You can’t even imagine how long I’ve been waiting for a minis printing video like that about A1 mini. Now there’s not even a doubt it will be my first 3d printer
for a fdm printer, these look really great!, ofc resin would give you higher quality stuff, but the amount of safety and post-pro it needs is not for everyone great video too! thanks a lot
That absolutely is a game changer! already saw another video from another youtuber who has got amazing results with your settings and already printed dozens of incredible looking minis i guess its also possible to print minis who are not exclusive modelled for fdm printing, just need some tinkering with support settings no toxic fumes, no isoprol, no need to heat resin, no extra space needed for curing and washing station, thats a long list of + for me and many others
The Creality K1 is about four times the speed of the Ender 5 Pro and the latter much faster then the Snapmaker 1. The K1 is another option for ease of use.
Thank you for your work on these profiles. I’m so glad to see you expand into Bambu. I always appreciate your work and I support every kickstarter you launch.
This has reinvigorated my interest in 3D printing. I got into resin a few years ago but never got comfortable with it and it eventually kind of caused me to forget about modeling and printing. Thank you as always for the incredible work you do for the community.
Thank you so much for this! I am super new to 3d printing and don't have a ton of time to tinker right now. I've experimented with your settings and the default bambu and yours are amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Really great video and settings. This is my first 3D printer and so I purchased the profile; it was perfect for getting me started with my A1 mini for printing miniatures. I've played about with the settings some more and found some improvements for fine details I wanted to share: Layer height 0.06 mm Initial layer height 0.2 mm (improves adhesion issues I was having) Outer wall 0.17 mm Wall generator Arachne, with min wall width 30% and min feature size 20% (the wall width changes are key and this showed better behavior than classic in my tests) I also had to play around with the filament settings a bit as I was getting significant stringing even with Sunlu Meta at your default settings. I reduced temp to 210, put retraction to 5 mm and retraction speed to 45 mm/s (as suggested in a blog post created by Sunlu on their website) and this has mostly solved the issue. If you were interested in trying these settings I'd love to hear how you find the results. I'm getting phenomenally detailed prints for FDM with them. Thanks for getting me started with your awesome guide!
Love my A1 so much that an A1 mini (space and wanted to try out the AMS) is coming next week and it will be doing double duty in son's 6-8 grade class. Thanks so much for working on these profiles and figuring this out. I resin print, but the more I can do with FDM, the happier I am.
Resin is such a messy process - printing, cleaning, washing, drying. And you don't always notice you have a failure until it's too late. And with FDM you can pretty much handle the end product straight away without worrying that toxins are leaking in to your skin. I love the quality of resin but everything else about it sucks.
Arachne has issues with tiny details on the walls, regardless of the print. It's not so much an issue with the process itself, but if you have a lot of fine details, you want to use the Classic still.
There settings for Arachne to increase the minimum detail size. With this bumped down to super small numbers, you get much better details. The default values are set to smooth out small details, to keep gcode size down apparently. Bollocks if you ask me. I need to compare to the classic wall setting, that I have not done yet.
I really appreciate your videos on this topic, it's given me the confidence to jump into the hobby knowing there's community support for beginners. Thanks!
Just want to give a big thanks to you! I stumbled on your channel many years ago and used your advice and ender 3 profiles to get into 3d printing. Was so helpful then and it’s amazing to see these results you’re getting now! Thanks again for your expert advice!
Have been printing terrain 24/7 on my A1s over the last few weeks, the 0.4 nozzle at 0.08LH is almost completely without layer lines but the tolerance for horizontal resolution is higher vs on minis. A few 0.2 nozzles should be arriving tomorrow and excited to try the profile, thank you for sharing great info!
i was always interested in 3d printing, but the resin printers were simply too much hassle for me: they need too much space (because all the extra stations you need) and the toxic fumes were also a big thing that prevented me from getting into it. with this printer it looks pretty easy to print some minis with good results. and the prize looks also good. i think machines like this could be the breakthrough, to make 3d printing more accesable for people. i always wanted to create my own bits to modify my minis or even create some completly new ones. and i have seen so many cool minis from designers out there i always wanted to to try out. this printer could make it possible.
Many resin printer are even smaller than FDM printers, the "toxic fumes" are almost a myth specially with new resins, and you dont need more "work stations" than a pot of clean water and a UV lamp (or simply the sun).
Awesome work - I agree I spent years tuning various printers for FDM minis - and the a1 mini got the same if not better results with almost 0 tuning - friggin amazing
Well, thanks for forcing me to finally bite the bullet and jump into the Bambu A1! Never wanted to deal with resin and the toxicity, space, and cost (of peripheral tools and such) requirements, and was really tempted by the A1 when I saw Fauxhammer review it. This pushed me over the edge!
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Ah, I figured the quality difference between them was negligible, but is the A1 worse for minis, due to the larger print volume, or better than the A1 Mini? Haven’t actually picked between the two yet, but I figured the A1 just offered an overall better experience. Might opt for the mini if it’s likely better for smaller prints.
@@Loriborn a single z screw is better than dual (they can 'fight' each other) and also the Mini has a linear rail for the Z axis, that combined with the smaller bed (less Y axis inertia) is giving better results on miniatures in my testing. I'll be posting a video on the full size A1 print quality in a few weeks once I finish all of my testing.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrorsI appreciate the response! I did end up opting for the Mini based on these findings, and since this is my sole intended use case, but I did grab some of Bambu's own PLA basic filament. I noticed there weren't any test images of custom profile with the Bambu filament in the video. Is there a significant difference in print quality between the Sunlu Meta and the Bambu Labs PLA basic with the custom profile? I figured I'd ask as the former is still on sale for the time being.
