Best resins to use

[thumpernickle]

I have never printed before but I have access to a Elegoo Mars 3 4K. I can print whatever and whenever I want as long as I supply the resin. So what resin is best for N scale? I have some files for boxcars and heavy weight baggage cars if that makes any difference.

[John]

That's almost a religion in itself ..

Personally, I use the manufacturer branded resin for my Anycubic printers . depending on what you print, they have different properties, some more brittle, some stronger, some bend ..  cheaper to expensive ..

Take a read here .. there is a lot of good info .. https://all3dp.com/2/best-resin-for-3d-printer/

A lot of the train folks use Sirya for printing cars and shells ..  you will get lots of opinions, but we have folks here that do this all the time with good results

[ednadolski]

@John which ones, in your experience, have the least warping?  (I've only done smaller prints so far, where it is less of a factor.)

But beyond just the resin, a key factor is to have enough support for the parts.  Also, don't leave parts attached to the supports for too long after they have been cured.

Ed

[John]

@John which ones, in your experience, have the least warping?  (I've only done smaller prints so far, where it is less of a factor.)

But beyond just the resin, a key factor is to have enough support for the parts.  Also, don't leave parts attached to the supports for too long after they have been cured.

Ed

Ed, I've been using mostly the Anycubic resins .. I just finished a bottle of water washable - and it seems to bend a lot ..  most of the things I print are pieces that tend to be small, so not a lot of warping ..

[Chris333]

No expert at all, but all I've ever used was regular Anycubic resin. Started with clear green, moved to grey, and now use black that is slightly transparent.

Have no idea if it is the best, but it works.

[robert3985]

Since I produce a lot of N-scale small parts, durability is one of the main points that influence my choice when choosing a resin.

Another point is that I want details so I want a resin that will print small details.

When I started 3D resin printing three years ago, I went with what came with my printer, which was green translucent, and also black resin.  These were Anycubic "Basic" resins and although they retained excellent detailing, they were extremely brittle, being both difficult to remove from the build plate, and almost glass-like when being handled or dropped.

Here it is 3 years later, and for any of my N-scale projects I won't use any "basic" resin because none of them are suitable for any highly detailed project that gets handled...which is what model railroading is all about...details and playing with our models.

For the vast majority of my projects, which are mostly small N-scale detail parts at the moment, I am extremely happy with Anycubic ABS-Like Resin Pro in Gray.  This resin is specifically formulated for high details and durability, being both "strong" and flexible enough to avoid breakage from normal handling.  It also paints up very well using both enamels and acrylics.  It's more expensive than many other resins, but its advantages are definite...and, I have not had a single print failure producing thousands of parts with it.  Additionally, it's easy to pry off of my printer's etched build plate being pretty flexible before being washed and cured when it stiffens up considerably.

For my translucent parts I'm using Anycubic UV Tough Resin in Translucent Green and Clear and I'm very happy with the toughness and detail retention.

One thing that I've determined is essential in retaining details and consistency/print-success is I keep both my resins and my print room between 72deg F and 77deg F, Summer and Winter. A higher temperature induces less viscosity, meaning that uncured resin drains more quickly off the print and out of minute recesses and holes with much less of a tendency to fill those details, and simultaneously allowing more definition with raised details.

Good luck!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Sokramiketes]

Stock Elegoo printer, stock Elegoo resin, stock Elegoo/ChituBox settings.

At least to start, and to keep initial frustrations low.