I stopped FDM printing around 2 years ago and only did Resin printing but now after getting my Bambu Lab printer, I am back doing FDM. Thing have change a lot in the last number of years and much cheaper and easier. Thanks for awesome video. Need to get a 0.20 Nozzel.
You can just change the line width with the 0.4mm nozzle. Believe it or not you can undersize it and get 0.25mm line width for the outer layer and quality comes out really good. Plus you get the benefit of thicker inside layers for strength.
@@dudea3378 I tried this. Even without adjusting the line width, the CURA slicer can fill in details smaller than the nozzle. My favorite test is printing a 0.4 module gear. The result was quite good, but it is much better if I do it with a 0.2 mm nozzle. Another reason is that, based on my experience, the quality of the layers is better if I use a layer thickness of 1/3-1/4 of the nozzle diameter.
Fantastic well put together detailed video that covered the information perfectly. My daughter has a P1s combo and asked for a 0.2 nozzle for Christmas and I am kind of an “over researcher” however your video is helpful to the point I have all the information I need in one video. She prints those Wonder Woman sized figures. Thanks for a fantastic video. New sub.
Yeah, resin is a cool looking technology and all. I enjoy watching resin printing content. But in the real world when you have to deal with toxic chemicals, respirators, gloves, spills and hazardous waste it's a deal breaker for me. I'll stick to FDM, the detail is plenty good enough for me.
I will use my Saturn 3 for all the precious stuff, but as soon as my Bambu arrives i will print most things with FDM. As you said, its not fun to print with resin, even if the results are godlike. And for me the best thing about fdm is: You see if the first layer fails or not. With Resin i always have to wait until he is far enough out of the tank, in that time he already baked a nice layer of resin on the FPE for me to scrape off.
See with resin people are aware it’s “hazardous” so they take precautions with FDM people are unaware and don’t. FDM still emit VOCs and particulates. The air from a FDM printer should be filtered and you should still wear a respirator. I’d rather people be careful with something because they think it’s hazardous than be flippant with something they don’t that is still hazardous because they don’t think it is.
@@MaheerKibria that‘s just misinformation, if you are talking about bpa. Yes, there are fumes, and i personally wouldn’t sleep in a room with a printing printer. But our company tested the latest printers we use for rapid prototyping, and Voc (as particles) were well below our expectations. Every one of our work halls where people grind, weld and do other stuff has way worse air quality, even with active airflow. Adding there are amateur printers like the x1 carbon, that additionally reduces air pollution. ABS and stuff is a whole other story, but an fdm with bpa is just on another level compared to a resin printer if you are talking about exposure to toxic materials and such..
@@MaheerKibria You can see that people tend to mod their printers with filtered ventilators more and more (also, a lot of enclosed printer already come with filters), and even use respirators at least when using ABS or ASA. What I actually worry about is that I tend to see a lot of prints that will have contact with food, without thinking about bacteria settling in between layers
When comparing the resin and the FDM I'd love to see a really quick spray primer lightly coated on it to see how those lines might potentially show. Seeing how the washes and colour hold on would be awesome, but just a simple black and fake lighting spray job would absolutely do the trick (takes less time too)
I want to also mention that the matte style bambu pla (PLA Matte vs the PLA Basic you are using in your video) really hides layer lines, and they have some really lovely earth tone matte colors that would work super well in a TTRPG setting. I use the matte filaments with big nozzles to print functional parts like shop dividers and shelf brackets and such, and the big layers on those are masked by the matte filament. I bet the results on a mini printed at 0.2 with a matte filament would be amazing (and eliminate that "plastic sheen" you mention).
Dude, the algorithm has been kind to me lately. I've had a few of your videos suggested to me and I am super impressed by your style. You appear to be an actual human being and it's not a question as to whether or not I'm actually just watching a commercial. It's hard not to identify resin once you're familiar with it. It has a very unique translucent quality, and right angles are very sharp. But FDM just kinda feels "warm". Like playing Nintendo on a high quality CRT versus running an emulator to an HD monitor. Sometimes the "inferior" option just feels nicer. Plus it has some tooth for paint adhesion. I just got a Bambu printer and it looks like I'm headed back to Micro Center for nozzles.
I think an ultimate comparison test for minis is to paint them and then have a look. Undercoats, and some contrast paints for a typical quick paint scenario.
I think it would be the opposite, drybrushing is one of the last things you should do to fdm printed minis (unless you spend a lot of time sanding it and allat i guess) Edit: the reason being drybrushing uses the mini's texture to its advantage instead of using painting skill, im not being an elitist, but fdm minis tend to be more textured, and it doesnt help at all with drybrushing
@@doodoo2065 and I agree with you for painting the model, but for highlighting the quality of the print, wouldn’t the texture aspect of the dry brush highlight the imperfections? I felt the point of the video was to show the quality of the prints
@@bretroberts5695 oh yeah yeah, thats what i meant Drybrushing isnt a technique you want to use with fdm minis unless you spend some time sanding them first
Just got my A1 combo a week ago. I started printing a Wicked model on it and so far at 0.08 layer height on a 0.4mm nozzle i'm impressed. After printing on Ender 3 Pro for a couple years its such a difference. Seeing this printed on 0.2mm nozzle is insane. The detail and quality of that Wonder Woman is honestly insane. I really want to try on an 0.2mm nozzle now. Great video!