@@Loriborn yes, the difference between the two filaments is pretty significant when printing minis. Stick with Sunlu PLA Meta or Hatchbox PLA (standard, not plus) for minis.
Sunlu PLA Meta is my go-to PLA as well, been using it almost a year. Keep up the good content, I basically learned the entire trade of printing minis from you when I started.
Filaments matter a lot. Speed and layer height matters a lot. I've been getting decent results on 0.2 nozzle, 0.04 and 0.06 layer height. Arachne slicer is always good. You can lower external wall thickness by 1/4 (0.16) in order to improve overall quality, but be warry that it can result in underextrusion with some extreme angles. Compare classic+arachne line thickness in slicer to see what's up with the mini you liked more. I use sunlu pla+ instead of meta. It just feels that with higher temp I have better control over flow. Set minimal layer time for ~10 seconds maybe to help with top thin parts
I really wish I'd waited a few more years before getting into 3d printing, these modern machines are making my temperamental and unreliable Ender 3 look worthless and obsolete.
yeah its nuts how good the new stuff is, I have a couple of p1ps, and coming from an ender 3 as well, being able to slice on my computer, hit print, it wirelessly going to my printer and never having to mess with bed leveling or anything has been amazing. plus it'll print something that takes my ender 3 24 hours in like 6
Wow great to see. I’m loving my a1 mini. I got a 0.2mm nozzle with the mega combo but not tried it out yet. You’ve given me new motivation to try it out!
Thank you SO much! I got my mini a couple of weeks ago and was really disappointed that all of the mini figure profiles were for all the Bambu printers except for the mini. This was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for all your hard work tweaking the settings!
Normal the bambu needs more heat because the speed. When you print slower you can lower the temp i read in forums. It would of course be interesting to find out whether the settings would also work on the A1.
I've found that the Polymaker PolyTerra line of filament produces buttery smooth prints. Layer lines are practically nonexistent unless inspected closely.
your in-depth review just convided me to get an a1 mini and sunlu meta, will be downloading your profile as soon as I receive them. Keep up the amazing work!
Maybe the temperature issues are down to the ambient temperatures of the individual rooms you and your friends have the printers in? Also, have you tried aiming a fan across the print bed surface to see if that helps any? I know with their bigger printers you can get a fan that does that and it is supposed to help improve quality by cooling the printed filament quicker.
Bought an X1C earkier this year, but also just bought an A1-mini just for minis. Thanks a lot for the tips! I will download your settings to stay current.
Thank you so much for all your efforts and hard work! I have tried out your printer settings, in combination with Sunlu PLA Meta, on my Bambu Lab P1S. I tried an Ork mini from Puppetswar Miniatures and it turn out marvelous. My ever growing Ork army will be thanking you and I will integrate the "fat dragon" somehow into it :)
I’m someone who got into 3d printing for minis, I got an A1 mini recently and I have a couple questions for you 1) how does overture’s matte filament compare to the Sunlu pla meta 2) I noticed you use grey for all your prints, is there a reason for that or just personal preference? 3) what are your thoughts on using supports when printing minis? Is it worth it? Or does it ruin the quality too much?
I’m very excited for this, I think a huge amount of my obsession with FDM printed minis is due to your original Cura videos but obviously swapping to a P1P it didn’t transfer spectacularly. I’m also excited to test out your fix for the Meta PLA overhangs, I really enjoyed that filament but ended up avoiding any prints with harsh overhangs with it for just that reason.
Besides my advice below I want to thank you for your skeletons about 5 years ago you put up. I still have those , they came out good on my mini delta which still stand up to todays scrutiny and I do DLP resin printing as well. I have 3 bambus by the way if you need another tester......
Thank you. I've been looking at printers and I want to do miniatures, but I have kids and pets and chemical sensitivities myself so have worried about resin. I think I now know what my birthday present is going to be.
Damn. I just pulled the plug earler today on the a... and then came across your channel and video on the a1 mini w .2 mm nozzle.. I am hopeful it will come somewhat close w tweaking.
Wow, just saw this video last night, downloaded the profile and bam, realllllly nice miniatures. So happy I found this video Nd thanks for sharing the profile!
I will never go back to FDM to printing minis after discover the resin, but for bigs projects, like terrain or vehicles, a would really lika a good FDM printer.
Gonna like and sub just for this video. Really needed a good FDM printer for minis cause I have no room nor want to handle a resin printer, and I want to get into OPR since it seems like the most reasonable way for me to get into a large scale sci-fi wargame that isn't GW, but wasn't having any luck for a while as I search the RUclips for videos on the subject matter. Was honestly gonna give up the idea of printing minis until I came across this video. Thank you, Fat Dragon Games and the Tomb of 3D Printed Horrors!
Now that I've got an A1 Mini, I've bought your settings files and I appreciate all the work that went into them! I'd love to have some settings for supports, though. Do you plan to work on that, or do you know anyone who has figured out how to get some good supports that are easier to remove? They basically ruin the back of my print at this point.
Fantastic video, this is awesome, for USD 299.00 you get table quality minis. Sure these are not high quality 8K resin prints, but you also don't have the overhead of goop, chemicals, fumes, wash stations, curing stations, waste etc. Quick and dirty!
I already have a P1S and ive trying to decide for a while if i should get an AMS or the A1 mini combo. And now that my play group is starting a campaign for the first in DnD im definitely going to get the A1 mini combo, thanks so much for such an informative video. Now i need to go through and watch all your other videos.
This may be a daft question ..... would these settings also work on its bigger brother the A1? I am new to the hobby and currently look at the A1 because of the lager print space for other cool stuff I find but my main focus would be miniatures . Thanks in advance for any responses.
