3D Resin Printing for Table Top Models - Adding Your Own Supports

So, you have a resin printer and you want to get started with making minis for your tabletop games, well luckily for you the internet is full of people who are making super high-quality 3D models for you to print and play with, unfortunately, unlike the example prints your device might have come with models on the internet tend to be un-supported. This means you have to give them some support before you print them. Let's get started!

The first step in this is finding software to help you, I am using Photon Workshop but CHITUBOX Free is a great option if you don't have a Photon printer. Once you have the software you can find something you want to print, I will be using a free demo from HeroForge.com but websites like thingiverse and MyMiniFactory are great places to find minis. You will want to make sure that the file types you are downloading are supported by your software, most models will be .stl or .obj but depending on the software you are using you may need to find an online converter. Photon Workshop only accepts .stl files so I use aspose to convert any .obj files I want to use. When you have the file you would like to use, open up your software of choice to a new empty project.

You will then want to open up whatever files you are what to print, normally they will pop in with either their back or base on the printing bed. Now it may seem like it would be easier to just print the model with the base flat on the print bed in the same way it is going to be orientated on a table, and I would recommend you try it to see what happens but if your model is holding anything or is too small you will implicitly see the problems. It is likely your print will fail or be warped. To fix this problem you should print your mini at a 45-degree angle. You should also make it so that the model's back is facing the ground, if your model doesn't have a "back" then you should orient it with what even the less detailed section towards the print bed. This is because the parts of the model facing the bed are the sections that the supports will attach to and it is much easier to remove from a less detailed section of the model. Then you should raise the entire model up by 5-6mm this allows your entire model to be supported while printing.

You may have seen photos of supported models and thought "wow, that looks like a lot of work" well luckily it's not because most slicer software will do it for you, in Photon workshop you select the right tap on the right side of your screen and then select "platform" this will create support rising from the print bed to your model. I recommend then using the "add" tool to add additional supports where ever parts of your model are placed above other parts of your model. You can see in my example the hand holding the torch is placed above the torso and so not supported when using the "platform" tool. Don't go too wild with the supports as you will have to remove them by hand later.

You can also customize the settings for this but unless your prints are failing you should just stick with the defaults. At this point, you should also make sure that you are printing with something called a "Raft". A raft is a layer of resin at the bottom of the print that affixes it to the print bed, which is super important in resin printing as the model is suspended upside down from the platform and without a strong connection between the bed and model whole print will fail.

Once you have supported your model you can export it and get it ready for printing. Before exposing any file you should double-check your print settings - you can see my print settings on the right of my screen. You can keep the default setting, use mine, or experiment to find out what works for you. I wish I could give better help on this front but things like what resin you are using, the printer you have, and even the temperature of the room your printer is in call all affect what settings you need to use. My one main hint is that if your prints are not sticking to the print bed try increasing your bottom (raft) exposure time.

Then click the slider button in the bottom left and save your file to a thumb drive. Make sure if you are using a photon that you save your files as ".pws".