So as much as id like to buy all the resins and test them myself, Im not rich. im here asking the community what you all believe to be the best resin at hiding layer lines and which resin holds the most detail in finished prints.
but primarily resins that hide layer lines are most important as it saves work in the sanding+priming process.
I currently bounce between dental model resin and grey.
I will take thoughts and suggestions from anyone but really want to hear from other figure makers.
Given that most of the time you will be painting figurines… the most versatile single resin is Clear. It cures the best, post cures the cleanest, achieves very high detail, and can be used to produce parts that are clear or translucent as you need. That is, you can paint the areas you want opaque- and leave areas you want clear- or use translucent colors on them.
The only issue with clear is that its hard to read the surface of the print until you get a coat of paint on it… so its rich detail is not evidence on first glance.
the other concern is brittleness. So what are you expecting of the figurine?
most of the resins are very brittle… you can try to design around this fragility by modeling in paths for reinforcements…wires you can glue in place… but generally speaking… the the grey resin is liked because it prints well, and finest resolution, and presents a fairly readable opaque surface.
I am going to try to print a figurine in the Rigid- simply because i like the matte surface quality and heavier feel.
I suspect it is less brittle, as well, but have yet to test it.
It won’t print at 0.025- but I have found most prints don’t really need that fine a resolution.
John K42, is this the same problem you are seeing with rounded edges? I didn’t really have a problem with this until I switched from grey V3 to V4, now I find grey is almost useless for .025mm prints.
Well id also want a good surface finish off the print bed for prints that I may not want to paint.
however I will check into clear resin for prints i intend to paint
I Dont really need prints to be rigid or secure as they will just be painted and sitting on a shelf somewhere.
However I had a hunch that the castable resin has the best surface finish. as they are advertised towards jewelry makers? but im not sure what the post work for that resin is beyond IPA dipping and soupy water.
Well… castable is no higher resolution than the clear… and its designed for burnout… so I don’t know how long term stable it is.
I tried it recently for burnout but was not happy with the result… its not as good as making a silicone mold on a high resolution print and casting proper jewelry waxes from that.
I haven’t tried dental yet- but it appears to be more opaque than grey- and if its even a little less brittle- it might be a much better option.
for printing unpainted figurines… your best option will be the one that can print at 0.025 AND has the most flat opaque surface possible.
I find the Grey has enough translucency that the surface is not readily readable without a coat of paint.
Oh- and one of the coolest things you can do with clear— print a from that has a smooth, polishable exterior contour- but the inside of which has a Negative relief of details you want to appear INSIDE of the clear exterior.
You paint the interior side with whatever color detail you want… and from the other side the negative relief appears to be solid objects either embedded in the clear- or, say, behind a clear window.
Guys, I am doing some prints for 0 Scale models, so there are some small parts, thick and thin to be sure. I am fine with the standard grey, it holds the details I am printing, but my biggest gripe with is the brittleness of it. I print, scanned and CAD models, from different programs. Print singles or multiples on the print plate, here are some of mine from my Form2
Just be aware the support or refinement of the position of the object needs to be taken seriously, as well as supports and wall thicknesses. I also found that getting toooo many prints on a resin tray causes print failures and poor quality.
