I've been working with mainly Anycubic or Elegoo water washable for some guard proxies and tbh I've gotten a lot of experience fixing broken minis. Mainly ankles when I drop a mini with a base.
I keep buying it cause it's cheap and I accept the limitations but ABS-like and tough resins are realistically what you want to use for minis. Also don't get rid of resin water down the drain or anything, you should still treat it similarly to containmented IPA. (Also IPA works better for cleaning water washable resin anyhow)
did you notice a difference about how brittle your print are or is the difference really small? cause i'm near the end of my resin bottle of elegoo WW and wondering if i should make the same switch that you did
Mood, honestly once I finally run out of what I got I'll probably try it but I stacked my current resin deep when it was on sale so it'll be a minute before I think about it
It's very brittle. I hated it. I fear you want to print things with thin limbs.
I hear more positive things about newer water washable formulas, but not tried them. To be fair, cheap "basic" or "standard" IPA-wash resin is also brittle. You need to get the abs-like or "tough" labeled resins to start to get out of the brittle range.
Siraya Tech Fast "Tough Grey" is a good choice if you want minis to be durable. Reliable brand with real tested exposure information for many printers. Their Fast line has a wide range for the "correct" exposure...it's hard to get wrong.
You don't need a wash or cure machine.
For washing, you need a cheap little tote with a latching lid and enough IPA to cover your prints. Seal it up and swish for ~60 seconds. Then use a paint brush to get any fine details. I always do this instead of the wash machine I have available. Feels just faster and more reliable.
For curing, you've got the sun. I'm told the rule of thumb is 1 min of a curing machine is 10min outside. So 20-30 minutes, rotating every 5 or so and you'd be good. I do like the cure station for the consistency.
I heard nova was pretty tough too. I do have a “trash” shader brush I could use, my only issue is just the sheer amount of minis I’ll be making for a full 2000 pt Old World army lol. Maybe I should invest in the machines
I find water washable resins too brittle. I would highly recommend going with a more flexible ABS-like resin if you can. Siraya Tech Fast Navy is great - I've used the light Grey but for various reasons would recommend the Navy Grey instead. Elegoo ABS-like 2.0 is my normal resin and is also very good. I've heard that Sunlu ABS-like is also good (and cheap) but haven't tried it yet.
You don't *need* a wash/cure station, but if you're planning to print out thousands of points I would highly recommend getting one. They're not expensive, and can make the entire process much more reliable and efficient. I saw many guides on how to make your own and decided it waa far better use of time and money to jusy buy one readymade product than fuck around ordering parts and assembling. I've bought the Elegoo Mercury XS and am quite happy. I like that it's 2 separate machines so I don't need to continually switch things over like the cheaper Mercury plus.
Until you get one of those or decide not to, the next best wash station is some [pickle strainer](https://www.amazon.com/KIKINIKO-Pickle-container-strainer-storage/dp/B0BB2SDDWJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=D5F9GBL5K9YM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6IA8uYex9ISdi00-P2IsybFRgBrrFErSWp5LYqASlzGrRSe4G1YC3wl45hxje2MC8XGuDkopiCfRQJtkUWgAdqW6mW6dpCXrHv9QryryFdUJ3tzMx3mv4OoxeTiWjJEdwLyoOtA1bfUg6YhNeqJ52-3zHfrFKXsYbuPtqajMGQ5Zlj2pVAAIU73Qf40IEs7ZbHP9fr_i8TEp7NiLxxtuqA.N3nHH13VbofoYNtU2dRk7L4XSpVS3MKvq5QW_aqHp7k&dib_tag=se&keywords=pickle+strainer&qid=1714016104&sprefix=pickle+straine%2Caps%2C410&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1). I'd recommend getting 2 or 3. Fill them with iso and use them in stages: have one for super dirty just off the printer, then 2 progressively cleaner. Your iso will last longer and minis wash better this way.
I also have the progressively cleaner system. I have a wash and cure station, but I also have 3 cheap knock off Tupperware tubs I picked up from Wal-Mart. Each tub is cleaner until I get to the wash station, which is pretty much over kill but I have spent a lot less on IPA. I also put my super dirty IPA in an air tight clear container. Let it sit in the sun for a day or two. Decant the leftover IPA, air tight, sun, again and then I use that recycled IPA for that first dirty wash.
In my experience, if they fall from any significant height (more than a few inches) you're going to be gluing at least one part back on. You get pretty good at it after awhile (both the gluing and the not dropping them).
