---
title: 'Which 3D Printer Should You Get? A COMPLETE Beginner''s Guide'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=rkw4cVZ1A5Q'
video_id: 'rkw4cVZ1A5Q'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 1021
---

# Which 3D Printer Should You Get? A COMPLETE Beginner's Guide

> Source: [Which 3D Printer Should You Get? A COMPLETE Beginner's Guide](https://youtube.com/watch?v=rkw4cVZ1A5Q)

## Summary

This video is a beginner's guide to choosing a 3D printer for tabletop gaming. Host Danny explains the two main types of printers—FDM and resin—their strengths and weaknesses, and how to decide which is best for your needs. He also offers tips on where to buy and what tools you need to start.

### Key Points

- **Video Purpose** [00:00] — Danny introduces the video as a resource for beginners, framed as a conversation with a friend (AJ) who knows nothing about 3D printing.
- **What You Can Print** [01:12] — 3D printing can create minis, terrain, dungeon tiles, props, paint handles, and more. It feels like magic and is great for tabletop games.
- **Getting Started** [01:55] — Most printers come with everything needed; you just need to follow instructions and use an Allen wrench. No special furniture or tools required.
- **Don't Buy on Amazon First** [02:14] — Buying a 3D printer is like buying a car: you need to know the type first. Avoid Amazon reviews initially; instead, research types.
- **Two Main Types: FDM and Resin** [03:06] — FDM printers (like Creality Ender 3 V2) use filament and are good for large terrain. Resin printers (like Elegoo Mars Pro 2) use liquid resin and are better for detailed minis.
- **FDM vs Resin Comparison** [04:38] — FDM has larger build volume, thicker layer lines, and is better for terrain. Resin has smaller build volume but finer detail, ideal for minis. Both have pros and cons.
- **Resin Safety and Smell** [06:40] — Resin requires safety precautions (gloves, ventilation) and has a rubbery smell. Some people are sensitive to it, but it's manageable.
- **Choosing Between FDM and Resin** [08:00] — If you print mostly minis, choose resin. If terrain, choose FDM. FDM can print minis but with lower quality. Ideally, get both printers.
- **How to Choose a Specific Printer** [09:45] — Join 3D printing communities (Facebook, Discord, Reddit) and see what printers are commonly used for prints you like. Avoid YouTube reviews initially to prevent overwhelm.
- **Where to Buy** [12:09] — Amazon is safest for returns, even if pricier. Local stores offer service. Aliexpress/Banggood are cheaper but have poor return policies.
- **Tools and Upgrades** [13:36] — Start with the base printer; most tools come in the box. For resin, get a metal spatula and IPA for cleaning. Upgrades are optional; avoid them initially.

### Conclusion

The best 3D printer depends on what you want to print: FDM for large terrain, resin for detailed minis. Start with a base printer, join communities for guidance, and buy from a source with good return policy.

