5 3D Printer Projects Perfect For Miniature Painting

Painting miniatures is a great hobby for flexing your creativity and fine motor skills, whether you're using them in a tabletop campaign or displaying them on a shelf. Since it's such an expansive hobby, there are many helpful accessories available to purchase. However, if you have a 3D printer, you can cut out the middleman and make these accessories by yourself.

In addition to using 3D printers to make reliable resin parts for miniatures, you can also use these devices to print various tools and accessories that make creating these miniatures easier and more enjoyable. The list of helpful tools you can create is practically limitless, ranging from a sturdy stand to prop up your current project to a simple box to stash your work brushes. And if you need a jumping-off point for ideas, you can find all sorts of designs, such as a miniature vise, a wet palette, a swatch board, and more, from like-minded miniature enthusiasts on 3D printing enthusiast websites.

When getting into miniature painting, one of your first purchases will be a set of good, reliable brushes. Unlike typical painting brushes, the tips on miniature brushes are very delicate, so they need to be stored with proper care and consideration. Rather than dumping them into a random drawer on your workbench, you can create a 3D-printed storage box to keep your brushes clean and organized.

Printables user howeln designed a nifty box in which to store paint brushes. This box can hold up to seven brushes, and they are securely held in place with individual channels. To further protect each brush, there is clearance on each end of the box, so the tips don't touch and there is still room to make the brushes easy to remove. The project comes with a cover that's designed to be secured in place with four small magnets, which you can buy online. Besides being used to hold paint brushes for miniature hobbyists, this box would make a useful 3D printer project for your desk, if you need storage for your stationery.

The tricky thing about painting miniatures is that, due to their small size, you can't just leave them on a table when adding in the details. While you could hold them with your fingers, not only would you get paint all over your hand, but there's also the risk that you could drop the figure. For a sturdy, static grip, you need a vise that can lock the item in place while you work on it.

To keep miniatures in place while painting, Printables user 3D Printing Dude designed a compact, modular vise, made from 3D-printed composite parts. While the parts do need to be printed separately and assembled, it looks like it's as easy to build as a Lego set. In its completed form, this vise uses three adjustable firm grips at the top with various "teeth" for stopping points, which are controlled using a tension dial on the bottom. Just rotate the dial, and the grips will lock a miniature in place by its base, with the adjustable tension and multiple stops allowing it to hold miniatures with bases up to 50mm in diameter.

Similar to painting on a canvas, painting miniatures uses different paints that you'll want to have easy access to during your project. The classic method of squeezing paints onto a palette works great, but if you don't have one of these traditional palettes, you can make one from scratch with a 3D printer.

Printables user Michael Ramos designed a 3D-printed wet palette as a simple and affordable way to hold paints while working on miniatures. This rectangular palette is specifically designed to work with generic cellulose sponges, which can be purchased online or in most big box stores. In addition to holding cellulose sponges and parchment paper in place, this project also comes with an optional printable gasket, which you can attach to keep wet paints fresh overnight. Michael Ramos does caution that this gasket only maintains moisture while the palette is flat on a table, and it shouldn't be used for transportation purposes.

While a palette is helpful for holding the paints that you're actively using, it would also be nice to know what a particular paint actually looks like before you go to the trouble of dispensing it. The last thing you want is to squeeze out a color you thought you needed, only to realize it was the wrong one. In this case, you can print out a set of swatch boards to display on your worktable.

Printables user PH got tired of constantly dispensing and testing out paints on a piece of scratch paper, so they designed a 3D-printed swatch board to serve as a clear visual reference for each paint color. Each board features a grid of low reliefs, which are raised portions that act as the color swatch once paint is applied. Under each swatch is a small plaque where you can write the paint's ID number for quick reference. PH applied paint, inking, and dry brushing to each swatch to show what each color would look like in its completed state.

Paint brushes aren't the only ways to add color to a miniature. Spray painting is a common choice for adding base coats, and a much faster option if you're not painting minute details. It's especially handy if you're painting multiple copies of the same miniature. Rather than painting miniatures individually on a stick, Printables user Sam designed an assortment of 3D-printed, hand-held painting racks to help make spray-painting easier and more uniform.

The plans for this miniature painting set includes four different spray handles, each designed to be both ergonomic and sturdy, supporting the weight of five miniatures without sagging and not requiring any additional hardware. There are individual handles for the solo paint jobs and a larger handle with five bases to get more painting done at the same time. The project includes several sizes to accommodate the various sizes of bases that miniatures are affixed to, and there's also a blank plate that you can attach bases of any size to using an adhesive like double-sided tape.