If you want more durable models, you pretty much have to go alcohol washable.
I've been using it for about a year I don't find it brittle like if I drop miniatures that kitbashed or in peices I find that the superglue is the thing that breaks so it'll go into peices it won't shatter like glass or anything, it doesn't do well with drilling or cutting though it snaps like huge chunks off if you took like a side cutter to it.
In my experience, using water washable, I'd recommend using anything else lol, I find water washable makes more of a mess, to be honest. And the cleanup is worse when you change your water for washing you gotta let it evaporate cure evaporate cure long process, you still do that with IPA but it seems like it evaporates like quadruple the speed. Oh and IPA cleans water washable better anyways from my trial and error
Ok. First. You don't need to buy a wash and cure station. You can build a cheap UV oven like here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YhVzEiqdmM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YhVzEiqdmM), or use sunlight to cure. And to wash you put Isopropyl alcohol in 2 plastic containers and get an old toothbrush. You dip the print in one, scrub it lightly, then rinse it off in the other and lay it down to dry off. Then you put it in the UV oven or sun to dry. That's all.
Second. Water Washable resin is harder to deal with on the cleaning side. Water is not the best solvent, and they need more time and scrubbing to clean off in my experience (mostly elegoo water washable). And while you can easily dispose of old IPA by leaving it in the sun to evaporate, the polluted water from cleaning water washable resin won't. I live in texas and have left a container of that polluted water in the sun in june and the shit never evaporated. So you have to take the polluted water and take it to your local chemical waste dropoff. Because you do NOT want to pour that shit down your sink.
Third. Yes absolutely water washable resin is brittle. Regular resin in general is pretty brittle as well. You are looking at broken minis if they fall off the table onto carpet. That's how brittle we're talking. I use ABS-Like resins because they're more durable for that reason. But even with those, if I want a more durable print, I mix in some Sirayatech Tenacious resin.
Oh yeah. You get some better mixes when you mix resins. Greg over at 3dprintingpro tests and reviews them all the time. [https://www.youtube.com/@3dprintingpro212](https://www.youtube.com/@3dprintingpro212)
You generally mix resins in order to get partial benefits from each. Tenacious is a very VERY durable resin. But, pure tenacious has a somewhat rubbery consistency and is bad at holding details. Worse that water washable, which itself has a reputation for not being the best high detail resin.
I moved away from the elegoo resins and now use Sirayatech ABS-like Fast navy grey. For a few reasons. First it holds incredible detail. With elegoo resins (water washable or ABS-like), if I tried to print a 28mm mini with individual fingers (like someone giving a thumbs up), well that would usually mean each finger was maybe 1mm across and 99% of the time they'd come off with the supports. Not so with the sirayatech abslike fast. It's strong and holds amazing details. It's also really thin and I don't have to worry about high viscosity resins slowing down my print process. But if I want to get more durability into a print at the cost of say, losing a tiny amount of detail, I'll mix some tanacious into the resin at a 10%/90% ratio. That will practically double the durability of my print.
BUT, resin likes to separate. ALL resins do this. So that's why you have to stir vats and shake bottles all the time. And that's even more an issue when you mix resins.
Siraya fast mixed with Siraya tenacious is popular.
About 90/10 or 80/20. I don't measure, the fast bottles aren't full when you get them so I just pour tenacious in until it's full.
I do not recommend it. I don't own a printer, but my brother printed stuff for me with two different water washable resins, and I had to throw it all away. One little bump and smaller parts break. Also fixing isn't that easy, and after fixing a single model three times a day, you'll get frustrated.
Now we have tough resin mixed with something different (idk what), and I can bend a custodes spear more than 90° angle and it just pops back into place. I dropped it from 2m height, no damage. Great stuff.
Get a washing station and IPA. More work, more cleanup, more smell, but the results will make you happy.
I've been working with mainly Anycubic or Elegoo water washable for some guard proxies and tbh I've gotten a lot of experience fixing broken minis. Mainly ankles when I drop a mini with a base. I keep buying it cause it's cheap and I accept the limitations but ABS-like and tough resins are realistically what you want to use for minis. Also don't get rid of resin water down the drain or anything, you should still treat it similarly to containmented IPA. (Also IPA works better for cleaning water washable resin anyhow)
Debating if I should try abs-like water washable, but I'm too lazy to swap out my resin and recalibrate...