## Transcript

hey there i'm danny the 3d printing dm
and welcome to 3d printed tabletop a
channel where we cover all things 3d
printing for your tabletop games today's
video is meant to be a resource for
newer 3d printers or for folks who are
thinking about getting into the hobby
it's a guide where i assume no prior
knowledge of 3d printing and instead of
doing a normal step-by-step guide this
would be more like a conversation where
we talk about how to research and choose
the right 3d printer for you and then
how and where to buy it
[Music]
i want this to feel as if your friend at
the local game store who knows i30 print
and says hey danny i'm thinking about
maybe getting a 3d printer could i ask
you a couple of questions
big mistake buddy of course you can ask
me questions and 30 minutes later you've
received the contents of this video in
discussion format and i get to have this
conversation again today because i've
got a friend here with me today come say
hi aj
aj's here helping me film and edit this
video so he'll be right behind the
camera and i'm going to talk to him
while we film this so if we go off
script that's why
okay
sorry man all right you're stuck with me
next half hour bud
it's gonna be great i don't know
much of anything about 3d printers so
what exactly can i 3d print it can make
a lot more than just minis in terrain so
3d printing goes so well with so many
tabletop games and hobbies and the
variety of things that you can print is
is awesome uh so here's some examples
small minis big minis small terrain big
terrain airships boats dungeon tiles
collectible statues props buildings
paint handles paint racks
see what i mean the fun part is 3d
printing feels like magic like a real
life replicator after a while you get
used to it but then you show a print to
a friend and they say
that is so cool and you remember what it
felt like when you just started all over
again great so like what do i need to
actually get started and start printing
stuff yeah you don't need a lot in fact
most 3d printers come with everything
you need to get started so you just need
to be able to follow instructions really
well and use an allen wrench that's
basically it you don't need a dedicated
workbench your fancy tools as long as
you have a place where you can keep and
use your printer you'll be okay what
specific kind of furniture do i buy
so you know normally when we're thinking
about buying a printer we go to amazon
and you take out your phone and search
for the highest rated thing with the
best reviews uh you know don't do that
with the 3d printer because buying a 3d
printer is kind of like buying a car
you're going to hear me reference that a
lot today actually because
most of us can relate to this
you might need a truck because you need
to haul stuff or because you know you
live in texas maybe uh you'll need a
hatchback because you live in a tightly
packed city or a minivan because you
need space for a growing family
and just like with cars there's a
million different 3d printer brands you
can choose from but what's more
important than the brand and the model
is to first know the type of car that
you need and it's kind of the same way
with 3d printers okay so what are the
types of videos
there are
two main types of 3d printers but it'll
be easier if i show you so let me just
bring my printers over and take it from
there
okay so there are a bunch of types of
printers but these are the most common
ones that we use for printing things for
tabletop games so this is a creality
ender 3v2 and this is an elegant mars
pro 2
and they're pretty common printers right
now but i don't want you to focus on the
brand i want you to understand how they
work so you can start to think about
what type of printer you're going to
need fdm printers work similar to a hot
glue gun you push plastic and 3d
printing lingo this is called filament
into a tube called a ptfe tube or
sometimes directly into the nozzle and
then the nozzle heats up and then this
motor pushes the filament in little by
little while other motors move the
nozzle and the bed where they need to go
based on what the 3d printing software
tells it to do what ends up happening is
the printer creates these layers that
stack on one another and voila you get
prints like this
so if you see people talking about layer
lines from up close it's because of the
way this printer works and how thick the
layers usually are resin printers work a
bit differently instead of plastic on a
spool they use resin which without
getting too technical is a liquid that
can harden into plastic
so please don't drink it even if it's a
nice bubble gum color okay
i wanted to
these resin printers they have lcd
screens like the ones in our cell phones
google gang baby and they'll flash uv
light for each layer hardening those
specific parts of each layer so the
printer still builds layer on layer of
hardened plastic on a build plate but it
uses a screen instead of a moving nozzle
this sounds kind of complicated but it
isn't as difficult as it sounds and
you'll see what i mean later once we
start printing things
okay so we got fdm yeah and we got resin
so which one's probably best for me okay
that's a good question it depends on
what you want to print other factors
that might be important to you so both
of these types of printers they have
different strengths and weaknesses so
for looking at printers within the same
price range like 200 to 400
which is usually the range people start
with right so fdm printers usually have
much larger build volume which means you
can print much bigger things on them
making them a really good choice for
like terrain pieces or props cosplay
items the flip side is that fdm printers
print with thicker layer lines and resin
printers so layer lines are definitely
more visible and if you're doing things
like painting it can be a lot of work to
kind of cover the layer line so it isn't
as obvious
which really bothers some people to be
honest and the prints can also take
longer but that's partially because