Thanks for doing a follow up video. Really interesting to see the side by side comparisons. The nice thing to see is that for those of us who only have an FDM machine and only want to print the occasional miniature or figurine it might be a much better (and cheaper) option to get a 0.2mm nozzle instead of forking out the cash for a resin printer. That Wonder Woman figure is amazing...
I don’t have a 3d printing channel but I watch a lot and you’ve been coming up in my recommended. Keep up the good work! Also a suggestion is to add more b-roll in the videos
8:02 Yes I can see that the layer lines on the shield are very visible. There's also some stringing and fuzzy edges and as someone that gets close to his miniatures during painting it would bother me and require more work before painting but resign prints aren't preparation free either.
Thanks for taking the time at the start to explain how to swap the nozzles too and the things to change in Bambu Studio. I’ve ordered a 0.2mm now and look forward to trying it out. Really seems like a no brainer for £10
Thanks for doing this video! I was about to buy a .2 mm nozzle and didn't know how quality would look. You did the work for me! I have a resin printer and an A1, so I don't mind not going to .2 mm in FDM and just print it on resin printer.
Just got an A1 for printing miniatures and terrain. I picked up a 0.2 nozzle with it but haven't tried it yet. This was a great video and I can't wait to check out your other videos! Cheers!
I've used other printers with 0.2mm nozzles with varying results. The Bambu A1 Mini is the first printer that just works well, every time, with this small a nozzle. It's great for HO scale stuff, although figures in HO scale is pushing my luck :-) Nicely done video, thanks for the very good comparisons. Now that they are shipping again an A1 is in the cards.
Getting ready to set up the A1 Combo, my first 3D printer. I ordered the 0.2 nozzle with it, expecting I would want to do some detail work. Thank you for confirming my decision, and showing what can be done with that fine nozzle!
Thanks for the video! I have already purchased the 0.2 hotend, but this is a nice confirmation and when I visit friends in the UK next month, I know I can gift them some nice minis.
Thank you for the excellent side by side comparisons. You answered pretty much all the questions I had about what nozzle I want to use for different prints.
Just got a Bambu A1 about a week ago and I’ve been printing primarily terrain so far, but this was really helpful. Didn’t plan on being able to print minis, but I am really impressed with how those turned out, and a test print I did yielded results I was quite happy with. Looking forward to trying out the smaller nozzle for some other miniatures!
This is a great video. You answered a lot of nagging questions I have had as I don't have a 0.2 nozzle. Also that Wonder Woman statue is darn near resin level. Please keep up the great work!
Wow, you can really tell the difference on the terrain. The .4 nozzle almost looks like you are looking through a CRT filter in comparison. Thanks for the video. I'm thinking of picking up the A1 soon and if I do, I'll definitely chip in the extra 10 bucks for the .2mm nozzle to use on fine detail prints. I do own a Saturn 2 resin printer, but every print I've tried on that thing failed, and I'm not happy with the toxic chemical in my house, so I think I'm gonna shelve it until I can get an outdoor shed to use it in.
Never seen your channel before, and I'm only 2 minutes in. Very professional, thanks for your review. I'll be back in future. Honestly, the detail change is there, but depending on the importance of the figure and how many you need, the 0.4mm actually does an amazing job.
Great comparison! You covered pretty much all the questions I had regarding high-quality figure prints. Especially appreciate the side-by-side with the 0.4 and 0.2 nozzles. That Wonder Woman statue is incredible. I've got an Anycubic Kobra 2 Pro, but it's not designed for 0.2mm nozzles...kinda thinking I should get a bambu A1 or P1S
I am currently planning on getting my 1st printer for both myself and my kid to use. He is old enough now to start learning to use one, and in a year or two won't need much, if any, help or guidance from me outside of repairs or maintenance. I'm a long time rpg'er, having a large collection of lead and pewter miniatures, and while I don't think I've suffered any ill effects from that, I won't take any chances with his health and resin printing. I am glad to see that fdm printing has gotten to the point where miniature figures can be printed decently enough, not limiting us to just terrain when we want to do detailed projects. The maturing of the field is allowing us to jump in a few years sooner than I expected (if at all). I've decided to go with Bambu and the full size A1 (vs the mini) for a number of reasons, not least of which are the .2mm nozzles which are quick changeable and their print quality as you've demonstrated in this video. For our first projects, we've decided to go with 2nd Dynasty's Traveller series of 28mm ships and figures, since that is the game we play most. As much as I want to jump straight into their Beowulf Far Trader, at 5 kilos and 32" x 17" x 10" that is probably too big to do first, so we will likely start with a shuttle. Nice thing is that I can use. 2mm for the figures and interior details and a .4mm or .6mm nozzle for the exterior shell since there will be lots of sanding and prep to do on those large surfaces one way or another. Thanks for the great video. It helped solidify my decision, and gained you a new sub!