Just bought one. I have or will soon at least have two printers. Ender 3 v3 SE and the A1 mini w/AMS. Pretty excited. Both are "budget" printers but I feel like the feature rich A1 mini wins hands down.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Both choices were actually inspired by your channel. I think something understated for some is that as much as I would like a resin printer I live in an apartment and it isn't feasible in a safety sense. So having something that's close enough to a resin printer while not needing to deal with the amount of cleaning and the fumes of a resin printer is a godsend.
I'm struggling with support scarring still, using these settings. Anyone have any recommendations? Are you using tree supports, and are you modifying the parameters at all to reduce scarring? Or just dealing with it via clever orientation?
Question. Why are you using Inner / outer wall settings. For precision dimensional accuracy using Outer/Inner settings would be preferable. It would seem that maintaining that beard or SHELL details would be an outside wall dimension that needed to be maintained. If you have tried this already sorry for repeating what you have tried.......
Great video. I've been looking forward to seeing your results. I bought an A-1 mini on your recommendation and it's on the way. Can't wait. Thanks very much for all of the hard work you do for the community. It is much appreciated. Do you have plans to release any new minis for use with this printer and those settings?
I didn't think FDM printers would get to this point. I had a resign 3D printer, printed great, but the fumes were just too much for me and I sent it back after 30 days. I have a Prusa MK3S+. I've been looking at the enclosed printer that Bambu makes, the Carbon X1 I think. If enough FDM printers get to this point I bet more models will specifically made for FDM printers.
These looks REALLY good! I'm getting more and more tempted upgrading my Ender 3 v2 to an A1. But have you tried fuzzy skin? I do it sometimes on my Ender and it removes the layer lines quite well giving it a bit of a rougher look, kind of like dither in digital audio/image where you use noise to remove quantization errors, ie the clear levels you get when there's not enough bit depth, so the same as in 3D printing when you get lines when the layer height is not low enough :)
Same exact issues with Arachne vs Classic wall here ... haven't seen a good explanation for it. .....you can see it in the layers preview so now that I know about it I'm trying to train my brain on what to look for. Hatchbox won't get any more of my money, I want to like them, we have a good history ....but nothing has been coming out clean lately from brand new filament dessicant dried in anboven for a week prior. Thanks for the tip on Meta filament from Sunlu... I was getting ready to test Anycubics fast pla so maybe I'll compare and repost. Cheers all.
I have printed on the A1 Mini with Sunlu Meta and from my tests it is significantly worse than my current favorite Jayo High Speed filament. I believe Sunlu and Jayo are the same, but Jayo comes in 1.1 kg rolls for the same price. I tested using the Goblinoid models used in the video which will be my new go to test model. I suspect other High Speed filaments may produce good results. I also love the dark grey colour it makes the other greys look insipid.
Have you used 0.2 mm nozzle previously with other printers? I'm interested in what's result of smaller nozzle in general and what Bambu Lab brings in 🤔 It's interesting to see how much -better- different the meta filament looks. We obviously need _Wargamer_ (Fauxhammer loves that resin) type of matte miniature filament 😅
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Coming back to A1 Mini: We have resin printer (Mars 4 9k after Voxelab Proxima 2k display went bad and replacement was even worse) and modified Voxelab Aquila (Ender 3 V2 clone with dual Z lead screws, Orbiter 2 extruder and A1 nozzle and heating block for easy/fast swaps and Octoprint). Printing, even with A1 0.2 nozzle, didn't bring good results for my son's gunpla parts (guns, accessories, service platforms etc) and for some reason A1 nozzle made it seem as if 1st layer came closer every print - though heating block and BL-touch are rigidly mounted. Of course resin is superior, even mandatory for 1:144 human figures, but workflow is different, messy, random reasons, etc... So I bit the bullet and bought A1 Mini from summer sale for his use. Results? Powder-coated bed is not super-adhesive for small footprints (not exclusive to A1), supported surfaces are not too clean (not exclusive to A1) and it poops fair amount of filament before printing (no AMS, but it doesn't know if nozzle might have been changed?), but otherwise it's easier to use, 1st layer is always pretty good and print quality with 0.2 nozzle, default profile and generic PLA, is closer to resin that I thought it could. And it is ridiculously fast when it gets up to speed :) It doesn't make me Bambu Lab convert in general, but being practical, A1 Mini prints really, really good 👍
According to their web site, the A1 mini is $459. For me, as someone looking to buy my first printer that’s significantly more than the $300 shown in the video. Disappointing. I’ve pretty much determined I’m going to start with an Egaloo Mars 2 Pro resin printer. I’d rather have the speed and relatively safety if FDM but I’m mainly interested in minis at this point. Still researching though. You did a great job pushing this printer to the max though!
Are you using a flat PEI sheet or a textures one? Textured should help. Bumping up the temp of the first layer also usually helps with bed adhesion. With other printers I find that just printing slow and hot for just 1 layer is enough. I used to do slow first layer prints for 4 layers just like you, but 1 does the job and speeds things up no end.
Such a great video. Thanks Tom. One thing I would like to know is how your settings work on non- FDG minis, I.E. minis that are not optimized for FDM printing and need greater supports.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Got it. Sorry if my question offended you. Wasn't my intention. Been a huge fan of FDG since the early days of Copper Dragon Tiles.
@@deanm375 no offense at all. For a miniature to print well it's 50% engineering of the sculpt for the intended print method, 50% settings. If a sculptor doesn't design for tolerances of the mechanical printer (such as ensuring parts that need support are engineered to be mechanically strong enough to withstand separation of the support) there's no amount of slicer setting adjustment that can fix that. :)
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Thanks Tom. I appreciate the feedback. I just purchased some .2m nozzles for my Anycubic Mega S hoping to improve my print quality. I'm going to try an duplicate some of the settings you were mentioning on Bambu A1. I've used the settings you spoke about several months ago to improve mini printing and I got decent results. Hoping the .2mm nozzle improves it.Thanks.
