ELEGOO Saturn MSLA 3D Printers UV Photocuring LCD Resin 3D Printer with 4K Monochrome LCD, Matrix UV LED Light Source, Off-Line, and WLAN Print,192x120x200mm / 7.55×4.72×7.87 inches Printing Size

 

I have an Elegoo Mars3 already and that recently had a problem where it would no longer work. The Elegoo customer service spent a while guiding me through various tests to find out what was wrong. With their guidance, and a new part that printer is up and running again. Really great customer service and very patient.

So, I’ve been wanting to upgrade to a better printer for a little while and as this one had an offer which reduced the price a tad, I decided to get one. The previous experience with customer service was definitely a deciding factor in choosing this printer.

It arrived four days earlier than expected so was a very pleasant surprise. While I was expecting a larger printer, I did not expect it to be as big as it is. Quite a shock to be honest. It’s almost three times larger than the Mars 3, with twice the footprint.

Assembly is no more painful than simply unpacking the thing. Seriously, there is nothing to put together. There is a lot of foam packaging around this printer to protect it in transit and more inside the printer to brace it. Some very careful thought has gone into the design of just the packaging to make sure it surrounds and holds the printer securely. I would advise that you keep all of this in the delivery box in case. You never know.

About 20 minutes to unpack and place on a firm surface to set the printer up. All instructions are clear, simple and very easy to follow. Paying attention to the card and manual, levelling the build plate is a matter of a couple minutes and a bit of patience. Do, be very careful at this stage. You do not want to damage the glass plate, or the FEP film on the resin tank. If that gets damaged, you won’t be able to print anything until you replace it. FEP is not that expensive, but it is fiddly to fit and requires a great deal of care.

So, got the plate levelled and the tank secured to the printer. Interestingly this comes with an active carbon filter to take care of the odour. It seems to work, but I’m not sure for how long. Plus, as I use a low-odour resin anyway, I can’t say if the filter is working or not. The book suggests you only fill the tank about 1/3rd of it’s capacity. As it will take almost a full kg of resin, this is probably good advice. First it prevents spills, second if there is a leak from the FEP, you won’t have a whole bottle of resin flooding everywhere. The printer can pause printing if you need to top up the resin in the tank, so that makes life a bit easier.

Before printing, make sure you have removed the protective film from the build plate. I know that seems obvious, but I know a couple people who didn’t. It’s not a good result if you forget. So, I set up the first print, and rather than using the default chess piece that is provided I decided to make the thing work for a living. I filled the build plate with 28mm game miniatures – 52 of them – and set it off to print. A full plate of these miniatures can take up to 6 or 7 hours on the Mars 3, this printer managed to turn the print out in just under 5 hours, so considerably faster, even at full .028 resolution.

I still can’t quite get my head around the size of this printer. I’ve been using the smaller Mars3 and an Anycubic Mono 4K for over a year now and have become accustomed to the size of those. I’m usually quite pleased with squeezing 20 miniatures on the plate. It was mind blowing to get 52 on it. Setting up future prints, the average is around 40-45 28mm models. If you are wargaming at a smaller scale than that, it can probably print the better part of a complete army on one plate. I have yet to see how it handles larger prints, but that will come later when I can afford a good supply of resin.

After cleaning and curing the print, I took a close look at the models and compared them to some I’d printed on the Mars. The difference is surprising. I was already impressed with the level of detail the 4K printers were able to produce but this, well, suffice to say that it was very surprising. Fine level details are clearer, edges sharper, everything more clean and crisp. A photograph doesn’t really do justice to what this printer can do. One of the people I buy stl models from goes to town detailing their models and the Mars managed, but always struggled a bit to form some of the smaller detailing. This one has no such issues. Eyes, teeth, tongues, buttons, folds, pockets, stitching, all clear as a bell.

So, in a nutshell, this printer is faster, produces more fine detail and prints more on the plate. I have a very highly detailed statue that I’ve been wanting to print for some time. Tomorrow I might just let this printer have a go at it.