Love how you present and I think your video really sold me on the Bambu Lab A1. I hate FDM prints but I hate working with resin. This is a good compromise
I've been priniting with the 0.2 nozzle for a bit now, and they are truly amazing. Sure it takes a bit of time, but it's not like you have to stay at the printer while it finishes. The beauty of the A1 is that is just works - without micro management.
Your showcasing of the 0.2 nozzle is very helpful. I completely agree with what you said with terrain and larger figures, but for miniatures the difference between FDM and Resin IS noticeable with a naked eye. Counterintuitively the difference is even more apparent if you paint them
This was really helpful. I got the nozzle pack with my A1 because it was only $20 more so why not. I game in 15mm mostly so I'll definitely be using the .02, fine detail for my terrain in that scale.
Thank you for doing this excellent, detailed comparison. I only have FDM printers (Including a Bambu P1X which is the CoreXY version of that A1 you have there) and typically do functional parts, so I'm using a 0.6 or even 0.8 nozzle most of the time. Even though I play D&D and would love being able to print miniatures, I've never even tried because I had it in my head that the quality, even with a small nozzle, would be dramatically inferior to resin and simply not worth the time investment. Your video has just shown me that I was mistaken, and I just ordered a 0.2 nozzle for my Bambu P1 (really).
Thanks for the 0.2 vs 0.4 comparison. I keep thinking about getting a resin printer but the mess and just post processing looks so tiring. I love my Bambu Lab P1S and this just makes me love it more.
Great video. Really gave me the puch to go fdm. If you don't mind, can you show the figurines close up a little longer as you explain. I really enjoyed looking at the details. More videos like this, please. Great work.
Nice video! I havent tried my .2mm nozzle on my x1c yet. I dont do many things that need that detail. But good to know the detail will be good when i do!
I own a P1S and have yet to use my .02 nozzle which I bought recently. I appreciated your comparisons, and like you, have printed miniatures with my .04 nozzle with surprisingly great results, not even at the highest quality. Which leads me to wonder doing a comparison at the Standard an/or Optimal settings might be worth a go. To be honest, I’m not sure I would print much of anything at the highest settings due to the extra time involved, and have found the Standard and Optimal settings work fine. I also have to imagine that if one was to paint any of those prints, the slight print improvements from .04 to .02 would be less of an issue.
I'm not into minifigures but I think the easy swap nozzles are a greater improvements compared to other printers than the AMS. I have my A1 for a bit over a week and I've been swapping between 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 depending on whether I wand details or speed. I've hesitated so often with my Prusa Mini to swap nozzles because of how much work in involved.
Great video, thx for sharing. Years ago I did the same comparisons with my FDM and resin printers and got similar results and a similar take from the naked eye. However as a miniature hobbyist I can tell you the layer lines and roughness of the surfaces on the FDM is substantial for miniature painting. The white filament hides a lot of the FDM artifacts but once paint is applied they will be amplified. These artifacts can be minimized by additional prep work but that is work you dont have to do with a resin printer. A follow up video comparing them being painted or what it took to prep a mini to make it look as good as resin would be a great video
I agree though my experience is from that of an industrial designer creating prototypes in school decades ago, I always used sls and sla my class mates used fdm and my parts took allot less prep work to get a nice paint job.
So I’m getting back into tabletop war gaming, and looking to print minis (30mm & 28mm scale) would you say go w a resin printer or is there a “good enough” option for FDM that will produce smooth prints, that are good for painting?
I did a rough and incomplete paint job in the slicer just to see what it would take. Her upper half alone would take 7 days and 8 hours with 2390 filament changes.
Filament changes themselves are slow, like really slow. Over 30 seconds just for the mechanical action of extract 1 filament and insert another, then you have the nozzle purge it has to perform (which also uses a good chunk of filament) and if using dissimilar materials may also have a small amount of time used changing hotend temperature though this is less of an issue for plain multi colour printing. 2000 and something changes at 30 seconds each is over 8 hours of filament changes alone just in the mechanical procedure. Really cool and useful tech, but yeah, gotta be careful with how it's used versus when you're just gonna use paint.
i got an A1 mini last week, i was using a mars 2 pro , even if i havent got the setttings just right , im already very impressed , got some string collapse issues but i think its because the nozzle temp is too high , im sure i can fix it in my next prints. so far im very impressed with the result ;)
Finally managed to get the 0.2 nozzle. I have swopped the nozzle out on one of my A1's ready to give it a try. It will be interesting to see it against the Saturn Ultra resin I just got. Hopefully it will look really close - I am dreading the chemicals involved in resin printing.
