FDM Support - User contributions [en]

FDM Miniatures FAQ

2025-07-24T02:37:12Z

Pawnstorm: Created page; what is an FDM printer?; can you print miniatures on one?

Brand new to printing Miniatures or to FDM printers? You’ve come to the right place!

* What is an FDM printer?
** FDM stands for Fused Deposition Modeling, which basically means that it is melting and precisely layering filament. The other option is a resin printer, which can produce models with much greater detail. Most people printing miniatures are using resin printers (and most miniatures are designed for resin printing), but for many people resin printing isn’t an option (for example they may not have an area that can handle the toxic fumes that resin printing generates or may already have an FDM printer and don’t want another printer).
* Can you even print miniatures on an FDM printer?
** Yes! However, it is important to have reasonable expectations. You will definitely be able to print proxy-quality miniatures and with a little work you will be able to print tabletop-quality miniatures. However, with the current state of technology you will not be able to print display-quality miniatures that you would enter in painting competitions.

Main Page

2025-07-24T02:24:23Z

Pawnstorm: /* Welcome to the wiki! */ added links to FAQ and glossary

== Welcome to the wiki! ==
This knowledge base is intended to provide support for 3D printing miniatures with FDM printers. This is a community contributed resource of information that will continue to be built and refined as more people provide their own recommendations and experiences. There are also many great resources elsewhere that this site will also link to and reference.

If you are brand new to 3D printing miniatures or to FDM printers, you may want to start with the following resources:
* [[FDM Miniatures FAQ]]
* [[FDM Miniatures Glossary]]

=== Guidelines ===
Due to the rapidly changing 3D printing ecosystem all advise here should be considered editorial based on personal experience and a starting point for anyone wanting to get started 3D printing miniatures with an FDM printer. Some content may be considered best practices and other content may represent advice that has risks and should be used with caution. At any time content on this site may be removed or revised. This site should be considered a family friendly site so things should be kept at a PG rating and questionable content will be removed.

=== FDM 3D Printing Basics ===
General printing guidance that should be considered first steps when getting started with FDM 3D printing or when troubleshooting printing issues.

==== Filaments ====
Recommended filaments, those to stay away from, and general filament maintenance guidelines.

==== Calibration ====
How to calibrate FDM printers & filaments.

==== Tools ====
General tool recommendations.

=== Printing Miniatures ===
Guides on printing miniatures on FDM printers.

==== Printing Tips & Guides ====
General printing tips and guides for printing miniatures via FDM.

===== Model Orientation =====
One of the first decisions you make when preparing a model for printing is what the orientation will be. It may be tempting to orient it vertically, with its feet on the ground, but this will often have suboptimal results. Instead, you will generally orient the model so that it is leaned back. This allows you to take advantage of the greater detail on the Z axis and to have supports on the back of the model, so any support scarring is less noticeable (all supports leave at least a little scarring).

Other considerations are to minimize the amount of supports needed, to minimize the appearance of layer lines, and to align the layers for stronger parts.

If you are unsure of how you should orient your model and it came with a pre-supported file, you can check that file for the orientation. Note that pre-supported files are generally not suitable for FDM printers since the supports are designed for resin printing.

===== Supports =====
How you support your model is a major factor for how well your print will turn out. FDM printers cannot print directly onto thin air, so anything with enough of an overhang will need supports. Below you will find some supports settings that you can use:
* [[timnolte supports v5]] (current)
* [[timnolte supports v4]]

Common questions:
* What about the Resin2FDM tool?
** The Resin2FDM tool is a plugin for Blender that allows you to convert resin supports (on pre-supported files) so that they work with FDM printers. However, our experience has been that well-tuned tree supports (see the links above) provide better results with faster print times. This is because resin printing has different support requirements than FDM printers. Since the tool works by thickening the supports so that the FDM slicer can pick them up, you will need to cut most of them to free the model, which creates additional scarring, and with the density of supports generated, it is easy to accidentally cut part of the model.
* How does this differ from the Fat Dragon Games (FDG) support settings?
** Since FDG only does support-free models their settings do not have optimized settings for supports.