Thanks so much for posting this. I'm really excited to start pringing miniatures, and our A! just arrived yesterday. With that in mind, you mentioned that you had a profile coming out for the A1 "soon". Any idea when "soon" is? In the meantime, can I use the A1 mini profile on the A1? Thanks again!
Hey Tom, question on you choosing .08mm vs. .06mm height on the .20mm nozzle. Do you find the difference is immaterial or issues arise? You're doing such great work and your presentation/public speaking is top notch. Thanks again sir!
Thanks! My X1Carbon will arrive any day now. Do you have any plans for profiles for it? I'll definitely take a stab at your A1 Mini profile ad tweak it. I'd be glad to share my findings back to you.
I get better quality than that with the .4 nozzle. With the .2 all I get is more trouble with jamming than it is worth. Set you .4 to fine in Bambu studio and then use the flow rate calibration, and you will get incredibly smooth and detailed prints. Oh and using Bambu matte filament, I don’t even see layer lines in my prints with the hear bed at 70c and the print them at 220c.
Would have been good if you had: * how to open that screen with filament settings * how to save and name the settings (that weird system was a bit of a surprise) Why not use a 0.06mm profile? It would be have been good to end it on the topic of supports as that is such an important thing for 3d printting. / From a beginner at FDM and Bambu Lab
The download link for the profile includes a PDF instruction document that tells you exactly how to import the settings to Bambu Studio step-by-step. The video is not intended to be an introduction/tutorial for how to use Bambu Studio, that would be a completely separate topic I might do someday. .08 produces a better print surface. Finally, none of the models I design require supports, so no need for me to create settings for them. If you want support settings, ask the creator of the model you are using what they recommend for their design, it will vary from model to model.
I am very curious to hear what you think about the bambu labs pla. Just ordered an A1 (not mini) with some bambu labs filament. :) You said that it wasnt as good but is it better with your profile? Availability of the other brands around here is minimal... Great video! Will definitely try out the profile!
Can you consider doing a mini printing video for your Bambu on non-FDM mini models? Say something from Epic minis or Titan Forge? I really want to understand how to maximize results on a FDM printer.
Everything I design/sell at FDG is purposely optimized for FDM printers so there's no need for me to do so. There's nothing stopping other companies from conducting their own tests and making videos for their customers on how to print their products, just like I do for mine.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Fair enough. Your videos have recently focused on FDM printers vs FDM minis. I understand your focus, but it would be helpful to have optimizations for FDM printers. Thanks so much
![How to Print AMAZING FDM Miniatures! | A Complete Guide to FDM 3d Printed Minis [2024]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UDxM9VsQrtM/mqdefault.jpg)
You can’t even imagine how long I’ve been waiting for a minis printing video like that about A1 mini. Now there’s not even a doubt it will be my first 3d printer
Bro 1000% understand. I been interested in the A1 Mini but not completely sure, now I have 2 about to be paid for with the smaller tip
for a fdm printer, these look really great!, ofc resin would give you higher quality stuff, but the amount of safety and post-pro it needs is not for everyone
great video too! thanks a lot
That absolutely is a game changer! already saw another video from another youtuber who has got amazing results with your settings and already printed dozens of incredible looking minis
i guess its also possible to print minis who are not exclusive modelled for fdm printing, just need some tinkering with support settings
no toxic fumes, no isoprol, no need to heat resin, no extra space needed for curing and washing station, thats a long list of + for me and many others
Which RUclipsr?
The Creality K1 is about four times the speed of the Ender 5 Pro and the latter much faster then the Snapmaker 1. The K1 is another option for ease of use.
@@trivalentclan-mizar9591 nope, not for printing gaming miniatures.
loriborn, he hs like 100-200 subs@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors
The youtubers name is loriborn, he has 160 subs or so
Thank you for your work on these profiles. I’m so glad to see you expand into Bambu.
I always appreciate your work and I support every kickstarter you launch.
Thank you!
This has reinvigorated my interest in 3D printing. I got into resin a few years ago but never got comfortable with it and it eventually kind of caused me to forget about modeling and printing. Thank you as always for the incredible work you do for the community.
Just picked up a Bambu a1, I’m really pleased with it as well. Glad I waited a couple of years before I got into fdm
Just want to leave a comment that I appreciate the work you have put into this.
Thank you so much for this! I am super new to 3d printing and don't have a ton of time to tinker right now. I've experimented with your settings and the default bambu and yours are amazing. Thanks for sharing!
I'm glad they helped! :)
Really great video and settings. This is my first 3D printer and so I purchased the profile; it was perfect for getting me started with my A1 mini for printing miniatures.
I've played about with the settings some more and found some improvements for fine details I wanted to share:
Layer height 0.06 mm
Initial layer height 0.2 mm (improves adhesion issues I was having)
Outer wall 0.17 mm
Wall generator Arachne, with min wall width 30% and min feature size 20% (the wall width changes are key and this showed better behavior than classic in my tests)
I also had to play around with the filament settings a bit as I was getting significant stringing even with Sunlu Meta at your default settings. I reduced temp to 210, put retraction to 5 mm and retraction speed to 45 mm/s (as suggested in a blog post created by Sunlu on their website) and this has mostly solved the issue.
If you were interested in trying these settings I'd love to hear how you find the results. I'm getting phenomenally detailed prints for FDM with them. Thanks for getting me started with your awesome guide!