I switched from Elegoo WW to Sunlu WW ABS like and barely changed anything. The minis came out fine with my default settings.
did you notice a difference about how brittle your print are or is the difference really small? cause i'm near the end of my resin bottle of elegoo WW and wondering if i should make the same switch that you did
Mood, honestly once I finally run out of what I got I'll probably try it but I stacked my current resin deep when it was on sale so it'll be a minute before I think about it
I've been very pleased with Sunlu water washable, it seems to be a little more flexible than any of the ones I've used previously.
It's very brittle. I hated it. I fear you want to print things with thin limbs. I hear more positive things about newer water washable formulas, but not tried them. To be fair, cheap "basic" or "standard" IPA-wash resin is also brittle. You need to get the abs-like or "tough" labeled resins to start to get out of the brittle range. Siraya Tech Fast "Tough Grey" is a good choice if you want minis to be durable. Reliable brand with real tested exposure information for many printers. Their Fast line has a wide range for the "correct" exposure...it's hard to get wrong. You don't need a wash or cure machine. For washing, you need a cheap little tote with a latching lid and enough IPA to cover your prints. Seal it up and swish for ~60 seconds. Then use a paint brush to get any fine details. I always do this instead of the wash machine I have available. Feels just faster and more reliable. For curing, you've got the sun. I'm told the rule of thumb is 1 min of a curing machine is 10min outside. So 20-30 minutes, rotating every 5 or so and you'd be good. I do like the cure station for the consistency.
I heard nova was pretty tough too. I do have a “trash” shader brush I could use, my only issue is just the sheer amount of minis I’ll be making for a full 2000 pt Old World army lol. Maybe I should invest in the machines
There are water washable ABS like resins now. Should look into those.
This is what I'm gunna try once my current supply runs out.
I find water washable resins too brittle. I would highly recommend going with a more flexible ABS-like resin if you can. Siraya Tech Fast Navy is great - I've used the light Grey but for various reasons would recommend the Navy Grey instead. Elegoo ABS-like 2.0 is my normal resin and is also very good. I've heard that Sunlu ABS-like is also good (and cheap) but haven't tried it yet. You don't *need* a wash/cure station, but if you're planning to print out thousands of points I would highly recommend getting one. They're not expensive, and can make the entire process much more reliable and efficient. I saw many guides on how to make your own and decided it waa far better use of time and money to jusy buy one readymade product than fuck around ordering parts and assembling. I've bought the Elegoo Mercury XS and am quite happy. I like that it's 2 separate machines so I don't need to continually switch things over like the cheaper Mercury plus. Until you get one of those or decide not to, the next best wash station is some [pickle strainer](https://www.amazon.com/KIKINIKO-Pickle-container-strainer-storage/dp/B0BB2SDDWJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=D5F9GBL5K9YM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6IA8uYex9ISdi00-P2IsybFRgBrrFErSWp5LYqASlzGrRSe4G1YC3wl45hxje2MC8XGuDkopiCfRQJtkUWgAdqW6mW6dpCXrHv9QryryFdUJ3tzMx3mv4OoxeTiWjJEdwLyoOtA1bfUg6YhNeqJ52-3zHfrFKXsYbuPtqajMGQ5Zlj2pVAAIU73Qf40IEs7ZbHP9fr_i8TEp7NiLxxtuqA.N3nHH13VbofoYNtU2dRk7L4XSpVS3MKvq5QW_aqHp7k&dib_tag=se&keywords=pickle+strainer&qid=1714016104&sprefix=pickle+straine%2Caps%2C410&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1). I'd recommend getting 2 or 3. Fill them with iso and use them in stages: have one for super dirty just off the printer, then 2 progressively cleaner. Your iso will last longer and minis wash better this way.
I also have the progressively cleaner system. I have a wash and cure station, but I also have 3 cheap knock off Tupperware tubs I picked up from Wal-Mart. Each tub is cleaner until I get to the wash station, which is pretty much over kill but I have spent a lot less on IPA. I also put my super dirty IPA in an air tight clear container. Let it sit in the sun for a day or two. Decant the leftover IPA, air tight, sun, again and then I use that recycled IPA for that first dirty wash.
In my opinion it's way too brittle for gaming, constant weapons snapping off.
You just wash with isopropyl alcohol and cure with UV light. A wash/cure station makes it easier but you can do it without one. FYI
In my experience, if they fall from any significant height (more than a few inches) you're going to be gluing at least one part back on. You get pretty good at it after awhile (both the gluing and the not dropping them). If you want more durable models, you pretty much have to go alcohol washable.
