby thread since it immediately got ignored for FDM chat.

Springfield Fatts posted:

I'm trying to calibrate my new Photon M3 and just wondering if anyone could spot a reason my my print times are taking twice what my estimated print times are.

I know they're not totally reliable, but my old Photon S was usually just 10 or 15% slower and this thing is talking almost twice as a long. An estimated 32 minute calibration print is taking a real time 57 minutes on the printer, it just seems wrong somehow.

# ? Feb 14, 2023 12:47

Class Warcraft: Apr 27, 2006

The estimated print time being wrong seems to be a universal resin printer thing. I've seen a bunch of theories why that is, but at any rate it's totally normal.

# ? Feb 14, 2023 15:58

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Class Warcraft posted:

The estimated print time being wrong seems to be a universal resin printer thing. I've seen a bunch of theories why that is, but at any rate it's totally normal.

Supposedly if you use Lychee and tell it how long it really took, it will be more accurate, but I ain't got time for that.

# ? Feb 14, 2023 16:02

Sockser: Jun 28, 2007; This world only remembers the results!

Light off delay seems to be the constant issue -- is it the total time that the screen is turned off between layers? Is that how long of a pause it takes after raising the build plate but before retracting it? Does the slicer control it? Does the printer automatically manage it?

This is completely different from printer to printer, and details from the manufacturers are usually sparse or incorrect. I did a ton of digging into it in the autumn and just came away with a headache and "gently caress it, it's twice what the estimate in lychee is"

# ? Feb 14, 2023 16:03

Mjolnerd: Jan 28, 2006; Smellrose

Sockser posted:

Light off delay seems to be the constant issue -- is it the total time that the screen is turned off between layers? Is that how long of a pause it takes after raising the build plate but before retracting it? Does the slicer control it? Does the printer automatically manage it?

This is completely different from printer to printer, and details from the manufacturers are usually sparse or incorrect. I did a ton of digging into it in the autumn and just came away with a headache and "gently caress it, it's twice what the estimate in lychee is"

photon mono 4k, and double lychee estimate is spot on.

# ? Feb 15, 2023 21:30

Springfield Fatts: May 24, 2010; Pillbug

So if I'm getting a lot of unfinished limbs and weak support connection points even after increasing the diameter of the tip could my last thing to try and alter be the plate speed?
It's currently at 65 mm/m lift, 185 retract. Too fast?

# ? Feb 18, 2023 15:22

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Springfield Fatts posted:

So if I'm getting a lot of unfinished limbs and weak support connection points even after increasing the diameter of the tip could my last thing to try and alter be the plate speed?
It's currently at 65 mm/m lift, 185 retract. Too fast?

No, sometimes faster is better. But before you do that, try adding more smaller sized supports to the trouble spots. Pancake limbs is mostly due to not having enough supports in my experience.

# ? Feb 18, 2023 15:30

queeb: Jun 10, 2004; m

Yeah, in lychee you can do fan supports easily by doing I think it's control alt click to make a support you can connect from one point to another, so do that from one point on the limb down to the main support, then control alt shift click makes it connect back to the same point, so you can just fire off a bunch more little supports that will connect to the same point in a fan.

# ? Feb 18, 2023 15:40

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# ? Jun 9, 2024 13:41

Electric Hobo: Oct 22, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Is Sunlu resin any good? It's pretty drat cheap, but I don't want to use it if it's bad.

# ? Feb 18, 2023 17:27

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