Miniatures in transparent PLA

[NoelZ]

Hi everyone, I’m new in the 3D printing world. Have been printing for about a month; mostly miniatures for DnD games and stuff for the printer itself. I bought a A1 Mini and been very happy with the results; sometimes making you even wonder if it was printed in PLA or Resin. I used both 0.4 and 0.2 nozzles without too much trouble; just the regular curve of learning.

But now I’m facing a small issue that someone with more experience may have already solved: I’m trying to print transparent/translucent miniatures that for the type of monster represented, would benefit from the transparency (ghosts, air elementals, etc). The thing is that I’ve been searching about it, but haven’t found too much information specifically regarding to miniatures. I made a couple of tests with different settings, but still can’t find a proper formula.

In my country is kinda difficult and very expensive to get known filaments (like Bambu’s), so I’m using the one I got available, which is Fremover PLA+ High Speed High Transparent.

Currently, I’m trying out with the 0.4 nozzle since I read that the bigger the nozzle, the better result. Now for settings:

Filament:

Flow Ratio: 1.01
Nozzle Initial Layer/Other Layers: 230°

Cooling:

No cooling: 1 Layer
Min/Max Speed: 0% (Layer Time 100s/8s)
Auxiliary part cooling fan: 0%

Then for the actual printing settings:

Supports and edges of the models are rough and extremely hard to the point I struggle to snip them and sand them. During the printing process also, since there is no fan involved, the material is malleable like rubber, so it sometimes leads to poor structural integrity.

If someone has the magic settings to try out, It would be awesome.

Thanks in advance

[NoelZ]

As an update, here are the tries so far:

The first one was with a 0.2 nozzle and the settings I usually do with any other miniatures and PLA colours. Detail here is excellent, supports where easy to remove. But it is milky and solid instead of transparent.

The second one was my first attempt. Settings where mostly the same as in the images above but the speed was slower across the board (took me about 4 hours to print). Nozzle used was 0.4. I removed the base to get just the miniature itself.

The third one was my most recent attempt with the settings above. Took about 1.5 hours to print. Same nozzle (0.4)

Both times I got the transparency kinda ok (not great, but at least more transparent than the first try), the details were horrible, rough and hard to clean. Same with the supports. In fact there are still pieces of support attached that I couldn’t remove because they are so damn hard that not even an exacto knife can cut.

[NoelZ]

Update N° 2:

I have been tweaking and trying different settings and finally I got what I wanted; so I wanted to let it set in the topic for people who may be seeking the same things as I.

First of all, the true secret at least for miniatures, is the infill. By setting it at 0%, It gives truly a transparent/translucent effect. Second, I didn’t shut down the fans all the way, so the material doesn’t reach a rubber state, affecting the print at the end. It may affect the transparency, but I guess the difference will be minimal (will post an update when I try this). Lastly, at least with this miniature I was trying, orientation was a night and day. Just by tilting it a bit, I removed almost all supports needed (and by that, the chance of getting ugly details). Here are the different tries I did:

The forth one (first in this image) was made with the 0.4 nozzle, 0% infill and 1 single wall loop. Line height was the same as the previous ones. Here, details are ok, and transparency is amazing, but the single wall loop made the miniature too brittle; to the point that you could easily break it just by handling it.

The fifth one (second in this image) had the same settings as the forth, but with 3 wall loops. More sturdy but it sacrificies the transparency. Also got a lot of print hair, don’t know why. Also the lower part got a weird texture that didn’t like (my guess was that the wall parcially collapsed mid print and just stack up on top of it).

The sixth one (third in the picture above) was changed to a 0.2 nozzle. I wanted to keep the good detail of the smaller nozzle, without loosing transparency. I choose for this one the “biggest” setting for it (0.14 line height) and tweaked the rest of the settings as the previous ones. I choose for this one, a bit faster speeds, but that didn’t help. Transparency is got a bit clouded. Still, I had a good fair of details. Also, the sweet spot from this one and the following ones are 2 wall loops.

The seventh one (forth in the picture above) I went with the same profile I used for the first try (that I use in most of my minis) which is with 0.08 line height, but changing the infill to 0% and wall loops to 2, besides speeds and temps. Was almost the best result. The tips were a bit rough but was mostly ok. But the line so small made it a bit more opaque.

The eight one (last in the picture above) was my final, and I believe, best result at all. I downed again all speeds to 20/25 mm/s and halved the accelarations. Nozzle 0.2. Line Height 0.1 and line width 0.25. 2 wall loops. 0% infill. Was the cleanest to remove supports, trim and sand out. Great transparency and great details. In the photo may not be that noticeable but it is great.

I will later post the final settings for anyone with the same problem. For miniatures of the 28/32 mm I think this was the best possible outcome. The miniature is a bit light but my plan is to print the base separately and make it more heavy (maybe 100% infill with aligned rectilinear pattern) and then, glue them together. Will also post the final result for anyone out there. Also will try bigger miniatures (of size Large or Huge) and will update if the profile is good for them or must be modified further.

[Archetypo1985]

Very cool. How much does the type of mini affect the print? Or does it not matter as long as you set infill to 0?

[MZip]

For printing transparents, slowing the printing/extrusion rate down helps as well as drying filament thoroughly.

Moisture creates air bubbles that scatter light and make clear into milky.

Slower print speeds to give more time for filament to flow and melt together.

Increase temperatures.

Increase flow ratio so cracks and crevices get filled.

Reduce cooling slightly.

Increase layer thickness (though might not be appropriate for miniatures).

It all helps get voids filled, reduce bubbles, and reduce interfaces where light can scatter.