===== Bases =====

===== Cooling Towers =====
When printing models with thin sections at the top (think a model with a sword held vertically above their head), a layer of filament may not have time to cool before another layer is added. This can result in the the print head pulling the previous layer out of alignment. The easiest solution to this is a cooling tower. In essence, a cooling tower is a sacrificial object that forces the print head to do something else long enough for the layer to cool. The general process is:

# In your slicer, add a generic box object (often you can do this by right clicking and selecting “add object” or something similar from the context menu).
# Resize the box so that its X and Y dimensions are 5mm, and so that it is the same height as your model. A quick way to set the height is to move it so that it overlaps the model and resize the height until the top of the model no longer pokes through.
# Set the infill for the box to 0%. Make sure that you are only adjusting the infill for the box, not the model. This is often done by right clicking on the box and selecting “infill” from the context menu.
# Set the walls and top and bottom perimeters to 1 loop/layer. Again, make sure that you are adjusting only the settings for the box, not the model. This is often done by choosing the walls/perimeters option from the context menu for the box.

Note that if you are printing multiple models and using the “print by object” setting in your slicer, you will need to create and join a cooling tower for each model so that the cooling tower doesn’t print totally separately (which would defeat the purpose). However, if you are not using “print by object”, the additional models may act as cooling towers (though the chances of print failure go up).

It may seem that this is a waste of filament and time, but in reality it uses very little filament (due to being the thinnest possible shell with no infill) and adds a negligible amount of time to the print.

===== Printing Multiple Models =====
It may be tempting to fill a print sheet with models, but this has the major drawback that if one model fails, it will almost always ruin the rest of the sheet. Since FDM printing tends to be slow, this can mean that you have a 10+ hour print fail at 90% completion.

A much better approach is to use the “print by object” setting in your slicer. This setting allows the slicer to calculate where to position the models on the sheet so that it can print one, then move and print another, and so on. Since it has to leave sufficient room for the print head, this will greatly reduce the capacity of a print sheet, but the benefit is that if one model has a failure, it won’t impact the previously printed models (and maybe not ever the subsequent models).

==== Model Creators ====

===== FDM Miniatures =====
Recommended model creators specifically designed for FDM printing, and any tips for printing their models.

* [[Printing Miniatures/Creators/FDM/Arbiter Miniatures|Arbiter Miniatures]]

===== Non-FDM Miniatures =====
Model creators that are not specifically designed for FDM printing, and any tips for attempting to print their models.

* [[Printing Miniatures/Creators/non-FDM/One Page Rules|One Page Rules]]

=== Printing Terrain ===
Guides on printing terrain on FDM printers.

=== Printer Model Tips ===
General guidelines and tips for specific FDM printers.

=== Model Prints Galleries ===
A gallery of prints done on FDM printers.

* [[Galleries/Miniatures|Miniatures]]
* [[Galleries/Terrain|Terrain]]

Main Page

2025-07-24T02:21:58Z

Pawnstorm: /* Printing Tips & Guides */ added sections on cooling towers and “print by object”

== Welcome to the wiki! ==
This knowledge base is intended to provide support for 3D printing miniatures with FDM printers. This is a community contributed resource of information that will continue to be built and refined as more people provide their own recommendations and experiences. There are also many great resources elsewhere that this site will also link to and reference.

=== Guidelines ===
Due to the rapidly changing 3D printing ecosystem all advise here should be considered editorial based on personal experience and a starting point for anyone wanting to get started 3D printing miniatures with an FDM printer. Some content may be considered best practices and other content may represent advice that has risks and should be used with caution. At any time content on this site may be removed or revised. This site should be considered a family friendly site so things should be kept at a PG rating and questionable content will be removed.

=== FDM 3D Printing Basics ===
General printing guidance that should be considered first steps when getting started with FDM 3D printing or when troubleshooting printing issues.

==== Filaments ====
Recommended filaments, those to stay away from, and general filament maintenance guidelines.

==== Calibration ====
How to calibrate FDM printers & filaments.

==== Tools ====
General tool recommendations.

=== Printing Miniatures ===
Guides on printing miniatures on FDM printers.

==== Printing Tips & Guides ====
General printing tips and guides for printing miniatures via FDM.

===== Model Orientation =====
One of the first decisions you make when preparing a model for printing is what the orientation will be. It may be tempting to orient it vertically, with its feet on the ground, but this will often have suboptimal results. Instead, you will generally orient the model so that it is leaned back. This allows you to take advantage of the greater detail on the Z axis and to have supports on the back of the model, so any support scarring is less noticeable (all supports leave at least a little scarring).

