Quote from: GeekyBugle on September 13, 2021, 07:55:17 PMNot to mention the space to keep all the 3D stuff.

If you get the proper modular tiles (tiles separate from walls), it doesn't actually take up all that much space. And since its hard plastic, you can just shove em in a tuppaware box or a large scale tuppaware box from Home Depo.

Printable Scenery has some really nice 3d printable buildings. You want to use an good sized FDM printer. Don't waste money on a giant SLA for terrain stuff. MDF slinging ABS is usually fine. Ender 3 clone should be a good start. When you get that all figured out a CR-10 clone is usually big enough for most people.

Save SLA for characters and statues and such.

If you go with Dwarven Forge, I'd recommend painted over unpainted. Unpainted is cheaper, but given the time it would take me to paint them I found the cost difference to be well worth it.

Though a few years back I switched from DF to 3D printed terrain. For the size of the layouts I wanted to do, it was far cheaper to print my terrain rather than buy DF (and that includes the cost of the printer - but I print a lot of terrain).

Here's a few examples:


A small dungeon with Dragonlock (Fat Dragon) tiles


Close up of a modular hex-tile set up I put together (the trees and flocking are obviously not printed; they're Woodland Scenics)


The building and bridge/stairs are printed, the other stuff is pre-made from various other companies.

3D printing miniatures & terrain often makes a lot more sense with a resin printer; you can print a whole tray-full of minis in the time it would take to print a single mini with the same printer (just a few hours), and at much higher quality than FDM (the heated nozzle printers). These days, you can get jewelry-grade resin printers for ~$200.

The learning curve for operating a printer is high enough that it won't be worth it for many people, but if you've learned your way around Photoshop or Adobe Premiere or a similarly-technical software (and you wouldn't mind learning something new), 3D printing is definitely something to look into.

This video provides a good overview of what the whole process looks like, including a realistic presentation of pros/cons. After watching, you'll probably know for sure whether you'd love or hate printing (I love it).

Quote from: tenbones on September 13, 2021, 06:54:15 PMMy thoughts are if I were using Dwarven Forge set-pieces - my players would naturally start doing *more* within the constraints of the battlefield, and it would be more dynamic (and immersive).

I own a ton of Dwarven Forge and used it back in my 3e days. However, I did have one huge problem; the squares on my original Master Maze sets were 25mm and not 1". The difference is just enough that the Dwarven Forge pieces didn't quite fit with pieces that used 1" square and miniatures on a 1" base didn't fit in the squares.

From their webpage, it seems that they switched over to 1" squares but I'm not sure when this happened or if all their sets are this way now.

[EDIT] One other thing ... from my experience the walls on the tiles aren't really necessary and are more of a hindrance to play. Just having floor tiles laid out works a bit better and looks almost as good.

Quote from: hedgehobbit on September 14, 2021, 08:00:59 AM
[EDIT] One other thing ... from my experience the walls on the tiles aren't really necessary and are more of a hindrance to play. Just having floor tiles laid out works a bit better and looks almost as good.

Absolutely. They look great, but walls really do get in the way. My cavern tiles I make have short ones that aren't too intrusive, but my dungeon tiles don't use walls at all:

Quote from: Mithgarthr on September 14, 2021, 09:09:13 AM

Are those the old Heroquest skeletons?

Quote from: hedgehobbit on September 14, 2021, 09:19:47 AM
Are those the old Heroquest skeletons?

You're goddamn right they are.  That ogre with the yellow shirt is from HQ, also (Against the Ogre Horde).

Quote from: Oddend on September 13, 2021, 11:19:51 PM
3D printing miniatures & terrain often makes a lot more sense with a resin printer; you can print a whole tray-full of minis in the time it would take to print a single mini with the same printer (just a few hours), and at much higher quality than FDM (the heated nozzle printers). These days, you can get jewelry-grade resin printers for ~$200.

Maybe worth going resin for miniatures - but definitely not for terrain. The printer itself may even cost less than a higher-end FDM printer, but that ignores the extra process involved such as needing UV lights and cleaning up the minis with an alcohol vat etc.