Love my A1 so much that an A1 mini (space and wanted to try out the AMS) is coming next week and it will be doing double duty in son's 6-8 grade class. Thanks so much for working on these profiles and figuring this out. I resin print, but the more I can do with FDM, the happier I am.
Resin is such a messy process - printing, cleaning, washing, drying. And you don't always notice you have a failure until it's too late. And with FDM you can pretty much handle the end product straight away without worrying that toxins are leaking in to your skin. I love the quality of resin but everything else about it sucks.
Arachne has issues with tiny details on the walls, regardless of the print. It's not so much an issue with the process itself, but if you have a lot of fine details, you want to use the Classic still.
Huh I've been printing super high detail 75mm minis on my p1s and haven't noticed anything weird with details on robes or armor
There settings for Arachne to increase the minimum detail size. With this bumped down to super small numbers, you get much better details. The default values are set to smooth out small details, to keep gcode size down apparently. Bollocks if you ask me.
I need to compare to the classic wall setting, that I have not done yet.
I really appreciate your videos on this topic, it's given me the confidence to jump into the hobby knowing there's community support for beginners. Thanks!
Thanks for watching! :)
Just want to give a big thanks to you! I stumbled on your channel many years ago and used your advice and ender 3 profiles to get into 3d printing. Was so helpful then and it’s amazing to see these results you’re getting now! Thanks again for your expert advice!
Have been printing terrain 24/7 on my A1s over the last few weeks, the 0.4 nozzle at 0.08LH is almost completely without layer lines but the tolerance for horizontal resolution is higher vs on minis. A few 0.2 nozzles should be arriving tomorrow and excited to try the profile, thank you for sharing great info!
i was always interested in 3d printing, but the resin printers were simply too much hassle for me: they need too much space (because all the extra stations you need) and the toxic fumes were also a big thing that prevented me from getting into it.
with this printer it looks pretty easy to print some minis with good results. and the prize looks also good. i think machines like this could be the breakthrough, to make 3d printing more accesable for people. i always wanted to create my own bits to modify my minis or even create some completly new ones. and i have seen so many cool minis from designers out there i always wanted to to try out. this printer could make it possible.
Many resin printer are even smaller than FDM printers, the "toxic fumes" are almost a myth specially with new resins, and you dont need more "work stations" than a pot of clean water and a UV lamp (or simply the sun).
Awesome work - I agree I spent years tuning various printers for FDM minis - and the a1 mini got the same if not better results with almost 0 tuning - friggin amazing
Well, thanks for forcing me to finally bite the bullet and jump into the Bambu A1! Never wanted to deal with resin and the toxicity, space, and cost (of peripheral tools and such) requirements, and was really tempted by the A1 when I saw Fauxhammer review it. This pushed me over the edge!
Just to be clear, this video is on the A1 MINI, not the full size A1, there are differences in print quality between them.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Ah, I figured the quality difference between them was negligible, but is the A1 worse for minis, due to the larger print volume, or better than the A1 Mini? Haven’t actually picked between the two yet, but I figured the A1 just offered an overall better experience. Might opt for the mini if it’s likely better for smaller prints.
@@Loriborn a single z screw is better than dual (they can 'fight' each other) and also the Mini has a linear rail for the Z axis, that combined with the smaller bed (less Y axis inertia) is giving better results on miniatures in my testing. I'll be posting a video on the full size A1 print quality in a few weeks once I finish all of my testing.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrorsI appreciate the response! I did end up opting for the Mini based on these findings, and since this is my sole intended use case, but I did grab some of Bambu's own PLA basic filament. I noticed there weren't any test images of custom profile with the Bambu filament in the video. Is there a significant difference in print quality between the Sunlu Meta and the Bambu Labs PLA basic with the custom profile? I figured I'd ask as the former is still on sale for the time being.
@@Loriborn yes, the difference between the two filaments is pretty significant when printing minis. Stick with Sunlu PLA Meta or Hatchbox PLA (standard, not plus) for minis.
Sunlu PLA Meta is my go-to PLA as well, been using it almost a year. Keep up the good content, I basically learned the entire trade of printing minis from you when I started.
Hi,
Do you print the Sunlu meta at the profile temp or the lower temp recommended by Sunlu?
I understand they differ?
@@TheDarkplace I print at 195, going lower I noticed the layer adhesion suffers. Do not confuse PLA with PLA Meta, they are different.
Filaments matter a lot. Speed and layer height matters a lot. I've been getting decent results on 0.2 nozzle, 0.04 and 0.06 layer height.
Arachne slicer is always good. You can lower external wall thickness by 1/4 (0.16) in order to improve overall quality, but be warry that it can result in underextrusion with some extreme angles. Compare classic+arachne line thickness in slicer to see what's up with the mini you liked more.
I use sunlu pla+ instead of meta. It just feels that with higher temp I have better control over flow.
Set minimal layer time for ~10 seconds maybe to help with top thin parts
Just in time with the Kickstarter villagers drop. Time to get some Meta and make some dragon fodder. Thank you for all you do Tom.
Really great video - thank you for the effort working out the print profile with the 0.2 nozzle.
I really wish I'd waited a few more years before getting into 3d printing, these modern machines are making my temperamental and unreliable Ender 3 look worthless and obsolete.
yeah its nuts how good the new stuff is, I have a couple of p1ps, and coming from an ender 3 as well, being able to slice on my computer, hit print, it wirelessly going to my printer and never having to mess with bed leveling or anything has been amazing. plus it'll print something that takes my ender 3 24 hours in like 6
It is
I retired my ender3 last year. They were not designed to last forever. Like your phone.
