Miniature printing serviceWhere can you get miniatures printed in resin without a printer?
To get miniatures printed in resin without your own printer, post your STL files on Fabrishare: makers in the network with resin printers send you offers with price and lead time within 24–48 hours, you choose one and they ship the figures to you. As a reference, a 28 mm miniature is about €23 (€14–€38), a batch of 10 about €57 and a 75 mm bust about €25, excluding VAT and shipping. Before you order, check the file's licence: most STLs from Patreon and model shops are for personal use, and some licences don't allow you to pass the file to someone else to print.
What you can have printed
These are the most common miniature jobs for tabletop, wargaming and role-playing, from a single figure to a whole army:
Single 28–32 mm miniatures
Your character, the campaign's villain or the monsters for next session. Resin picks up faces, weapons and engraving in fine detail.
Squads and armies
10, 50 or 100 identical figures in one job. The more fit on the printer's plate at once, the cheaper each one gets.
Busts and display figures
75 mm busts and larger figures to paint, also in several parts to assemble.
Terrain and scenery
Ruins, barricades, buildings and table pieces. Large parts often go in FDM: cheaper and tough on the table.
Bases, bits and conversions
Textured bases, weapons, heads and arms for conversions. Generic parts, no protected designs.
Table accessories
Dice towers, markers, tokens and inserts for organising board games.
Resin or FDM for miniatures?
For miniatures, resin almost always wins on detail; FDM pays off for large terrain and accessories that need to take wear.
Resin (MSLA, DLP) for
- Miniatures and busts: very fine detail and smooth surfaces.
- Figures to paint: layer lines are barely visible.
- Small bits, weapons and faces.
- Figures you play with: a tough or ABS-like resin is best. Standard resin is brittle, and a miniature made with it breaks if it falls off the table.
FDM is better for
- Large terrain and buildings.
- Accessories that must be sturdy (dice towers, inserts).
- Parts where price matters more than detail.
Can you mix standard and tough resin for miniatures?
You can, and people do, but it's a compromise rather than a solution. Blending standard resin, which holds fine detail, with tough resin, which survives handling, gives you some of each and the full measure of neither — you gain impact resistance and you lose definition, and on a 28mm face or the edge of a cloak that's exactly where it shows. A single purpose-built resin avoids the trade entirely. We were asked recently to blend for a whole army, and the right answer there was one resin rather than a mix: at army scale you aren't committing one print to the compromise, you're committing dozens.
What a dropped miniature actually does
The difference between resins shows up the moment a model hits the floor, and it isn't a question of hardness. Standard resin snaps outright. DLP resin breaks more readily still. A resin built for the job — makers printing gaming armies reach for an ABS-like resin, or for Anycubic's Texture Resin 14K HD — flexes slightly before it gives, and that small amount of give is usually the difference between a model you pick up and a model you rebuild.
This is what we've seen in practice rather than a figure from a datasheet. Manufacturers publish hardness, which is resistance to denting and scratching. Hardness is not what saves a miniature that falls off the table.
What to say when you submit the project
Tell us whether the minis are for play or for display. That one line is what tells a maker to quote a tough or ABS-like resin instead of a standard one, and it's the difference most people don't know to mention.
How much does it cost to print miniatures in resin?
Ballpark prices for the whole job, excluding VAT and shipping, worked out with the Fabrishare calculator; the real price is the one in each maker's offer.
| Part | Technology | Range | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 mm miniature | Resin | €14 – €38 | €23 |
| Batch of 10 × 28 mm miniatures | Resin | €34 – €92 | €57 |
| 75 mm bust | Resin | €15 – €40 | €25 |
| 20 cm figure | Resin | €21 – €55 | €34 |
Licences: what the file you bought lets you do
Buying or downloading an STL doesn't give you every right to the model, only the ones in its licence. This is a guide, not a review of your case: Fabrishare does not assess licences, and when you post a project you are the one declaring that you have the right to have it printed. Before you do, check which of these cases you're in:
Personal use
The most common on Patreon and model shops. You can print the figure for yourself, but not sell it or share the file. Whether someone else may print it for you depends on the creator: some say so explicitly, others forbid it because the file can't be passed on. Look it up in their terms.
Commercial or “merchant” licence
Many creators sell a separate tier that allows printing and selling the figures. It's what someone selling printed miniatures needs, not someone ordering their own copy; but if your personal licence doesn't let anyone else print it, a maker with that creator's commercial licence can.
Creative Commons (free files)
Common in free repositories. “BY” means crediting the author and “NC” (non-commercial) forbids selling the prints. A maker charging you to print your own copy of an NC model is a grey area: if in doubt, ask the author.
No clear licence
If the terms say nothing about printing through someone else, message the creator before ordering. One message is usually enough, and then you have it in writing.
What never gets printed
«I confirm I have the right to have this project printed by someone else.»
You tick this box when you post a project on Fabrishare. Fabrishare does not review or assess file licences: having the right to print them is the responsibility of whoever places the order, and a maker can turn down a job if it isn't met.
Copies of manufacturers' miniatures are never printed: no recasts, no scans and no files that copy commercial sculpts, even if that figure is no longer sold. If you're looking for an alternative, independent sculptors sell their own designs licensed for printing.
How to order your miniatures
- 1Post your project for free: the STL files (or a link), the scale, how many of each figure, and whether you want them just printed or already off the supports and cleaned.
- 2Your project reaches the makers in the network who print miniatures in resin.
- 3Within 24–48 hours you get offers with price and lead time. You choose one, the maker prints the figures and ships them to you.
Questions about printing miniatures in resin
How much does it cost to print a miniature in resin?
As a reference, about €23 for a 28 mm miniature, about €57 for a batch of 10 and about €25 for a 75 mm bust, excluding VAT and shipping. The more identical figures, the cheaper each one. The maker gives the exact price in their offer.
Which resin should I ask for for gaming miniatures?
For figures you play with, a tough or ABS-like resin. Many people ask for standard resin because it's the best known, but it's brittle: a standard-resin miniature that falls breaks. Standard resin is fine for display figures and busts that are only painted and shown. If you're not sure, say in the project what the figures are for and the maker will suggest the right resin.
Can you mix standard and tough resin for miniatures?
You can, but it's a compromise: you gain impact resistance and lose definition. A purpose-built ABS-like resin gives you both without the blend. It matters most on army-scale orders, where you're committing dozens of prints to the choice rather than one.
Can I order prints of files I bought on Patreon?
It depends on each creator's licence. With a personal-use licence you can print them for yourself; if it also allows someone else to print them for you, you can order them. If their terms forbid it or say nothing, ask the creator, or look for a maker who holds their commercial licence.
Can I print Warhammer or other manufacturers' miniatures?
Not as copies: figures from Games Workshop and other manufacturers are protected by copyright, including single models and ones no longer sold. What you can do: licensed designs by independent sculptors in the same scale, terrain, bases, accessories and anything you designed yourself.
Do they come with supports or cleaned?
You choose in the form: just printed, off the supports and cleaned, primed or painted. The offer says what's included. If you paint them yourself, the usual choice is off the supports and cleaned.
How long does it take, and where do they ship from?
Offers arrive within 24–48 hours. Printing and shipping depend on the quantity, and each maker states their lead time. The makers in the network are in the EU: within the EU there's no customs, and outside it import duties or VAT may apply.