Other considerations are to minimize the amount of supports needed, to minimize the appearance of layer lines, and to align the layers for stronger parts.

If you are unsure of how you should orient your model and it came with a pre-supported file, you can check that file for the orientation. Note that pre-supported files are generally not suitable for FDM printers since the supports are designed for resin printing.

===== Supports =====
How you support your model is a major factor for how well your print will turn out. FDM printers cannot print directly onto thin air, so anything with enough of an overhang will need supports. Below you will find some supports settings that you can use:
* [[timnolte supports v5]] (current)
* [[timnolte supports v4]]

Common questions:
* What about the Resin2FDM tool?
** The Resin2FDM tool is a plugin for Blender that allows you to convert resin supports (on pre-supported files) so that they work with FDM printers. However, our experience has been that well-tuned tree supports (see the links above) provide better results with faster print times. This is because resin printing has different support requirements than FDM printers. Since the tool works by thickening the supports so that the FDM slicer can pick them up, you will need to cut most of them to free the model, which creates additional scarring, and with the density of supports generated, it is easy to accidentally cut part of the model.
* How does this differ from the Fat Dragon Games (FDG) support settings?
** Since FDG only does support-free models their settings do not have optimized settings for supports.

===== Bases =====

===== Cooling Towers =====
When printing models with thin sections at the top (think a model with a sword held vertically above their head), a layer of filament may not have time to cool before another layer is added. This can result in the the print head pulling the previous layer out of alignment. The easiest solution to this is a cooling tower. In essence, a cooling tower is a sacrificial object that forces the print head to do something else long enough for the layer to cool. The general process is:

# In your slicer, add a generic box object (often you can do this by right clicking and selecting “add object” or something similar from the context menu).
# Resize the box so that its X and Y dimensions are 5mm, and so that it is the same height as your model. A quick way to set the height is to move it so that it overlaps the model and resize the height until the top of the model no longer pokes through.
# Set the infill for the box to 0%. Make sure that you are only adjusting the infill for the box, not the model. This is often done by right clicking on the box and selecting “infill” from the context menu.
# Set the walls and top and bottom perimeters to 1 loop/layer. Again, make sure that you are adjusting only the settings for the box, not the model. This is often done by choosing the walls/perimeters option from the context menu for the box.

Note that if you are printing multiple models and using the “print by object” setting in your slicer, you will need to create and join a cooling tower for each model so that the cooling tower doesn’t print totally separately (which would defeat the purpose). However, if you are not using “print by object”, the additional models may act as cooling towers (though the chances of print failure go up).

It may seem that this is a waste of filament and time, but in reality it uses very little filament (due to being the thinnest possible shell with no infill) and adds a negligible amount of time to the print.

===== Printing Multiple Models =====
It may be tempting to fill a print sheet with models, but this has the major drawback that if one model fails, it will almost always ruin the rest of the sheet. Since FDM printing tends to be slow, this can mean that you have a 10+ hour print fail at 90% completion.

A much better approach is to use the “print by object” setting in your slicer. This setting allows the slicer to calculate where to position the models on the sheet so that it can print one, then move and print another, and so on. Since it has to leave sufficient room for the print head, this will greatly reduce the capacity of a print sheet, but the benefit is that if one model has a failure, it won’t impact the previously printed models (and maybe not ever the subsequent models).

==== Model Creators ====

===== FDM Miniatures =====
Recommended model creators specifically designed for FDM printing, and any tips for printing their models.

* [[Printing Miniatures/Creators/FDM/Arbiter Miniatures|Arbiter Miniatures]]

===== Non-FDM Miniatures =====
Model creators that are not specifically designed for FDM printing, and any tips for attempting to print their models.

* [[Printing Miniatures/Creators/non-FDM/One Page Rules|One Page Rules]]

=== Printing Terrain ===
Guides on printing terrain on FDM printers.

=== Printer Model Tips ===
General guidelines and tips for specific FDM printers.

=== Model Prints Galleries ===
A gallery of prints done on FDM printers.

* [[Galleries/Miniatures|Miniatures]]
* [[Galleries/Terrain|Terrain]]

Printing Miniatures/Printing Tips & Guides/Timnolte supports v5

2025-07-24T01:50:26Z

Pawnstorm: Removed “???” From updates.