If you are thinking about getting into resin printing, I highly recommend this printer. The 4K printers are extremely cheap now, and are an excellent entry level printer. But, if you want to print more, or large models, then this really is the one you want to seriously think about getting. The build quality of the printer is excellent. It’s beautifully finished with a pleasant appearance and design. It is simplicity itself to set up. I would recommend you make sure that this is placed on a firm, stable surface as unwanted movement can cause a print to fail. Temperature is also important, it needs to be somewhere that is warm, but not hot. It also needs to be kept out of direct sunlight and with good ventilation.

Resin is toxic, it will have bad effects if it gets on your skin – so, make sure you have a good supply of gloves and use a face mask to reduce the odour (inhaling resin is not good), and eye protection, because you just never know. Anything you print with this is not suitable for pets, fish tanks or young children. The resin when cured is quite brittle and sharp edges from breaks can cause nasty injuries. Follow all safety procedures when using the printer, and be careful afterwards as well. Once cured and painted a resin model is safe to handle. There are different types of resin, so pay attention to what you are buying and make sure the resin you get is suitable for the job you want to do. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking the most expensive resin is the best, that is not necessarily so and some of the cheap resins are as good as the most expensive. A little online research will help here.

This type of printer is ideal for people who play table top games – there is a tremendous amount of models available on the internet, both free and purchasable for this hobby. It is also ideal for wargamers and people who want to print models of their favourite tv/movie items, props and actors/characters. Again, there is a massive free and purchasable selection on the internet. For Warhammer fans, while there is a massive selection of models out there, be aware that Games Workshop will not let you use those in tournaments or their game stores on the provided battle tables.

For gamers, I would suggest you look at MyMiniFactory as there are dozens of creators there making everything from fantasy to period armies. For movie props, vehicles and figures – Gambody is one of the best. Google is your friend, just type in what you want and add “3D Print Model” to the search and you will get results. Be careful of some of the vendor stores as these can sometimes have people selling stolen models. Check other sources first, if in doubt check Thingiverse and MMF to make certain.

This is not a cheap printer, it is quite an investment and then you need to add the cost of resin to the overall cost as that will be a recurring, regular expense. 1kg of resin will turn out a surprising amount of models, but with larger models such as 1/8th scale movie characters you need to make sure they are properly supported and hollowed. Making a model hollow cuts out a massive amount of wasted resin as many models do not need to be solid. Again, the internet, Google and YouTube are your friends here. Lots of videos on how to get the best from your printer.

Using this sort of printer is a steep learning curve and it can seem quite overwhelming to start with, but if you stick with it, observe safety rules and take your time to learn, and take care when printing, it is a hobby that will bring hours and hours of pleasure. My daughter was so excited when I printed a 1/10th Jack Sparrow for her. My son has a model of his favourite game spaceship – The Normandy – which has lights built in. This isn’t just a gimmick, it is a hobby and it can add a whole new dimension to support your favourite movies and tv, or just models – and at a surprisingly cheap price.

This is an excellent quality printer that produces beautifully detailed models in a surprisingly short time. I have had a huge amount of entertainment from my earlier printers painting and assembling models I have printed. I expect that to continue with this printer, and the higher level of detail should make painting much easier.

In regards to paint, I would suggest you look to ArmyPainter and Vallejo for acrylic paints that will work out of the bottle without having to mess about. For larger models, consider investing in and learning to use an airbrush. You simply cannot beat the results you can get from a good airbrush. Though for small scale models, you will have to use the more traditional and old fashioned paint brush.

I hope you enjoy the purchase should you decide to get one of these. I have never regretted the investment and this type of printer has brought me a great deal of entertainment for my hobbies at a much cheaper price than I would otherwise have paid.

Last thing, this is not just a toy to make game table figures or movie memorabilia, there are a large number of practical uses as well ranging from small scale engineering projects to prototyping parts for RC and other large scale projects.