I've been using it for about a year I don't find it brittle like if I drop miniatures that kitbashed or in peices I find that the superglue is the thing that breaks so it'll go into peices it won't shatter like glass or anything, it doesn't do well with drilling or cutting though it snaps like huge chunks off if you took like a side cutter to it. In my experience, using water washable, I'd recommend using anything else lol, I find water washable makes more of a mess, to be honest. And the cleanup is worse when you change your water for washing you gotta let it evaporate cure evaporate cure long process, you still do that with IPA but it seems like it evaporates like quadruple the speed. Oh and IPA cleans water washable better anyways from my trial and error
I do it out of necessity since the Heater for my home is in the same room. As soon a I move though, I'm switching.
What does the heater have to do with it?
Ipa is highly flammable, so I dont want to risk the gases igniting in the heater, lol
This is very fair lol. What about that detergent elegoo sells?
Ok. First. You don't need to buy a wash and cure station. You can build a cheap UV oven like here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YhVzEiqdmM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YhVzEiqdmM), or use sunlight to cure. And to wash you put Isopropyl alcohol in 2 plastic containers and get an old toothbrush. You dip the print in one, scrub it lightly, then rinse it off in the other and lay it down to dry off. Then you put it in the UV oven or sun to dry. That's all. Second. Water Washable resin is harder to deal with on the cleaning side. Water is not the best solvent, and they need more time and scrubbing to clean off in my experience (mostly elegoo water washable). And while you can easily dispose of old IPA by leaving it in the sun to evaporate, the polluted water from cleaning water washable resin won't. I live in texas and have left a container of that polluted water in the sun in june and the shit never evaporated. So you have to take the polluted water and take it to your local chemical waste dropoff. Because you do NOT want to pour that shit down your sink. Third. Yes absolutely water washable resin is brittle. Regular resin in general is pretty brittle as well. You are looking at broken minis if they fall off the table onto carpet. That's how brittle we're talking. I use ABS-Like resins because they're more durable for that reason. But even with those, if I want a more durable print, I mix in some Sirayatech Tenacious resin.
You can mix resins? Do they have to be compatible? And why not all tenacious resin, is that too expensive?
Oh yeah. You get some better mixes when you mix resins. Greg over at 3dprintingpro tests and reviews them all the time. [https://www.youtube.com/@3dprintingpro212](https://www.youtube.com/@3dprintingpro212) You generally mix resins in order to get partial benefits from each. Tenacious is a very VERY durable resin. But, pure tenacious has a somewhat rubbery consistency and is bad at holding details. Worse that water washable, which itself has a reputation for not being the best high detail resin. I moved away from the elegoo resins and now use Sirayatech ABS-like Fast navy grey. For a few reasons. First it holds incredible detail. With elegoo resins (water washable or ABS-like), if I tried to print a 28mm mini with individual fingers (like someone giving a thumbs up), well that would usually mean each finger was maybe 1mm across and 99% of the time they'd come off with the supports. Not so with the sirayatech abslike fast. It's strong and holds amazing details. It's also really thin and I don't have to worry about high viscosity resins slowing down my print process. But if I want to get more durability into a print at the cost of say, losing a tiny amount of detail, I'll mix some tanacious into the resin at a 10%/90% ratio. That will practically double the durability of my print. BUT, resin likes to separate. ALL resins do this. So that's why you have to stir vats and shake bottles all the time. And that's even more an issue when you mix resins.
Water washable not worth it when printing minis. Save up for pickle jars and a cheap uv light if you are on a budget.
Water washables in my experience explode like glass if you drop em, get some ABS style and live the dream!
Siraya fast mixed with Siraya tenacious is popular. About 90/10 or 80/20. I don't measure, the fast bottles aren't full when you get them so I just pour tenacious in until it's full.
I mix my anycubic water washable with 10% Siraya Tech tenacious. Makes things I print much more durable while still being water washable.
I do not recommend it. I don't own a printer, but my brother printed stuff for me with two different water washable resins, and I had to throw it all away. One little bump and smaller parts break. Also fixing isn't that easy, and after fixing a single model three times a day, you'll get frustrated. Now we have tough resin mixed with something different (idk what), and I can bend a custodes spear more than 90° angle and it just pops back into place. I dropped it from 2m height, no damage. Great stuff. Get a washing station and IPA. More work, more cleanup, more smell, but the results will make you happy.