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Thank you very much for your pictures and explanations. After seeing your printing results, I think that even 0,1mm layer resolution might be enough for printing miniatures. I also never thought of what burki said, that the noozle is 0.4mm and therefore is also a limiting factor for details. I think I have to redesign my models a little. lRobertl asked for a picture of one of the miniatures. I am not yet finished, but I am happy to share with you, what I have. It's the miniature of one of the main characters, which will be 30mm from head to toe. As I don't have much experience with 3d printing, I started to create the model without bothering about 3d printig too much. It also is not completely finished (for example the arms and the coat are still missing). So I am fully aware that the model will need some redesign, before being able to print it. I'm happy about every tip or help. Another question: When exactly is a geometry an overhang? What angle is the UM able to print, and when does it fail? So if I take a look at the two owls that Didier Klein posted: They also have an overhang: Their body is much bigger then their feet. Did they need a support structure? Thank you!

Hello everybody, I am currently searching for a 3d printer that will fit my requirements. At the beginning I could not imagine that this process would be so complicated. Currently I am undecided between the Makerbot Replicator 2 and the Ultimaker 2. I am aware that this is a Ultimaker Forum, but I think you would be fair enough to tell me, if the Ultimaker 2 is not the right decision for me. The biggest problem for me is, to get an idea of eachs 3d printer capability. Both makerbot and ultimaker have a lot images of their printers online, but almost none of their prints. For example Ultimaker has like one image of their "robot" online, but how big is it? Is it a print that is 2cm tall or 20cm? I know there are a lot of images in this forum, but most of them have the same problem: You can only guess how big the printed object is. To get an better idea, I asked both companies for a sample model. I received the one from makerbot within a few days, but it is only printed with a resolution of 250 microns. Why do I advertise something to be able to print with 100 microns and then don't show its full capability? Ultimaker didn't even sent me a sample model at all - although they promised to. I think my initial request was already 2 months ago, today I started a third one. So perhaps I should explain what I want to do: Right now I am working on a board game and I would like to print the miniatures with a 3d printer. I am planning to produce a small edition of the board game and print all of the miniatures (or if the edition gets a little bigger at least the prototypes). The miniatures will be about 30mm tall and are quite detailed - perhaps a little bit like the Warhammer miniatures, to give you an rough idea. Of course that is not the only thing I would like to print, but most ideas are about miniatures or other objects for board games. So I don't really care about the build volume of the printer, but about the maximum layer resolution. And here comes the next problem: What is the smallest layer resolution? Ultimaker says 0,02 mm. I've read a test about printers in a german magazine, and they were saying "... even the smallest layer resolution of 0,02mm is possible to print with the Ultimaker 2". Then I am browsing this forum and find comments like "... of course you cannot print with a layer resolution of 0,02mm." So what is possible? 0,02mm resolution would mean 1500 layers at a 30mm miniature. This should be enough for all the details (and probably even more than enough). But if I am only able to print with like 0,1mm resolution this might not be enough. I know I haven't really asked a question, but I hope you understand my problem. Perhaps in this forum here is someone who prints similar objects with the ultimaker? (Don't need to be miniatures, but perhaps other small, detailed objects) Perhaps someone can even post an image, with a coin or something to get an idea of the object size. Thanks for your help!