These settings assume that you are using Orcaslicer, which is the recommended slicer for printing miniatures. However since many slicers are forks of one another, you will likely be able to find the same or similar settings in the slicer of your choice.

Changes from previous version:

* removed raft

If you use these supports and find something that works better, please add something to the notes for the setting in question or to the discussion page.

== Settings ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Support
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Enable Support
|yes
|checkbox
|
|-
|Type
|Tree (auto)
|dropdown
|
|-
|Style
|Organic
|dropdown
|
|-
|Threshold Angle
|25
|direct entry
|
|-
|Threshold Overlap
|50%
|mm or %
|
|-
|First Layer Density
|90%
|direct entry
|
|-
|First Layer Expansion
|6
|mm
|determines how big of a “brim” each support will have. Can be adjusted based on your printbed adhesion.
|-
|On Build Plate Only
|yes
|checkbox
|
|-
|Remove Small Overhangs
|yes
|checkbox
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Raft
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Raft Layers
|0
|direct entry
|Set this to a value greater than 0 to enable raft
|-
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Filament for Supports
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Support/Raft Base
|Default
|dropdown
|
|-
|Support/Raft Inteface
|Default
|dropdown
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Advanced
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Top Z Distance
|0.2
|mm
|
|-
|Bottom Z Distance
|0.2
|mm
|
|-
|Support Wall Loops
|2
|direct entry
|
|-
|Base Pattern
|Hollow
|dropdown
|
|-
|Base Pattern Spacing
|2.5
|mm
|
|-
|Pattern Angle
|0
|direct entry (degrees)
|
|-
|Top Interface Layers
|3
|dropdown / direct entry
|
|-
|Bottom Interface Layers
|2
|dropdown / direct entry
|
|-
|Interface Pattern
|Concentric
|dropdown
|
|-
|Top Interface Spacing
|0.25
|mm
|
|-
|Bottom Interface Spacing
|0.5
|mm
|
|-
|Normal Support Expansion
|0
|mm
|
|-
|Support/Object XY Distance
|0.25
|mm
|
|-
|Support/Object First Layer Gap
|0.2
|mm
|
|-
|Don’t Support Bridges
|No
|checkbox
|
|-
|Independent Support Layer Height
|Yes
|checkbox
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Tree Supports
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Tip Diameter
|1
|mm
|
|-
|Tree Support Branch Distance
|1
|mm
|
|-
|Branch Density
|25
|%
|
|-
|Tree Support Branch Diameter
|1
|mm
|
|-
|Branch Diameter Angle
|2
|degrees
|
|-
|Tree Support Branch Angle
|40
|degrees
|
|-
|Preferred Branch Angle
|45
|degrees
|
|}

Main Page

2025-07-22T03:23:26Z

Pawnstorm: /* Model Orientation */

Main Page

2025-07-22T03:21:00Z

Pawnstorm: /* Model Orientation */

Printing Miniatures/Printing Tips & Guides/Timnolte supports v5

2025-07-22T03:15:49Z

Pawnstorm:

These settings assume that you are using Orcaslicer, which is the recommended slicer for printing miniatures. However since many slicers are forks of one another, you will likely be able to find the same or similar settings in the slicer of your choice.

Changes from previous version:

* removed raft
* ???

If you use these supports and find something that works better, please add something to the notes for the setting in question or to the discussion page.

