3D printed miniatures - What to expect and how to care for them
Preparing and caring for your resin:
“ABS like” photocured resin is the industry standard for miniature printing. It combines excellent levels of surface detail, with strength, hardness, and a degree of flexibility (to prevent snapping). Photocured resin will continue to cure when exposed to UV light (including sunlight), the curing process makes the resin harder and less flexible, but also more brittle. The following tips will help you get the most out of your miniature.
Keep resin out of direct sunlight (unless you wish to cure it further.) We advise that miniatures are stored in a lightproof box (such as the one they were shipped in) until you are ready to assemble and paint them.
Store (and work with) resin at room temperature, in extremes of temperature it may become flexible and warp, or become brittle if too cold.
Once assembled, apply a good base coat of primer. This will help protect from further UV exposure, will help with adhesion of paints, as well as providing a good base colour for painting. While we try to ensure that each order is made from the same batch of resin, this is not always possible, and depending on availability the colour of resin may vary from one batch to the next.
We err on the side of under exposing particularly spindly parts (such as spears and swords) in order to protect miniatures during shipping. This makes them slightly more flexible and less prone to snapping in transit. Sometimes this can leave them a little too flexible, if this is the case simply allow the resin to cure further by exposing it to UV light until it becomes a little more rigid. This can be done by using a UV light source if you have access to one, or by leaving in direct sunlight. Be careful not to over expose as this will make the parts brittle, check on them regularly and remove them from the light source as soon as they are rigid enough.
Timings vary depending on the strength of your light source/how sunny it is but a rough recommendation for how often to check on them is as follows:
Artificial UV light source, approx. 30 seconds.
Direct sunlight (depends on where you live, time of year etc), approx. every 30 mins.
On the workbench, exposed to ambient light but not in strong direct sunlight, check one or twice daily.
We tend to remove all supports prior to shipping. However, sometimes we miss some, and other times we intentionally leave some supports to protect parts during shipping. To remove supports, simply submerge the part in warm water (water from most hot taps is perfect), then gently pull away the supports. Alternatively (and especially around delicate parts), supports can be clipped away with a pair of modelling clippers.
If any parts become bent or warped, either during shipping or subsequent storage/use, they can easily be bent back into shape. Simply submerge the part in warm water (as for removing supports above), then gently bend the part back into shape and allow to cool. If after allowing to cool, the part is still too flexible, simply expose it to UV light (see above) in order to make it a little more rigid.
Once painted, miniatures should be pretty well protected from further UV curing, however prolonged exposure to strong UV may still make them brittle (as well as bleaching your carefully applied paint job).