Thank you for the video. It has totally convinced me that I should go with resin, I've been curious about the FDM and heard great things, but as a mini painter (first and foremost) lines are totally unacceptable and I was starting to believe FDM might do. I do agree that the FDM looks great for what it is, sadly I need nearly perfect.
@figure feedback 1) what colour and brand filament is that? I usually use grey but that colour is phenomenal! And 2) please please please share all your A1 settings. Removing supports takes me over an hour because they don’t come off and just splinter apart.
So glad I found this video! I have been looking for this information for quite a while. I just bought the X1C, and I wonder if you think the nozzle comparison would be the same for that printer?
Different tools for different jobs, as a mini painter FDM however good will never cut it for quality, but man that statue is epic. I have both types and hoping to get an A1 very soon.
Hi, just randomly came across your channel and looked around a bit. This is a great video! I am waiting for my 0.2mm nozzle to get delivered and then I'm going to test a couple things. First, what the mini looks like after priming (with minimal post processing, meaning only remove the filament wisps. No sanding or anything.) And then after it's also painted. Versus printing the mini in up to 4 different colors and no painting. Have you thought about doing either of these things in videos?
I love how you managed to sneak in "go the poisonous route" when referring to resin printers, very stealthily done lol. I agree with you though. When the time comes for me to buy a 3d printer I'm definitely going with the non poisonous fdm kind. 👍
I would like to see all the settings that you choose for this wonderful pieces. I do have a X1c and a 0.2 and didn't get close to this quality of work.
I am happy to own a nice bambulab FDM printer since 2 weeks. Love it! First I got a resin printer I still have but I rarely use it. I don’t like the mess, the chemicals, the poison…
I'd love to see a vid on smaller layer heights. As a wargaming hobbyist, 3D printing is a godsend, resin will reign superior it's also nasty and annoying to handle (takes up quite some space as well). Getting the best quality out of a FDM machine would be great. I'd argue that for that purpose, print speed isn't too important. (I have enough grey plastic, I don't need to create buckets more every day). On a sidenote, if you'd do a vid on that, I'd suggest different models with a higher resolution, where differences (or hopefully) similarities to resin come across a bit better. Thanks for the effort regardless!
That Wonder Woman statue is one of the most impressive prints I have ever seen! Makes me want to give my 0.2 another chance.
I stopped FDM printing around 2 years ago and only did Resin printing but now after getting my Bambu Lab printer, I am back doing FDM. Thing have change a lot in the last number of years and much cheaper and easier. Thanks for awesome video. Need to get a 0.20 Nozzel.
You can just change the line width with the 0.4mm nozzle. Believe it or not you can undersize it and get 0.25mm line width for the outer layer and quality comes out really good. Plus you get the benefit of thicker inside layers for strength.
@@dudea3378 I tried this. Even without adjusting the line width, the CURA slicer can fill in details smaller than the nozzle. My favorite test is printing a 0.4 module gear. The result was quite good, but it is much better if I do it with a 0.2 mm nozzle. Another reason is that, based on my experience, the quality of the layers is better if I use a layer thickness of 1/3-1/4 of the nozzle diameter.
Hey could i know where you bought 0.2 nozzle for bamboo ?
@@vibesome Bambulab's own site.
Fantastic well put together detailed video that covered the information perfectly. My daughter has a P1s combo and asked for a 0.2 nozzle for Christmas and I am kind of an “over researcher” however your video is helpful to the point I have all the information I need in one video. She prints those Wonder Woman sized figures. Thanks for a fantastic video. New sub.
Yeah, resin is a cool looking technology and all. I enjoy watching resin printing content. But in the real world when you have to deal with toxic chemicals, respirators, gloves, spills and hazardous waste it's a deal breaker for me. I'll stick to FDM, the detail is plenty good enough for me.
Absolutely 👍
I will use my Saturn 3 for all the precious stuff, but as soon as my Bambu arrives i will print most things with FDM. As you said, its not fun to print with resin, even if the results are godlike.
And for me the best thing about fdm is: You see if the first layer fails or not. With Resin i always have to wait until he is far enough out of the tank, in that time he already baked a nice layer of resin on the FPE for me to scrape off.
See with resin people are aware it’s “hazardous” so they take precautions with FDM people are unaware and don’t. FDM still emit VOCs and particulates. The air from a FDM printer should be filtered and you should still wear a respirator. I’d rather people be careful with something because they think it’s hazardous than be flippant with something they don’t that is still hazardous because they don’t think it is.
@@MaheerKibria that‘s just misinformation, if you are talking about bpa. Yes, there are fumes, and i personally wouldn’t sleep in a room with a printing printer. But our company tested the latest printers we use for rapid prototyping, and Voc (as particles) were well below our expectations. Every one of our work halls where people grind, weld and do other stuff has way worse air quality, even with active airflow. Adding there are amateur printers like the x1 carbon, that additionally reduces air pollution. ABS and stuff is a whole other story, but an fdm with bpa is just on another level compared to a resin printer if you are talking about exposure to toxic materials and such..
