A beginner's guide to 3d print anime figures - 3D Printing & Laser Cutting

Do you ever wonder if you could make 3D anime figures by yourself? Wouldn’t that be awesome? Well, I have got good news for you. You can make your favorite anime figures yourself and won’t need to spend a whole lot of money on buying them anymore. How?

You can simply 3D print anime figures; I mean, that’s what it is. Anime figures are some figurines that are based on different anime characters which are 3D printed. So, if you can get a 3D printer, you can start making them yourself.

Don’t worry; I won’t leave you hanging with the idea only. Here, I will take you through all you need to know about getting into making anime figures. So, let’s get going without wasting further time.

3D printing anime figures yourself

Now, if you are a complete beginner and have no idea about this, it will benefit you. So, where to begin?

Well, you have to begin from the expense perspective of the whole thing. This mainly concerns what things you will need for 3D printing anime figurines. Let’s start by going through that first.

Requirements for 3d print anime figures

There is not much stuff that you will need to 3D print anime figures. Just having a 3D printer, 3D printable files or STL files, printing material, and slicing software is enough for the job. Let’s take a look at them one by one to get into it even more.

Getting the 3D printer

The first and foremost thing you will need for the job is a 3D printer. Don’t worry; you won’t need a high-end powerful 3D printer to print anime figures. Just having a hobbyist FLA or resin 3D printer can do the job without any issues.

Usually, these hobbyist printers will cost you around $200 to $400, depending on the quality. Indeed, you can find some lower than that, but I don’t recommend going for a low-quality printer.

And if you want a suggestion, I would say go for the Creality Ender 3 for the filament printing option. It’s one of the best mini 3D printers out there. But if you want to go with resin printers that give you better details, you can choose Elegoo Mars 2 or the later edition.

What’s the difference? The only difference is that the material for the resin printer is a tad expensive than filaments. And resin printers give you slightly more detailed prints compared to a filament printer.

Where to get design files

Assuming that you are a beginner at 3D printing, I wouldn’t recommend designing files yourself. However, if you are already familiar with software like Blender or any other CAD software, then you can give it a try.

Now, if you aren’t familiar with them, no need to worry; you can find many downloadable anime design files all over the internet. While some of them may be paid, a lot of them are free to download. These files are called STL files. So, how do you proceed?

Well, download the STL files from websites which I will have recommendations below. Then, load them up on your printer and download the files to your liking.

To download design files, here are some of the top websites you can try out –

Thingiverse: When it comes to 3D printing any model, this is the most popular site out there. It’s not just about anime figures. You can get almost all kinds of designs on this site. And the best part is most of them are free, come with good quality, and include printing instructions for the best results.
Cults: While this one will never compromise with the quality, you may need to pay for some models from this website. The quality of the printing is top-notch. There is no denying that.
CG trader: This is a website that provides you with all paid designs. There are no options for free plans on this website. The reason is that you can’t get better quality printable files than this one provides on the website.
Sketchfab: To get some high-end anime figure designs, you can try out this website. There are hardly any low-quality files you will find here. Also, most of the files don’t come with a price tag which is a good thing.
Turbo Squid: Now, this is a website that has all kinds of work. It goes from amateur to professional-level designs. So, you will come across some low-quality work here. Also, it ranges from free to download files to some quite expensive files as well.

You can try out any of these websites and look for your favorite anime design files. Now, let’s move on to the next step.

Printing your anime figures

When you are ready with the printer and printable files, all you are left with is the slicing software on your computer.

What the slicing software does is that it explicitly prepares your design files to something that your 3D printer can understand. Also, using the software, you can adjust the printer settings to get your desired results.

Now, if you are working with an FLA printer, you can go for CURA, a free slicing software that works best for Ender 3. But if you have a resin printer, you can try out ChiTuBox, which is also free; only the pro version will cost money.

Once you open the software, you have to adjust some settings or begin with default settings; it’s up to you. Usually, you will get recommended settings with the design files.

After preparing the file, you can either send it directly to your 3D printer if the printer has an option. Or you can load the file on an SD card and then plug the card into your printer.

Finally, you can press whatever button you have to start printing, and it will begin.

Related Posts

Wrap up

To sum up, you can very quickly 3D print anime figures when you have a 3D printer. After the printer’s initial cost, it doesn’t cost you much to print these figures if you are using free files or creating files yourself. It’s not only good for the hobby but can be a good way of starting a business if you wish to.

Contents

A beginner’s guide to 3d print anime figures