My favorite part of TTRPGs was always the miniatures. It started with wanting the right figure to represent my character in quests. Eventually I wanted to grow an expansive collection. Now, I am running out of room(s) to hide my gray, unpainted, Kickstarter boxes of shame. Out of maturity, and necessity, I no longer desire great quantities of cheap miniatures, two years from now. My collection is more about discerning taste. I want specific miniatures, and I want them on demand. And how do I expect to scratch my miniature itch, given those parameters? I’ll print them! There’s just one catch: I’m a 3D printing n00b! Enter the Elegoo Mars 3 Pro.
If you are curious how we rated the product below you can find more information here.
- Comes with EVERYTHING you need, and more
- Very reasonably priced
- Setup is easy and well documented
- Nice print quality for TTRPG expectations
- Chitubox slicing software is poorly supported
- Website is not friendly
- “Pro” level air filter may be a gimmick
- After set-up, you are on your own!
The Elegoo Mars 3 Pro is a great entry level 3D printer for the TTRPG miniature enthusiast, provided you are willing to embrace the learning curve that comes along with 3D printing on the whole.
Critical Hits
Since this is my first and only 3D printer, I needed the Mars 3 Pro to be an out-of-the-box solution for miniature printing. The printer was that, and more. In addition to the build platform, Z axis, and resin tank, the Mars 3 Pro came with a box of tools and accessories. In that box were a metal and plastic scraper, a couple of cloth face masks, a few pairs of rubber gloves, and a basic pair of sprue nippers. I also found every Allen Wrench necessary to disassemble and reassemble the resin tank. They even included two spare FEP films (which this n00b wound up needing – see below). Elegoo provides a USB stick with reference materials and test prints, and plenty of empty space for your own printable files. This truly was a turnkey 3D printing experience.
Saves
For all that the Elegoo Mars 3 Pro comes with, it does not come with a hefty price tag. I purchased it directly from Elegoo in a bundle with the Mercury X Wash and Cure Station (review coming soon). In that configuration the printer cost me $285. At the time I am typing this, you can purchase the printer alone for $299 here on Amazon. So, is that a good price? Objectively, my research had the Mars 3 Pro priced competitively with similar 3D printers in the “budget friendly” space. Subjectively, considering the rising costs on materials and overseas manufacturing for miniatures, a year’s worth of mini purchases and Kickstarters could easily surpass that $300 ballpark. Seeing this as a long term investment, the cost was perfect for my situation.
I was a bit nervous making such an investment, not having any prior experience with 3D printing. They say real men don’t read manuals, but I am totally a RTFM kind of guy. Thanks to the provided user manual, I quickly found that setup of the Mars 3 Pro was actually very easy and straightforward. In less than 30 minutes I had the build platform leveled and I had the z-axis properly zeroed. In that same time frame, I added my resin of choice and was printing a test print. Easy as pie!
Finally, I was very much impressed by the quality of the prints I received. You have to trust the process and properly clean and cure the figures to realize the expected results. If you do, you will be rewarded with highly detailed miniatures for your TTRPG needs.
Fails
Not all was easy in this process though! I quickly found miniatures for purchase in places like MyMiniFactory. I then realized that the models I purchased needed to be SLICED and saved to a file that the printer understands. The Mars 3 Pro uses .ctb files created by Chitubox. Chitubox comes free with the purchase of the printer, but it’s not easily found on either the thumb drive or the Elegoo and Chitubox websites. Using Chitubox is not exactly intuitive. YouTube quickly became my best friend. If Elegoo put a little more effort into documenting Chitubox, my experience would have been infinitely better.
Around my second day of printing, I started getting prints that would stick to my FEP. Again, I had to turn to the internet for answers. I had changed my FEP twice (I scratched it once, and thought I had it too tight the second time) and re-calibrated the entire printer from scratch. No luck. Finally, I accidentally found the answer in the resin data sheets. It turns out, my room was too cold and that caused the resin to stick to the FEP. This is information that should be better highlighted elsewhere.
Two things that make this model the Pro version: an upgraded Fresnel lens and a USB air filter. I can take them at face value that the lens is an upgrade. But I have no real way of knowing that this filter adds any value whatsoever. Sometimes I smell curing resin, other times not. Since we don’t want those fumes, I’m not inclined to turn the filter off to test if it works. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I feel like this USB fan pushing air through some carbon media is more gimmick than Pro-level technology.
Critical Misses
While my experience with the Elegoo Mars 3 Pro has been exceedingly positive, the negatives come hard and heavy right after you set up the printer. After that point, you are on your own to figure out EVERYTHING. There’s no information on what 3d resin printing is and how it works. As mentioned, there’s very little in the way of information on how to use Chitubox and how to troubleshoot issues. What started as a turnkey solution turned into a full-scale research project very quickly. Not everyone is up to that task. If Elegoo would just point you toward some additional knowledge bases, it would be a better experience. But they don’t. They just leave you in the dark with your reasonably priced printer, ready to do great things, or great damage. The outcome is on you. And that is a pretty epic fail.
The Hero’s Journey
Who is best suited to buy the Elegoo Mars 3 Pro? Well, if you are a 3D printing n00b like I was, looking for an out-of-the-box solution to get your feet wet on 3D printing, you will be pleased by the results and value received from this printer. But, you also have to be willing to do some diligent research into the printer and the mechanics of resin printing in general, for your foray to be successful.