you're printing larger things in general
now resin printers on the other hand
they're made for smaller
more intricate things with a lot of
detail like jewelry and minis small
scatter
and even though resin prints are
generally better with detail it doesn't
mean no layers it just means the layers
are much smaller you've really got to
look super close to see them 99 of the
time so from here not noticeable but
under a macro lens you can make some of
those layer lines out it's really great
for small details but that catch they
are a lot smaller so they don't have as
much space to print on and with that 200
to 400 price range the difference is
really noticeable a lot of terrain won't
fit on them but most minion small
scatter does usually fit on their build
plates and if you want a resin printer
that has a bigger build volume they're
becoming cheaper every year you're just
going to have to pay more than that 200
to 400 range i brought up earlier now
most mid-size printers they'll start
around the 600 range but i wouldn't be
surprised in the next few years we see
that price go down so aj give me a
summary man okay so fdm is typically for
like larger drain
pieces
and resin is better for
kind of smaller miniatures because of
the line difference that's basically it
i'm nailing it
[Music]
i do want to add one thing
i think it's important so
there's potential risks and smell when
dealing with resin resin's famous for
being stinky needing additional safety
precautions glasses and nice raw gloves
usually cover it and sometimes i bring
in the heavy hitters
i've tried a bunch of different resin
brands and colors and some are stinkier
than others and some people are more
sensitive to the smells than others so
come here come closer man on a scale of
disgusting fart
axe body odor and no smell at all how
stinky
[Music]
it's not that bad
it's
it's kind of like old and old nike you
know it's like it's like very rubbery
it's very rubbery there you have it
very rubbery
let me put this back on like i don't
know if you've ever ever uh
smelled like an electrical fire but it
smells a little not like that i'm sorry
aj i've never smelled it i'm not like a
fire i surrendered as many as
no i haven't i'm sorry
all right let's focus on we'll we will
get there
there you go everybody
resin also gets everywhere you know i
try my best to keep my garage clean but
you know i'm simply saying that resin
finds a way
okay so what if i want to
print terrain and minis as well it's
always a follow-up always
and i wish it was a clear answer
but i don't think there is
ideally you might have one of each
printer you know for different
situations like having a minivan for
when you need to take the family out and
having a truck for when you need to haul
something big and if you have to choose
one to start with maybe budget is a real
limitation or you just want to ease into
the hobby we can narrow it down with
some follow-up questions so what do you
want to print the most of it's minis
then i'd lean towards the resin printer
and more and more companies are making
smaller terrain for us and printers
these days too so
you still can get a little bit of both
if it's terrain i'd lead towards an fdm
printer since most terrain pieces are
made for fdm and it's just easier to
print the larger pieces on them honestly
now fdn printers aren't necessarily bad
for minis either i don't want to sell
them short here i've printed a lot of
minis on fdm printers and i'm actually
really happy with a lot of them but
they're definitely below the quality and
smoothness expectations of some people
so buying an fdm printer ends up being
an acceptable compromise for a lot of
people what are you thinking aj
so
i like the idea of resin it sounds kind
of more detail-oriented and finer
details but also like i have a cat and a
positive she's just gonna want to
slurp up the resin yeah so
i'm kind of worried about it yeah some
people don't want to deal with it
because of the smell or the safety
things and that's fine you know if
you're willing to consider it i just
look at your situation honestly and see
if it works and maybe consider fdm
printer if that's the case but also i'd
never work with resin until i got my
first resin printer and i learned as
long as you're wearing the protective
gear and clean up and consider
ventilation it's not too bad so i
wouldn't necessarily be afraid of it
either so how do i know which specific
printer i should get so that's like
asking which car you should buy right
the toyota honda ford hyundai sedans
they're very similar in price all the
time and they're probably going to work
very similar so it's the same with 3d
printers there's a lot of vendor 3
clones for example and most of them work
pretty similarly so it depends on how
particular you are about the exact brand
you want or the exact features you want
your printer have okay so it doesn't
really matter what printer i have then
as long as i buy the type i want fdm
versus resin yeah that's uh
kind of not really
okay wait what yeah so i want to make
the section future-proof and share like
how you can find the right printer
regardless of whether it's this year
2023.
so a lot of times 3d printing tech
doesn't um stay the same forever right
it doesn't stay the best choice for too
long for example the under 3 the
original from 2018 uh it's three years
old but
now there's another three pro and ender
3v2 you know under five under five plus
and i could actually go on right so it
doesn't mean that the printer is not
going to be good anymore for a few years
but if you enjoy it you'll probably want
to upgrade over time kind of like people
do with their computers or how they buy
the new video game systems every couple
of years
so
what i'd suggest is instead of getting
too bogged down with analysis paralysis
you join a couple of 3d printing
communities between facebook discord
instagram reddit just be there take it
in hang out for a few days at least and
when you see one or two prints you like
take note of what it was printed on and
