When you decide to print a 3D model you can choose to delegate some of required steps or do everything by yourself. It's up to you, your time and budget. Let's discuss the process of printing a figurine step by step with approximate costs.
3D sculpting🛠️
The first step is to sculpt the desired miniature in 3D program like Blender or ZBrush. This process requires patience, knowledge and time. It's possible to find ready-made files for 3D printing of the most popular board games miniatures for free, but their quality is not always satisfactory and the chance of finding that one we want is quite small.
If you choose to create it by yourself there're a lot of tutorials in the internet how to do this step-by-step, but it's time consuming and over time you may get discouraged.
These options do not require any financial investment and free programs are enough to start with.
However, not everyone has the skills and willingness to create miniatures on their own and may commission someone else to create the perfect figure.
There comes our company. We're creating STL files mostly for tabletop games and what our customers would like us to.
Would you like to get a miniature created by our team? Contact us via mail: service@wildmesh.eu 📧
Become our patron!
What is the cost of a 3D sculpting order?💵
The cost of 3D sculpting depends primarily on the scale in which the model is to be created and the number of details on it.
The cost of 3D sculpting usually fluctuates between $ 200 - $ 1000+.
3D printing of the model🖨️
After the project is created there is time to print model. You can print the miniature with your own 3D printer or get printed by us.
Cost of purchase 3D printer 💰
This is crucial decision in whole process. If you would like to print a lot of 3D objects then you should defenitly buy it. Cost of 3D printer depends on the condition, brand and total hours of printing.
It's possible to buy good 3D printer for about 200$.
In addition it's not recommended to keep 3D printer in the room where you live because while working printer gives off an unpleasant odor and it makes a lot of noise. If you would like to print miniatures at your home you should dedicate separete room for it and the room should include ventilation.
Does 3d printing smell?
Keep in mind that you shouldn't be close to the 3D printer for a long time, staying in the room with the 3D printer for too long can cause headache.
Cost of resin💸
Imporant component of the 3D prinitng is cost of resin. Depending on the 3D printer it uses different types and amounts of resin.
The resin price starts from 20$ up to 50$ per 1l.
Choosing the right resin for 3D printer🧊
Price of the resin matter when you have printer with 8D quailty. With lower quailty paying for that with higher quality resin is overpaying.
The cheaper resin is less environment friendly than more expensive ones beacuse of the ingredients that's made of.
What does STL stand for in 3d printing?
Cleaning 3D printer 🧽✨
Another important aspect of maintaning the printer is fact of cleaning it. For cleaning you should get Isopropyl alcohol. It should be with the highest concentration possible (99% or even more).
Special 3D printer cleaner can cost even more but if the producent required it you should get it if you want to keep the 3D printer in a good condition.
The chepaer cleaners could damage the 3D printer.
Cost of energy⚡
Depending on the scale and model of 3D printer but it can print model even up to 20 hours! While working 3D printer could consume even up to 0.5$ in energy per miniature.
We're creating STL files mostly for tabletop games and what our customers would like us to.
Would you like to get a miniature created by our team? Contact us via mail: service@wildmesh.eu 📧 or via 3D model comission page.
