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I bought spare FEP sheets with my printer. I’ve never yet had to use them (four months and I’m still on my original sheet, so haven’t yet experienced the heartache of changing the FEP!). 400 hours is a typical/minimum screen life – some users have had more than twice this. I think I’m heading towards 300 hours on mine and I’ve not noticed any signs of breakdown yet.
Once you have the printer and some resin, you’re ready to go. Everything else just makes your life easier, though these are what I’d consider essential:
Isopropyl alcohol is almost a must (some people have successfully used turps, white spirit, acetone, even hot water and a toothbrush but I wouldn’t chance it!). A metal scraper for getting your prints off the bed (the type used for fdm 3d printing) – the plastic one that comes with the printer is hopeless) and maybe some loose razor blades (for *very carefully* lifting any failed prints off the FEP – it’ll happen, don’t worry!). You should get the necessary alan keys for setting your print bed level. A couple of glass jars for rinsing your minis are always hand (so you can put the lid on and swish them around).
Lots of kitchen roll. Lots. Then a few rolls more. Newspaper.
A UV lamp is handy when it’s overcast but now we’re heading into summer, your prints will cure just fine in the sunshine (you’ll see them change from a bluey-grey to a dull grey colour as they cure). One of those nail lamps for about £13 on ebay is fine but not an essential.
I tend to load my print plate up with 6-8 minis at a time and just leave it running overnight. Generally setting it going before midnight and I have one of those mechanical power socket timers set to turn off after six hours. It’s not really necessary as once done, it’s only the fan on the printer that’s still running really.
I only bought my resin printer on a whim.
I was a little underwhelmed with my fdm printer. It was ok-ish for printing terrain but I’d gone back to scratch building as I hated all the priming and sanding to get rid of layer lines. A resin printer was a game changer for me – it’s got me back interested in the hobby; I’ve even been trying out different painting techniques on my minis and finding it’s ok to make a mess of them (something I’d never do when I was paying £4-£6 per miniature). After all, if something is a complete disaster, I can always just print another one!
