By Printara · Published 11 October 2026 · 12 min read

What to Check Before Printing an AI-Generated Miniature

Set the size in millimetres first, then check the thin parts at that size and make sure the mesh is closed and in one piece. The rest is normal resin prep: hollow only big pieces, tilt the figure, keep the supports off the face, and give every island a support. A generator builds a model to look right on screen; it knows nothing about how thin resin can go or where your supports will land.

The checklist.

Size. Set the height in millimetres before anything else. 28 mm and 32 mm are figure scales, not the height of the model; some ranges measure them to the eyes.
Thin parts. At that size, about 0.8 to 1 mm where a free part (antenna, spear, finger) leaves the body; about 0.3 mm for detail attached along its length.
Mesh. Closed, one piece, no loose bits, and the detail is in the shape, not only in the colour texture.
Hollowing. Not at 28 to 32 mm. Busts and big pieces: walls of 1.5 to 2 mm, two holes per cavity near the build plate.
Orientation. Tilt it; face and chest away from the build plate.
Supports. On the back, under the base, inside the cape; the lightest tips on fine parts.
Islands and cups. Every island bigger than your lightest support tip gets a support; no hollow opens away from the build plate without a vent.

A frog knight miniature with insect wings, a cape and a double axe, standing on a raised base on resin supports on a build plate; the supports reach the base, the wings, the axe and the antenna tips, not the face — The armored frog-fly warrior, generated in Printara from one picture, on the presupports Printara made for it at 32 mm. A render of the real print file, not a photo of a print.

Disclosure: Printara makes the AI 3D Generator described in the last section. The checks before it work with any generator and any resin slicer.

1. