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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:

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.

Hardware

0.2mm~ nozzle, you need this if your not a god of printing and want detail.

(Optional) A cool plate for your printer. It will save you filament as you won't need brims or as big brims and can avoid failures due to supports breaking. I'd get this and never look back.

Filaments

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

eSUN PLA+
- Uses: Miniatures
- Pros: Manages small crisp details, has good walls.
- Cons: Must be dried(but can still struggle with light stringing), struggles with some small overhangs.
Elegoo PLA+ (or DeePlee which is a sub-brand of Elegoo)
- Uses: Miniatures & Terrain
- Pros: Works well on overhangs, has good walls, less stringing issues when damp.
- Cons: Small details not as sharp, slower speeds required.
Sunlu PLA+ 2.0 (or Jayo which is a sub-brand of Sunlu)
- Uses: Miniatures
- Pros: Works well on overhangs, has good walls, less stringing issues when damp.
- Cons: Can be a struggle to calibrate.

Calibration

Calibrate any major change. Different Nozzle? Calibrate. New filament? Calibrate. Same goes for any major settings changes, if you double the speed, or change layer height/line width calibrate again. It will save you pain later.

You should run a Temp Tower, Flow Rate, and Pressure Advance calibration in that order. You will want to use the range of temperatures that are printed on the spool/box for the filament. **NOTE:** **_Be certain to start a new project after each calibration before changing settings_**

OrcaSlicer
- Calibrations built-in under the "Calibration" menu.
- Video Walkthrough
PrusaSlicer
- Official Prusa Calibration Guide
Bambu Studio
Manual - https://www.instructables.com/Perfect-Prints-the-Ultimate-Guide-to-Filament-Cali/

After completing your calibrations run the test print, "All-In-One-Less.stl" and review how things have printed. https://www.printables.com/model/1293946-micro-all-in-one-3d-printer-test

Manual Temperature Tower

Temp Tower STL

Download a temp tower model and slice it (see above). In the Slicer Preview, drag the slider to the start layer of the temp you want it at and right click the little + sign then "Add custom g-code". Use M104 SXXX (where XXX is the desired temp) is what you want to type at the beginning of each different temperature. Then slice again and print the plate.