He's done his life, it's time to move on 👍 technology goes forward
Retired my ender 3 last month I get my bl A1 next Wednesday
Wow great to see. I’m loving my a1 mini. I got a 0.2mm nozzle with the mega combo but not tried it out yet. You’ve given me new motivation to try it out!
Thank you SO much! I got my mini a couple of weeks ago and was really disappointed that all of the mini figure profiles were for all the Bambu printers except for the mini.
This was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for all your hard work tweaking the settings!
I'm glad it helped you! A part 2 for this video is coming soon with even better settings :)
I just picked up an a1 mini, orinted a couple of items and its prints are surprisingly smooth out of the box
Very helpful indeed. Great that you will continue to share your updated profiles and share them.
Will be trying this on my P1s! I have a resin printer, but hate dealing with the mess and failed prints, at least compared to my FDM printing journey.
Normal the bambu needs more heat because the speed. When you print slower you can lower the temp i read in forums.
It would of course be interesting to find out whether the settings would also work on the A1.
I've found that the Polymaker PolyTerra line of filament produces buttery smooth prints. Layer lines are practically nonexistent unless inspected closely.
your in-depth review just convided me to get an a1 mini and sunlu meta, will be downloading your profile as soon as I receive them. Keep up the amazing work!
Great! Don't forget to order a .2mm nozzle too :)
Maybe the temperature issues are down to the ambient temperatures of the individual rooms you and your friends have the printers in?
Also, have you tried aiming a fan across the print bed surface to see if that helps any? I know with their bigger printers you can get a fan that does that and it is supposed to help improve quality by cooling the printed filament quicker.
Bought an X1C earkier this year, but also just bought an A1-mini just for minis. Thanks a lot for the tips! I will download your settings to stay current.
Brilliant work, like everyone else I really admire and appreciate the work investigating and creating these profiles.
Thank you so much for all your efforts and hard work! I have tried out your printer settings, in combination with Sunlu PLA Meta, on my Bambu Lab P1S. I tried an Ork mini from Puppetswar Miniatures and it turn out marvelous. My ever growing Ork army will be thanking you and I will integrate the "fat dragon" somehow into it :)
Thanks. Try one of my miniatures when you get a chance :)
I’m someone who got into 3d printing for minis, I got an A1 mini recently and I have a couple questions for you
1) how does overture’s matte filament compare to the Sunlu pla meta
2) I noticed you use grey for all your prints, is there a reason for that or just personal preference?
3) what are your thoughts on using supports when printing minis? Is it worth it? Or does it ruin the quality too much?
I’m very excited for this, I think a huge amount of my obsession with FDM printed minis is due to your original Cura videos but obviously swapping to a P1P it didn’t transfer spectacularly.
I’m also excited to test out your fix for the Meta PLA overhangs, I really enjoyed that filament but ended up avoiding any prints with harsh overhangs with it for just that reason.
Besides my advice below I want to thank you for your skeletons about 5 years ago you put up. I still have those , they came out good on my mini delta which still stand up to todays scrutiny and I do DLP resin printing as well. I have 3 bambus by the way if you need another tester......
Thank you as always, you have made invaluable contributions for the hobby!! I am looking forward to the full size A1 video :-)
Thank you. I've been looking at printers and I want to do miniatures, but I have kids and pets and chemical sensitivities myself so have worried about resin. I think I now know what my birthday present is going to be.
I don't use resin printers for the same reasons, so this printer (and .2mm nozzle) has been an incredible purchase for me :)
Nice video. I really want to get a Bambu Lab A1 after seeing your video...
I am still testing the A1 for minis. So far it's not quite matching the A1 Mini.
Damn. I just pulled the plug earler today on the a... and then came across your channel and video on the a1 mini w .2 mm nozzle.. I am hopeful it will come somewhat close w tweaking.
These videos are so great. My one-stop-shop for things 3D
Thank you for watching! :)
Wow, just saw this video last night, downloaded the profile and bam, realllllly nice miniatures. So happy I found this video Nd thanks for sharing the profile!
Glad it helped!
I will never go back to FDM to printing minis after discover the resin, but for bigs projects, like terrain or vehicles, a would really lika a good FDM printer.
Your friends probably have their printers in different temp rooms. I had to adjust when i switched the room my printer was in
Gonna like and sub just for this video.
Really needed a good FDM printer for minis cause I have no room nor want to handle a resin printer, and I want to get into OPR since it seems like the most reasonable way for me to get into a large scale sci-fi wargame that isn't GW, but wasn't having any luck for a while as I search the RUclips for videos on the subject matter.
Was honestly gonna give up the idea of printing minis until I came across this video.
Thank you, Fat Dragon Games and the Tomb of 3D Printed Horrors!
Thanks!
Now that I've got an A1 Mini, I've bought your settings files and I appreciate all the work that went into them!
I'd love to have some settings for supports, though. Do you plan to work on that, or do you know anyone who has figured out how to get some good supports that are easier to remove? They basically ruin the back of my print at this point.
watching with tremendous interest... my Bambu Labs P1P will arrive in a month or so.
Looking forward to trying this profile. Thanks.
Great video, looking forward to seeing your test results regarding the quality difference between A1 and mini for minis before I buy my printer.
Thanks for all you do . Great help over the years . Especially if your new .
Glad to help :)
Multicolor is my dream as a bad painter T.T
Bamboo is killing it.
Buying this printer is because of you. And bought the Ender year ago.
I just ordered mine. Suuuper excited
Fantastic video, this is awesome, for USD 299.00 you get table quality minis. Sure these are not high quality 8K resin prints, but you also don't have the overhead of goop, chemicals, fumes, wash stations, curing stations, waste etc. Quick and dirty!
For the next two weeks the A1 Mini is only $199!