@@MaheerKibria You can see that people tend to mod their printers with filtered ventilators more and more (also, a lot of enclosed printer already come with filters), and even use respirators at least when using ABS or ASA. What I actually worry about is that I tend to see a lot of prints that will have contact with food, without thinking about bacteria settling in between layers
I am surprised at how well the 0.2 prints turned out. Thank you for the comparison!
When comparing the resin and the FDM I'd love to see a really quick spray primer lightly coated on it to see how those lines might potentially show. Seeing how the washes and colour hold on would be awesome, but just a simple black and fake lighting spray job would absolutely do the trick (takes less time too)
I want to also mention that the matte style bambu pla (PLA Matte vs the PLA Basic you are using in your video) really hides layer lines, and they have some really lovely earth tone matte colors that would work super well in a TTRPG setting. I use the matte filaments with big nozzles to print functional parts like shop dividers and shelf brackets and such, and the big layers on those are masked by the matte filament. I bet the results on a mini printed at 0.2 with a matte filament would be amazing (and eliminate that "plastic sheen" you mention).
THANK YOU, I've waited and searched so long for a .2 and .4 comparison for miniatures. I will try out my .2 nozzle now :)
As someone who only has an FDM printer available, this is a wonderful comparison.
Thank you 🙏
And you dont have to f. around with resin it self, toxic stuff. that the best of it :)
That wonderwoman! gorgeous print! Thanks for including this with the 0.2 nozzle. Wouldn't mind seeing more prints like that!
Dude, the algorithm has been kind to me lately. I've had a few of your videos suggested to me and I am super impressed by your style. You appear to be an actual human being and it's not a question as to whether or not I'm actually just watching a commercial. It's hard not to identify resin once you're familiar with it. It has a very unique translucent quality, and right angles are very sharp. But FDM just kinda feels "warm". Like playing Nintendo on a high quality CRT versus running an emulator to an HD monitor. Sometimes the "inferior" option just feels nicer. Plus it has some tooth for paint adhesion. I just got a Bambu printer and it looks like I'm headed back to Micro Center for nozzles.
I think an ultimate comparison test for minis is to paint them and then have a look. Undercoats, and some contrast paints for a typical quick paint scenario.
Exactly what I was thinking, spraypaint black with a drybrush white
@@bretroberts5695 And gone are the printing lines.
I think it would be the opposite, drybrushing is one of the last things you should do to fdm printed minis (unless you spend a lot of time sanding it and allat i guess)
Edit: the reason being drybrushing uses the mini's texture to its advantage instead of using painting skill, im not being an elitist, but fdm minis tend to be more textured, and it doesnt help at all with drybrushing
@@doodoo2065 and I agree with you for painting the model, but for highlighting the quality of the print, wouldn’t the texture aspect of the dry brush highlight the imperfections? I felt the point of the video was to show the quality of the prints
@@bretroberts5695 oh yeah yeah, thats what i meant
Drybrushing isnt a technique you want to use with fdm minis unless you spend some time sanding them first
Best video I've seen yet for comparisons. Thank you for this!
Just got my A1 combo a week ago. I started printing a Wicked model on it and so far at 0.08 layer height on a 0.4mm nozzle i'm impressed. After printing on Ender 3 Pro for a couple years its such a difference. Seeing this printed on 0.2mm nozzle is insane. The detail and quality of that Wonder Woman is honestly insane. I really want to try on an 0.2mm nozzle now. Great video!
Thanks for doing a follow up video. Really interesting to see the side by side comparisons. The nice thing to see is that for those of us who only have an FDM machine and only want to print the occasional miniature or figurine it might be a much better (and cheaper) option to get a 0.2mm nozzle instead of forking out the cash for a resin printer. That Wonder Woman figure is amazing...
Thank you! I've only had my A1 a few weeks and bought a 0.2 nozzle with it but haven't had the guts to try swapping it in yet :)
Thank you for the video, This answered all the questions I was having between the 0.2 and 0.4 nozzles.
Great tip on the slicer settings i have some 0.2 nozzles on the way and thought i just do the first step thanks!
I don’t have a 3d printing channel but I watch a lot and you’ve been coming up in my recommended. Keep up the good work! Also a suggestion is to add more b-roll in the videos
I second adding a bit more b-roll. Good job though. Enjoying your vids. Just subscribed 👍🏻
I’m a third vote for more b-roll of the models while you’re talking. Good vid though, very useful comparison!
8:02 Yes I can see that the layer lines on the shield are very visible. There's also some stringing and fuzzy edges and as someone that gets close to his miniatures during painting it would bother me and require more work before painting but resign prints aren't preparation free either.
You have made me so glad that I've ordered my new P1S with the 0.2mm nozzle.