what settings they used if you start
seeing the same printer come up like
this over and over and over again that's
worth something right a big community of
users is generally a good sign
you mentioned instagram and read it and
all that stuff why not why not youtube i
mean whenever i go to buy something big
that's like the first place i do when i
look at a million reviews
i would i would wait for youtube
i really would um and
partially and i say that as a youtube as
a youtuber
um because if you just start on youtube
and you type in 3d printer reviews
you're going to find so many different
printers
some brands are going to be smaller some
will be more popular and it can get
really overwhelming very quickly so i'd
wait to look at those until you're a bit
more familiar with some of the more
popular brands
printers you know and that comes with
time so i wouldn't worry about watching
every review
and ids into it and i say that again
someone who does reviews so
little by little what's gonna happen is
you're gonna build confidence in a
specific printer and then i'd buy it on
amazon
you just told me not to buy things on
amazon
i know i know i did and i'm sorry about
that but
the thing is amazon usually has
they have really fast shipping and it's
the safest option in case something
happens for whatever reason you get a
faulty printer you know if your printer
has a warped bed or the screen doesn't
work any of the things you just happen
with bad luck you can return it you
don't have to worry about paying for
shipping costs and exchange costing
extra money or anything like that and
even though buying through amazon's
usually more expensive than on the
company's website i consider it like a
form of peace of mind insurance that
extra 20 40 it costs on amazon is
usually worth it to me in case things
don't work out
and yeah there's sometimes we live in
another country or something where
amazon's not really an option
and i'd look for a local 3d printing
store first you know printers are
usually more expensive there too but
local stores tend to make up for it in
service they're more than willing to
answer questions and that's really nice
as a beginner and it's good to support
your local 3d printing community too
the last option i'd consider are
websites like aliexpress banggood even
local stores like aldi in australia for
example
you can usually get printers cheaper on
these sites but the return process is
not always the best in my experience and
that peace of mind is pretty important
to me
okay it's a different question
we're in your garage
there's a ton of tools in here
um
do i need any of these
like do i need a bunch of stuff to get
started
it's been three four years of me
collecting this stuff
and like i mentioned most printers come
with everything you need in the box so
you know that includes things like allen
wrenches and spatulas to remove prints
so i suggest getting comfortable with
the base printer before moving on to new
accessories or upgrades i definitely do
think that there are some nice things
you can buy like like i mentioned a nice
allen wrench set but
i don't have a nice allen wrench set and
it's been four years so
i think you'll be okay to start off
now there's there is two exceptions a
metal spatula like
this one if you buy a resin printer
because most of them don't come with it
and this is much better for a moving
prints than the plastic one that does
come with them usually and number two is
some kind of cleaning agent for the
resin prints
the most common is ipa
okay so you mentioned upgrades um
what do you mean by that upgrades are
kind of like with cars right you might
want a spoiler you might want rims right
um
they're optional you might you know in
3d printing world you might get a metal
extruder so if i don't have a gold a
gold plate
a gold grill for mine my 3d printer i
could just put that on there but it's
really aesthetic it's not
it's not neat there are quality of life
upgrades the that metal extruder is one
of them but yes i guarantee that
somebody's put some type of uh gold
grill on their 3d printer
yeah there's a bunch of videos that are
on youtube honestly these days entry
level printers they come with a lot of
those quality of life printers that
folks used to print ad themselves every
new generation of printers seems to add
more of those features so
i wouldn't worry as much about upgrades
they can be nice to have but i'd start
with following the base instructions
carefully and getting comfortable
printing a few things first
you an instruction follower aj
i'm more of a trial by fire kind of guy
me too baby that's what i'm talking
about
uh and i've learned to be a little more
instruction oriented uh the hard way you
know some people want to start upgrading
their printer immediately and that can
cause other problems that you might not
even realize since you needed 3d
printing in general and for reference
i've only added two upgrades to my base
under threes after three years and i
haven't added any to my under 3v2 so i
mean it when i say
i don't think you need to go overboard
most of the time okay so let's stop
talking about it
we set one up and like get going yeah
actually before we get these set up
why don't you get started today can be
the first day where you embark on your
own 3d printing adventure and find the
printer that's right for you
if you have any follow-up questions i'd
love to hear from you so please leave a
comment below i do read them all and if
i get a lot of the same question i'll do
my best to make a follow-up video
answering it
if you enjoy the content i make and want
to support the channel the best way to
do so is to pick up a late pledge on our
website lostadventures.com
our lost adventures volume one
collection was made for brand new 3d
printing dms just like you
if you're not quite ready to pick up
some models liking this video and
sharing it goes a long ways too thanks
again for watching happy printing and
happy gaming
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
you