Great video as usual. Thanks! Please keep them coming.
I already have a P1S and ive trying to decide for a while if i should get an AMS or the A1 mini combo. And now that my play group is starting a campaign for the first in DnD im definitely going to get the A1 mini combo, thanks so much for such an informative video. Now i need to go through and watch all your other videos.
Running one at home and one at work, Thanks a lot for the help...
Your description for the video is just me 😆
Hello, thanks so much for the profiles, just testing it out!
Keep up the great work Tom!
NICE VIDEO, detailed and informative with out filler. I'm subscribing
Thanks! :)
Nice work sir.
Thank you! :)
This may be a daft question ..... would these settings also work on its bigger brother the A1? I am new to the hobby and currently look at the A1 because of the lager print space for other cool stuff I find but my main focus would be miniatures . Thanks in advance for any responses.
Thanks for your knowledge share Tom!
Thank you Tom! This helped my buying decision. GREAT CONTENT
Thank you for being a so good resource on all things 3d!
Maybe the thinner wall from the Arachne generator is more subject to Deformation from shrinkage.
Just bought one. I have or will soon at least have two printers. Ender 3 v3 SE and the A1 mini w/AMS. Pretty excited. Both are "budget" printers but I feel like the feature rich A1 mini wins hands down.
I have both and the A1 Mini is, by far, the best 3D printer I have ever tested.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Both choices were actually inspired by your channel. I think something understated for some is that as much as I would like a resin printer I live in an apartment and it isn't feasible in a safety sense. So having something that's close enough to a resin printer while not needing to deal with the amount of cleaning and the fumes of a resin printer is a godsend.
I'm struggling with support scarring still, using these settings. Anyone have any recommendations? Are you using tree supports, and are you modifying the parameters at all to reduce scarring? Or just dealing with it via clever orientation?
None of my models require supports.
Question. Why are you using Inner / outer wall settings. For precision dimensional accuracy using Outer/Inner settings would be preferable. It would seem that maintaining that beard or SHELL details would be an outside wall dimension that needed to be maintained. If you have tried this already sorry for repeating what you have tried.......
Lovely, thanks for yet another very informative and helpful video!
This is super handy! cant wait to give it a try (although ill be trying with Bambu filament for the moment)
Great video. I've been looking forward to seeing your results. I bought an A-1 mini on your recommendation and it's on the way. Can't wait. Thanks very much for all of the hard work you do for the community. It is much appreciated. Do you have plans to release any new minis for use with this printer and those settings?
Yep! Keep an eye out for our upcoming Kickstarter :)
Outstanding!@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Yahoo! Take my money please!]
Amazing job, keep up the awesome work. Thanks
This is cool; might be time to get into printing.
I didn't think FDM printers would get to this point. I had a resign 3D printer, printed great, but the fumes were just too much for me and I sent it back after 30 days. I have a Prusa MK3S+. I've been looking at the enclosed printer that Bambu makes, the Carbon X1 I think. If enough FDM printers get to this point I bet more models will specifically made for FDM printers.
Thank you, this answers so many questions I had!
These looks REALLY good! I'm getting more and more tempted upgrading my Ender 3 v2 to an A1.
But have you tried fuzzy skin? I do it sometimes on my Ender and it removes the layer lines quite well giving it a bit of a rougher look, kind of like dither in digital audio/image where you use noise to remove quantization errors, ie the clear levels you get when there's not enough bit depth, so the same as in 3D printing when you get lines when the layer height is not low enough :)
Same exact issues with Arachne vs Classic wall here ... haven't seen a good explanation for it. .....you can see it in the layers preview so now that I know about it I'm trying to train my brain on what to look for. Hatchbox won't get any more of my money, I want to like them, we have a good history ....but nothing has been coming out clean lately from brand new filament dessicant dried in anboven for a week prior. Thanks for the tip on Meta filament from Sunlu... I was getting ready to test Anycubics fast pla so maybe I'll compare and repost. Cheers all.
I have printed on the A1 Mini with Sunlu Meta and from my tests it is significantly worse than my current favorite Jayo High Speed filament. I believe Sunlu and Jayo are the same, but Jayo comes in 1.1 kg rolls for the same price. I tested using the Goblinoid models used in the video which will be my new go to test model. I suspect other High Speed filaments may produce good results. I also love the dark grey colour it makes the other greys look insipid.
Have you used 0.2 mm nozzle previously with other printers? I'm interested in what's result of smaller nozzle in general and what Bambu Lab brings in 🤔
It's interesting to see how much -better- different the meta filament looks. We obviously need _Wargamer_ (Fauxhammer loves that resin) type of matte miniature filament 😅
Yes, check out my Ender-2 Pro video on the .2mm nozzle. It does great, but not as good as the Bambu A1 Mini.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Coming back to A1 Mini: We have resin printer (Mars 4 9k after Voxelab Proxima 2k display went bad and replacement was even worse) and modified Voxelab Aquila (Ender 3 V2 clone with dual Z lead screws, Orbiter 2 extruder and A1 nozzle and heating block for easy/fast swaps and Octoprint).
Printing, even with A1 0.2 nozzle, didn't bring good results for my son's gunpla parts (guns, accessories, service platforms etc) and for some reason A1 nozzle made it seem as if 1st layer came closer every print - though heating block and BL-touch are rigidly mounted. Of course resin is superior, even mandatory for 1:144 human figures, but workflow is different, messy, random reasons, etc... So I bit the bullet and bought A1 Mini from summer sale for his use.