== Settings ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Support
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Enable Support
|yes
|checkbox
|
|-
|Type
|Tree (auto)
|dropdown
|
|-
|Style
|Organic
|dropdown
|
|-
|Threshold Angle
|25
|direct entry
|
|-
|Threshold Overlap
|50%
|mm or %
|
|-
|First Layer Density
|90%
|direct entry
|
|-
|First Layer Expansion
|6
|mm
|determines how big of a “brim” each support will have. Can be adjusted based on your printbed adhesion.
|-
|On Build Plate Only
|yes
|checkbox
|
|-
|Remove Small Overhangs
|yes
|checkbox
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Raft
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Raft Layers
|0
|direct entry
|Set this to a value greater than 0 to enable raft
|-
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Filament for Supports
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Support/Raft Base
|Default
|dropdown
|
|-
|Support/Raft Inteface
|Default
|dropdown
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Advanced
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Top Z Distance
|0.2
|mm
|
|-
|Bottom Z Distance
|0.2
|mm
|
|-
|Support Wall Loops
|2
|direct entry
|
|-
|Base Pattern
|Hollow
|dropdown
|
|-
|Base Pattern Spacing
|2.5
|mm
|
|-
|Pattern Angle
|0
|direct entry (degrees)
|
|-
|Top Interface Layers
|3
|dropdown / direct entry
|
|-
|Bottom Interface Layers
|2
|dropdown / direct entry
|
|-
|Interface Pattern
|Concentric
|dropdown
|
|-
|Top Interface Spacing
|0.25
|mm
|
|-
|Bottom Interface Spacing
|0.5
|mm
|
|-
|Normal Support Expansion
|0
|mm
|
|-
|Support/Object XY Distance
|0.25
|mm
|
|-
|Support/Object First Layer Gap
|0.2
|mm
|
|-
|Don’t Support Bridges
|No
|checkbox
|
|-
|Independent Support Layer Height
|Yes
|checkbox
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Tree Supports
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Tip Diameter
|1
|mm
|
|-
|Tree Support Branch Distance
|1
|mm
|
|-
|Branch Density
|25
|%
|
|-
|Tree Support Branch Diameter
|1
|mm
|
|-
|Branch Diameter Angle
|2
|degrees
|
|-
|Tree Support Branch Angle
|40
|degrees
|
|-
|Preferred Branch Angle
|45
|degrees
|
|}

Printing Miniatures/Printing Tips & Guides/Timnolte supports v5

2025-07-22T03:12:04Z

Pawnstorm: Created page

These settings assume that you are using Orcaslicer, which is the recommended slicer for printing miniatures. However since many slicers are forks of one another, you will likely be able to find the same or similar settings in the slicer of your choice.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Support
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Enable Support
|yes
|checkbox
|
|-
|Type
|Tree (auto)
|dropdown
|
|-
|Style
|Organic
|dropdown
|
|-
|Threshold Angle
|25
|direct entry
|
|-
|Threshold Overlap
|50%
|mm or %
|
|-
|First Layer Density
|90%
|direct entry
|
|-
|First Layer Expansion
|6
|mm
|determines how big of a “brim” each support will have. Can be adjusted based on your printbed adhesion.
|-
|On Build Plate Only
|yes
|checkbox
|
|-
|Remove Small Overhangs
|yes
|checkbox
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Raft
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Raft Layers
|0
|direct entry
|Set this to a value greater than 0 to enable raft
|-
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Filament for Supports
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Support/Raft Base
|Default
|dropdown
|
|-
|Support/Raft Inteface
|Default
|dropdown
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Advanced
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Top Z Distance
|0.2
|mm
|
|-
|Bottom Z Distance
|0.2
|mm
|
|-
|Support Wall Loops
|2
|direct entry
|
|-
|Base Pattern
|Hollow
|dropdown
|
|-
|Base Pattern Spacing
|2.5
|mm
|
|-
|Pattern Angle
|0
|direct entry (degrees)
|
|-
|Top Interface Layers
|3
|dropdown / direct entry
|
|-
|Bottom Interface Layers
|2
|dropdown / direct entry
|
|-
|Interface Pattern
|Concentric
|dropdown
|
|-
|Top Interface Spacing
|0.25
|mm
|
|-
|Bottom Interface Spacing
|0.5
|mm
|
|-
|Normal Support Expansion
|0
|mm
|
|-
|Support/Object XY Distance
|0.25
|mm
|
|-
|Support/Object First Layer Gap
|0.2
|mm
|
|-
|Don’t Support Bridges
|No
|checkbox
|
|-
|Independent Support Layer Height
|Yes
|checkbox
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Tree Supports
!Setting Name
!Setting Value
!Setting Type
!Notes
|-
|Tip Diameter
|1
|mm
|
|-
|Tree Support Branch Distance
|1
|mm
|
|-
|Branch Density
|25
|%
|
|-
|Tree Support Branch Diameter
|1
|mm
|
|-
|Branch Diameter Angle
|2
|degrees
|
|-
|Tree Support Branch Angle
|40
|degrees
|
|-
|Preferred Branch Angle
|45
|degrees
|
|}

Main Page

2025-07-22T02:48:42Z

Pawnstorm: /* Printing Tips & Guides */ update to flesh out sections, create links to supports settings