Tabletop miniatures and wargaming figures demand more surface detail than almost anything else people print at home, and that single fact splits the market into two camps. FDM printers melt filament through a nozzle and, with the right settings and a small nozzle, produce genuinely good 28mm to 32mm scale miniatures. Resin printers cure liquid photopolymer with light and resolve detail that FDM cannot match at the same scale, at the cost of a wet, ventilated post-processing routine most people are not set up for on day one. Neither process is wrong. The right pick depends on how much of that extra mess and time you are willing to trade for finer faces, sharper text, and crisper weapon details.
Prices and availability confirmed July 21, 2026. Check current listings before buying, as both change.
FDM or resin: how to decide
Resin’s advantage comes from projecting a full image onto a photosensitive layer at once, rather than dragging a nozzle around it line by line. Current mono LCD resin printers publish XY resolutions of roughly 18 to 35 microns per pixel, versus a best-case line width around 100 to 150 microns from a fine 0.2mm FDM nozzle. On a 32mm miniature’s face, that gap is visible without magnification. What resin does not advertise up front is the workflow: isopropyl alcohol washing, UV curing, and disposing of uncured resin and rinse liquid safely in a room with real airflow. FDM asks less of you day to day. Load filament, level the bed, print, and clean up by snipping support material off a finished part.
The precision FDM option: Prusa MK4S
The Original Prusa MK4S runs on Prusa’s Nextruder hotend with Klipper-based firmware, including input shaping and pressure advance that specifically cut down the ringing and ghosting around fine edges that hurts miniature detail on cheaper machines. Prusa also sells an optional 0.25mm nozzle for the Nextruder line, a simple swap from the stock 0.4mm nozzle, that narrows line width for facial features and small equipment details. Per Prusa’s official store, MK4S pricing typically runs $900 to $1,100 depending on kit versus assembled and which nozzle bundle you choose, with periodic sales bringing that down. That price sits above most hobby FDM printers, and the payoff is print quality and repeatability rather than detail beyond what any well-tuned FDM machine can reach. If you print miniatures alongside other functional parts and want one machine that handles both well, this is the safer long-term buy over a single-purpose resin setup.
A more affordable FDM option: Sovol SV06 ACE
The Sovol SV06 ACE is a bed-slinger style printer with Klipper firmware, input shaping, and a reinforced frame, typically listed around $280 to $320 across Sovol’s own store and major retailers. It will not match the MK4S’s out-of-the-box tuning, but paired with a 0.2mm nozzle and slower fine-detail print settings, it produces usable tabletop-scale miniatures for a fraction of the cost. This is the pick for someone testing whether they actually enjoy painting and printing miniatures before spending more on the hobby.
If resin turns out to be worth it
Entry-level mono LCD resin printers such as the Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra, typically listed around $270 to $340, resolve detail no FDM printer can match at this price, on a compact build plate suited to individual figures and small squads rather than large batches. Choosing a resin printer well means paying attention to screen resolution, XY pixel size, and light source, details that matter enough to painters to deserve a fuller comparison than a short summary can give here. Budget for a wash and cure station, gloves, and a ventilated space as part of the real cost of entry, not an afterthought.
Finishing either way
Both processes leave work before priming. FDM parts need support removal and occasional light sanding on visible seams; resin parts need a full wash and cure cycle before they are safe to handle bare-handed for extended periods. Either way, a filler primer in a rattle can evens out the texture difference between the two processes well enough that most tabletop games are played at a distance where it stops mattering.
Miniature printer buying checklist
- Decide upfront whether you can dedicate ventilated space to resin washing and curing, or whether FDM’s simpler workflow fits your space better.
- For FDM, confirm a 0.2mm or smaller nozzle is available and budget for slower, fine-detail print profiles.
- For resin, check the mono LCD resolution and XY pixel size on the spec sheet, not just the marketing resolution number.
- Factor in a wash and cure station, gloves, and eye protection as part of the resin printer’s real starting cost.
- Compare build plate size against how many miniatures you want to print per batch.
- Check current pricing and stock directly with the manufacturer or a major retailer before buying.
- If undecided, consider starting with a budget FDM printer to confirm interest before investing in a resin setup.
For the fuller comparison of resin printers by resolution and light source referenced above, see our resin 3D printer guide for miniatures.