Results? Powder-coated bed is not super-adhesive for small footprints (not exclusive to A1), supported surfaces are not too clean (not exclusive to A1) and it poops fair amount of filament before printing (no AMS, but it doesn't know if nozzle might have been changed?), but otherwise it's easier to use, 1st layer is always pretty good and print quality with 0.2 nozzle, default profile and generic PLA, is closer to resin that I thought it could. And it is ridiculously fast when it gets up to speed :)
It doesn't make me Bambu Lab convert in general, but being practical, A1 Mini prints really, really good 👍
According to their web site, the A1 mini is $459. For me, as someone looking to buy my first printer that’s significantly more than the $300 shown in the video. Disappointing. I’ve pretty much determined I’m going to start with an Egaloo Mars 2 Pro resin printer.
I’d rather have the speed and relatively safety if FDM but I’m mainly interested in minis at this point. Still researching though. You did a great job pushing this printer to the max though!
The base A1 Mini *IS* $299, you were looking at the A1 Mini and AMS combo package.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Thanks for the super quick reply!
Are you using a flat PEI sheet or a textures one? Textured should help. Bumping up the temp of the first layer also usually helps with bed adhesion. With other printers I find that just printing slow and hot for just 1 layer is enough. I used to do slow first layer prints for 4 layers just like you, but 1 does the job and speeds things up no end.
Thanks for the profile.
Such a great video. Thanks Tom. One thing I would like to know is how your settings work on non- FDG minis, I.E. minis that are not optimized for FDM printing and need greater supports.
You need to ask those designers for their recommended settings, I can only provide tech support for my own products.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Got it. Sorry if my question offended you. Wasn't my intention. Been a huge fan of FDG since the early days of Copper Dragon Tiles.
@@deanm375 no offense at all. For a miniature to print well it's 50% engineering of the sculpt for the intended print method, 50% settings. If a sculptor doesn't design for tolerances of the mechanical printer (such as ensuring parts that need support are engineered to be mechanically strong enough to withstand separation of the support) there's no amount of slicer setting adjustment that can fix that. :)
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Thanks Tom. I appreciate the feedback. I just purchased some .2m nozzles for my Anycubic Mega S hoping to improve my print quality. I'm going to try an duplicate some of the settings you were mentioning on Bambu A1. I've used the settings you spoke about several months ago to improve mini printing and I got decent results. Hoping the .2mm nozzle improves it.Thanks.
@@deanm375 for the Anycubic Mega S, I'd recommend my Cura Ender .2mm nozzle settings as a better starting point.
Thanks so much for posting this. I'm really excited to start pringing miniatures, and our A! just arrived yesterday. With that in mind, you mentioned that you had a profile coming out for the A1 "soon". Any idea when "soon" is? In the meantime, can I use the A1 mini profile on the A1?
Thanks again!
Hey Tom, question on you choosing .08mm vs. .06mm height on the .20mm nozzle. Do you find the difference is immaterial or issues arise? You're doing such great work and your presentation/public speaking is top notch. Thanks again sir!
.08 will produce cleaner miniatures, .06 does worse on overhangs and has more surface defects.
Thanks! My X1Carbon will arrive any day now. Do you have any plans for profiles for it? I'll definitely take a stab at your A1 Mini profile ad tweak it. I'd be glad to share my findings back to you.
Nope, I can only develop profiles for printers I own.
Love your videos! Thanks for doing this.
I get better quality than that with the .4 nozzle. With the .2 all I get is more trouble with jamming than it is worth.
Set you .4 to fine in Bambu studio and then use the flow rate calibration, and you will get incredibly smooth and detailed prints.
Oh and using Bambu matte filament, I don’t even see layer lines in my prints with the hear bed at 70c and the print them at 220c.
I've had to manually input because I can't transfer the profile from A1 mini to P1P, going to test it out now
Would have been good if you had:
* how to open that screen with filament settings
* how to save and name the settings (that weird system was a bit of a surprise)
Why not use a 0.06mm profile?
It would be have been good to end it on the topic of supports as that is such an important thing for 3d printting.
/ From a beginner at FDM and Bambu Lab
The download link for the profile includes a PDF instruction document that tells you exactly how to import the settings to Bambu Studio step-by-step. The video is not intended to be an introduction/tutorial for how to use Bambu Studio, that would be a completely separate topic I might do someday.
.08 produces a better print surface.
Finally, none of the models I design require supports, so no need for me to create settings for them. If you want support settings, ask the creator of the model you are using what they recommend for their design, it will vary from model to model.
thanks for sharing you knowledge, but let me ask something,...and what about support?
None of the miniatures I design require slicer supports so there's no need for me to develop settings for them. :)
What you've done for the 3D printing community is fantastic. I would like to know how long these models took to print. Thanks.
Each one is different, the cleric was around 90 minutes IIRC.
Cheers
My Bambu Lab P1S prints decent mini's too.
Great information and presentation.
I am very curious to hear what you think about the bambu labs pla. Just ordered an A1 (not mini) with some bambu labs filament. :) You said that it wasnt as good but is it better with your profile? Availability of the other brands around here is minimal...
Great video! Will definitely try out the profile!
Check out my recent video comparing PLA brands, Bambu is one.
Can you consider doing a mini printing video for your Bambu on non-FDM mini models? Say something from Epic minis or Titan Forge? I really want to understand how to maximize results on a FDM printer.
Everything I design/sell at FDG is purposely optimized for FDM printers so there's no need for me to do so. There's nothing stopping other companies from conducting their own tests and making videos for their customers on how to print their products, just like I do for mine.
@@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors Fair enough. Your videos have recently focused on FDM printers vs FDM minis. I understand your focus, but it would be helpful to have optimizations for FDM printers. Thanks so much
when i slice the model, an error says line weight is too small. what to do?
Very cool. Now i want to get this instead if a reain printer!