Thanks for taking the time at the start to explain how to swap the nozzles too and the things to change in Bambu Studio. I’ve ordered a 0.2mm now and look forward to trying it out. Really seems like a no brainer for £10
Fantastic video with some great information! Thanks for taking the time to make it!!
Great comparison video! Straight to the point, well organized, no filler. Thank you!
Thanks for doing this video! I was about to buy a .2 mm nozzle and didn't know how quality would look. You did the work for me! I have a resin printer and an A1, so I don't mind not going to .2 mm in FDM and just print it on resin printer.
Just got an A1 for printing miniatures and terrain. I picked up a 0.2 nozzle with it but haven't tried it yet. This was a great video and I can't wait to check out your other videos! Cheers!
I've used other printers with 0.2mm nozzles with varying results. The Bambu A1 Mini is the first printer that just works well, every time, with this small a nozzle. It's great for HO scale stuff, although figures in HO scale is pushing my luck :-) Nicely done video, thanks for the very good comparisons. Now that they are shipping again an A1 is in the cards.
Excellent video. Really nice to go over the swapping of nozzles as well, I appreciate it!
Great comparisons, just what I was looking for.
Great job, i just joined the bambu club with the A1 Mini. Good review, strings and all. Keep up the honesty and take this sub.
Great video man. Actually 17 minutes of value.
Totally agree !.
Getting ready to set up the A1 Combo, my first 3D printer. I ordered the 0.2 nozzle with it, expecting I would want to do some detail work. Thank you for confirming my decision, and showing what can be done with that fine nozzle!
Thanks for the video! I have already purchased the 0.2 hotend, but this is a nice confirmation and when I visit friends in the UK next month, I know I can gift them some nice minis.
Thank you for the excellent side by side comparisons. You answered pretty much all the questions I had about what nozzle I want to use for different prints.
Just got a Bambu A1 about a week ago and I’ve been printing primarily terrain so far, but this was really helpful. Didn’t plan on being able to print minis, but I am really impressed with how those turned out, and a test print I did yielded results I was quite happy with. Looking forward to trying out the smaller nozzle for some other miniatures!
I printed that exact Wonder Woman model myself on my Ender 3 S1 last year. Such a gorgeous model! It came out really well at .12 mm layer height.
This is a great video. You answered a lot of nagging questions I have had as I don't have a 0.2 nozzle. Also that Wonder Woman statue is darn near resin level.
Please keep up the great work!
Wow, you can really tell the difference on the terrain. The .4 nozzle almost looks like you are looking through a CRT filter in comparison. Thanks for the video. I'm thinking of picking up the A1 soon and if I do, I'll definitely chip in the extra 10 bucks for the .2mm nozzle to use on fine detail prints. I do own a Saturn 2 resin printer, but every print I've tried on that thing failed, and I'm not happy with the toxic chemical in my house, so I think I'm gonna shelve it until I can get an outdoor shed to use it in.
Never seen your channel before, and I'm only 2 minutes in. Very professional, thanks for your review. I'll be back in future.
Honestly, the detail change is there, but depending on the importance of the figure and how many you need, the 0.4mm actually does an amazing job.
Great comparison! You covered pretty much all the questions I had regarding high-quality figure prints. Especially appreciate the side-by-side with the 0.4 and 0.2 nozzles. That Wonder Woman statue is incredible. I've got an Anycubic Kobra 2 Pro, but it's not designed for 0.2mm nozzles...kinda thinking I should get a bambu A1 or P1S
I am currently planning on getting my 1st printer for both myself and my kid to use. He is old enough now to start learning to use one, and in a year or two won't need much, if any, help or guidance from me outside of repairs or maintenance. I'm a long time rpg'er, having a large collection of lead and pewter miniatures, and while I don't think I've suffered any ill effects from that, I won't take any chances with his health and resin printing.
I am glad to see that fdm printing has gotten to the point where miniature figures can be printed decently enough, not limiting us to just terrain when we want to do detailed projects. The maturing of the field is allowing us to jump in a few years sooner than I expected (if at all).
I've decided to go with Bambu and the full size A1 (vs the mini) for a number of reasons, not least of which are the .2mm nozzles which are quick changeable and their print quality as you've demonstrated in this video. For our first projects, we've decided to go with 2nd Dynasty's Traveller series of 28mm ships and figures, since that is the game we play most. As much as I want to jump straight into their Beowulf Far Trader, at 5 kilos and 32" x 17" x 10" that is probably too big to do first, so we will likely start with a shuttle. Nice thing is that I can use. 2mm for the figures and interior details and a .4mm or .6mm nozzle for the exterior shell since there will be lots of sanding and prep to do on those large surfaces one way or another.
Thanks for the great video. It helped solidify my decision, and gained you a new sub!
Love how you present and I think your video really sold me on the Bambu Lab A1. I hate FDM prints but I hate working with resin. This is a good compromise
Great video. Been wanting to make minis but I don't want to deal with resin printing again, glad to see FDM minis is 100% possible.