And more importantly for something bulky like terrain - the resin itself is WAY more expensive than FDM printing something like PLA. For miniatures the slight upgrade in quality may be worthwhile (though with my *meh* painting skill - probably not for me personally) but definitely not for terrain. (Note: I don't have a 3d printer - but I've been on a binge of youtube videos about it recently and it may be my next big Christmas gift to me - maybe in a year or three when my kid is old enough to justify it by making little toys for him.)

Quote from: Oddend on September 13, 2021, 11:19:51 PM
3D printing miniatures & terrain often makes a lot more sense with a resin printer; you can print a whole tray-full of minis in the time it would take to print a single mini with the same printer (just a few hours), and at much higher quality than FDM (the heated nozzle printers). These days, you can get jewelry-grade resin printers for ~$200.

The learning curve for operating a printer is high enough that it won't be worth it for many people, but if you've learned your way around Photoshop or Adobe Premiere or a similarly-technical software (and you wouldn't mind learning something new), 3D printing is definitely something to look into.

Both you and Kanyenya make some strong cases for me to seriously consider 3d printing. I'm a "technical" guy by trade, I love learning new stuff if it is of interest - and 3d printing has been of interest to me for a long time and I've avoided it because I'm leery of how much it would swallow up my small amounts of free time. Grrr... you guys are making this hard for me in a good way.

@Kanyenya - love those setpieces you printed. Is that building modular? I assume you can pull off the roof and do stuff inside it right? Man that looks awesome.

Dragonlock - I've watched some reviews about it, and they say it's very good but it's comparatively brittle. A couple of reviewers have said the wall pieces separate (i.e. break) from the floor tiles very easily. I'm not sure when those videos were made and if the quality has gone up.

I can very easily see myself getting into 3d printing (for a variety of other reasons - I considered getting a 3d printer a year or so ago to supplement my firearms hobby), so it'll likely happen at some point... but now? HMMmmmm the gravity is pulling at me.

what's the quality like for 3d printed figures?

Edit: you bastards are pulling me into a new hobby... must... resist...

Quote from: Charon's Little Helper on September 14, 2021, 09:49:00 AM
Maybe worth going resin for miniatures - but definitely not for terrain. The printer itself may even cost less than a higher-end FDM printer, but that ignores the extra process involved such as needing UV lights and cleaning up the minis with an alcohol vat etc.

And more importantly for something bulky like terrain - the resin itself is WAY more expensive than FDM printing something like PLA. For miniatures the slight upgrade in quality may be worthwhile (though with my *meh* painting skill - probably not for me personally) but definitely not for terrain. (Note: I don't have a 3d printer - but I've been on a binge of youtube videos about it recently and it may be my next big Christmas gift to me - maybe in a year or three when my kid is old enough to justify it by making little toys for him.)

Agree that you want FDM for terrain, but for minis there's much more than a "slight upgrade" in quality with resin. For minis that are designed for FDM (like from Fat Dragon), if your printer is really dialed in you can get quality that is close enough to resin. But those figs tend to be stout/bulky by necessity. For something more akin to what you'd buy from Reaper or Darksword, resin is the way to go. The minis below were printed in resin; I can't see someone getting anywhere near that quality with FDM:





That said, there's a lot more hassle with resin - managing the fumes from printing, the washing/curing, the toxicity of uncured resin, support removal, etc.

Quote from: tenbones on September 14, 2021, 10:00:48 AM
what's the quality like for 3d printed figures?

Edit: you bastards are pulling me into a new hobby... must... resist...

Depends upon the printer and if it's FDM or resin. Comparison video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBYs7ArHPKQ&ab_channel=UncleJessy

Resin will be better - but whether it's ENOUGH better likely depends how finicky you are - and how good of a painter.

Note: This video is with the cheapo FDM printer - others have somewhat better quality. I know that I'm eyeing the Prusa mini - which has about x2 the base price but has a rep for quality and not needing the tweaking that other FDM printers do.

Quote from: Kanyenya on September 14, 2021, 10:10:07 AM
That said, there's a lot more hassle with resin - managing the fumes from printing, the washing/curing, the toxicity of uncured resin, support removal, etc.

That part of it is why if I ever pull the trigger I'll stick with FDM. Plus - I'd expect to use it more for terrain than anything else anyway - which resin is a bad value for.

As a Prusa MK 3 Guy - 3D printing of any kind requires dedication, time and space....And some level of money.

Id say go FDM for minis unless you want something like a Wargame minis quality.