Great video. I have been using my 0.2 to print N Scale model railroad items and they do look great......
Thank you for making this. Very helpful. I love my A1. So glad to have found your videos. Love from the UK sunny Bournemouth
I've been priniting with the 0.2 nozzle for a bit now, and they are truly amazing. Sure it takes a bit of time, but it's not like you have to stay at the printer while it finishes. The beauty of the A1 is that is just works - without micro management.
Dude thank you so much, this is an amazing reference for the quality you can get with FDM. Just ordered a .2mm nozzle!
The last statue was incredible. I print practical things but that made me consider miniatures with my A1 for the first time.
Thanks for taking the time to make this very clear and detailed video, so helpful thanks!
I now have my third Bambulab and I am still impressed by the possibilities this maschine offers.
Thanks for the time and effort in creating this. Wow.. I will be getting a 0.2 nozzle
New to 3D printing, just got myself the A1 - looks like I'm waiting for Bambu to get the 0.2mm nozzles in stock! :D
Your showcasing of the 0.2 nozzle is very helpful. I completely agree with what you said with terrain and larger figures, but for miniatures the difference between FDM and Resin IS noticeable with a naked eye. Counterintuitively the difference is even more apparent if you paint them
hey I just wanted to say I loved the vid, I felt it was very thorough and felt like I came out without any confusion. Thanks for the vid!
Thank you!
Great video really shows how good the difference between the two nozzles. Thanks
This was really helpful. I got the nozzle pack with my A1 because it was only $20 more so why not. I game in 15mm mostly so I'll definitely be using the .02, fine detail for my terrain in that scale.
Thank you a lot. I was searching for this video for a few days comparing Nozzles. Here u have my Like and a new Sub ❤
Thank you for doing this excellent, detailed comparison. I only have FDM printers (Including a Bambu P1X which is the CoreXY version of that A1 you have there) and typically do functional parts, so I'm using a 0.6 or even 0.8 nozzle most of the time. Even though I play D&D and would love being able to print miniatures, I've never even tried because I had it in my head that the quality, even with a small nozzle, would be dramatically inferior to resin and simply not worth the time investment. Your video has just shown me that I was mistaken, and I just ordered a 0.2 nozzle for my Bambu P1 (really).
Thanks for the 0.2 vs 0.4 comparison. I keep thinking about getting a resin printer but the mess and just post processing looks so tiring. I love my Bambu Lab P1S and this just makes me love it more.
Dude, you rule! Happy I discovered you
That turned out amazing, thanks for the comparison!
Very IMPRESSIVE, That WonderWoman came out Perfect. Butter Smooth.
Fantastic video!
I wish there were a little more scenes capturing the models, when you're talking about them.
Thank you so much for this, simple, clear, and full of important details.
thanks for linking to the models you used in your description! always great to find some sweet free models
Thank you for taking the time to do these tests! 😊
Great video. Really gave me the puch to go fdm. If you don't mind, can you show the figurines close up a little longer as you explain. I really enjoyed looking at the details. More videos like this, please. Great work.
Nice video! I havent tried my .2mm nozzle on my x1c yet. I dont do many things that need that detail. But good to know the detail will be good when i do!
Great video bro. Good comparisons with the exception of that resin mini. That looks sub 4k. Still, exactly the info I need. Bambu A1 ordered!
Thank you for this video! Very well done. I can see now that there is definitely a tradeoff between detail and time.
I just found your channel - your delivery is just fantastic.
Thanks, and welcome!
I own a P1S and have yet to use my .02 nozzle which I bought recently. I appreciated your comparisons, and like you, have printed miniatures with my .04 nozzle with surprisingly great results, not even at the highest quality. Which leads me to wonder doing a comparison at the Standard an/or Optimal settings might be worth a go. To be honest, I’m not sure I would print much of anything at the highest settings due to the extra time involved, and have found the Standard and Optimal settings work fine. I also have to imagine that if one was to paint any of those prints, the slight print improvements from .04 to .02 would be less of an issue.
I'm not into minifigures but I think the easy swap nozzles are a greater improvements compared to other printers than the AMS. I have my A1 for a bit over a week and I've been swapping between 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 depending on whether I wand details or speed. I've hesitated so often with my Prusa Mini to swap nozzles because of how much work in involved.
Great video, thx for sharing. Years ago I did the same comparisons with my FDM and resin printers and got similar results and a similar take from the naked eye. However as a miniature hobbyist I can tell you the layer lines and roughness of the surfaces on the FDM is substantial for miniature painting. The white filament hides a lot of the FDM artifacts but once paint is applied they will be amplified. These artifacts can be minimized by additional prep work but that is work you dont have to do with a resin printer. A follow up video comparing them being painted or what it took to prep a mini to make it look as good as resin would be a great video
I agree though my experience is from that of an industrial designer creating prototypes in school decades ago, I always used sls and sla my class mates used fdm and my parts took allot less prep work to get a nice paint job.
So I’m getting back into tabletop war gaming, and looking to print minis (30mm & 28mm scale) would you say go w a resin printer or is there a “good enough” option for FDM that will produce smooth prints, that are good for painting?
you earned my sub, thank you so much for the links to the minis as well. I print on an a1 mini and x1c
Amazing! That looked better than the resin print. I guess Jeremy said that multicolor function is too expensive to use lol
I did a rough and incomplete paint job in the slicer just to see what it would take. Her upper half alone would take 7 days and 8 hours with 2390 filament changes.
@@FigureFeedback goodness gracious that's a long time for that print.
Filament changes themselves are slow, like really slow. Over 30 seconds just for the mechanical action of extract 1 filament and insert another, then you have the nozzle purge it has to perform (which also uses a good chunk of filament) and if using dissimilar materials may also have a small amount of time used changing hotend temperature though this is less of an issue for plain multi colour printing.
2000 and something changes at 30 seconds each is over 8 hours of filament changes alone just in the mechanical procedure.
Really cool and useful tech, but yeah, gotta be careful with how it's used versus when you're just gonna use paint.
i got an A1 mini last week, i was using a mars 2 pro , even if i havent got the setttings just right , im already very impressed , got some string collapse issues but i think its because the nozzle temp is too high , im sure i can fix it in my next prints. so far im very impressed with the result ;)
Finally managed to get the 0.2 nozzle. I have swopped the nozzle out on one of my A1's ready to give it a try. It will be interesting to see it against the Saturn Ultra resin I just got. Hopefully it will look really close - I am dreading the chemicals involved in resin printing.
Sold me on this printer and nozzle 🤯
I will still wait since, i dont have space for it for now, but i definitely cross out screwing around with resin
Great video! The 0.4 prints are perfectly fine for my taste!
This is a fantastic video. Thanks for the thorough and detailed breakdown here!
Thank you for the video. It has totally convinced me that I should go with resin, I've been curious about the FDM and heard great things, but as a mini painter (first and foremost) lines are totally unacceptable and I was starting to believe FDM might do. I do agree that the FDM looks great for what it is, sadly I need nearly perfect.
Excellent topic, narration and production.
@figure feedback 1) what colour and brand filament is that? I usually use grey but that colour is phenomenal! And 2) please please please share all your A1 settings. Removing supports takes me over an hour because they don’t come off and just splinter apart.
So glad I found this video! I have been looking for this information for quite a while. I just bought the X1C, and I wonder if you think the nozzle comparison would be the same for that printer?
Excellent video, very good presentation and explanation of the machine and what it can do.
bro that statue is sick!
great video man. If i may give a tip. turn off autofocus on the camera. Having it on makes the camera zoom all the time witch can distract and annoy
Many thanks, very useful comparisons! :)
Cool video Bro! 🎉 HappyNewYear for You
Happy new year!
Different tools for different jobs, as a mini painter FDM however good will never cut it for quality, but man that statue is epic. I have both types and hoping to get an A1 very soon.
So when are you going to paint her, that would I like to see!
Hi, just randomly came across your channel and looked around a bit. This is a great video! I am waiting for my 0.2mm nozzle to get delivered and then I'm going to test a couple things. First, what the mini looks like after priming (with minimal post processing, meaning only remove the filament wisps. No sanding or anything.) And then after it's also painted. Versus printing the mini in up to 4 different colors and no painting. Have you thought about doing either of these things in videos?
Excellent review, I'm very tempted now.
I love how you managed to sneak in "go the poisonous route" when referring to resin printers, very stealthily done lol. I agree with you though. When the time comes for me to buy a 3d printer I'm definitely going with the non poisonous fdm kind. 👍
Adult route VS kids route is a more accurate description.
I would like to see all the settings that you choose for this wonderful pieces. I do have a X1c and a 0.2 and didn't get close to this quality of work.
I just got into miniatures recently. Any recommedations for filament and settings? Great stuff!
I think you sold me on picking up some of that.. peach? colored filament. Grey is great and all but dang..
This is amazing! What's the layer height you used for the 0.2 miniatures and Wonder Woman? Was it 0.1mm or less?
I am happy to own a nice bambulab FDM printer since 2 weeks. Love it! First I got a resin printer I still have but I rarely use it. I don’t like the mess, the chemicals, the poison…
Then don't make a mess and don't drink the poison.
@@miguellopez3392 oh thanks a lot. This advise was so helpful! Wow 😂
I'd love to see a vid on smaller layer heights. As a wargaming hobbyist, 3D printing is a godsend, resin will reign superior it's also nasty and annoying to handle (takes up quite some space as well). Getting the best quality out of a FDM machine would be great. I'd argue that for that purpose, print speed isn't too important. (I have enough grey plastic, I don't need to create buckets more every day). On a sidenote, if you'd do a vid on that, I'd suggest different models with a higher resolution, where differences (or hopefully) similarities to resin come across a bit better.
Thanks for the effort regardless!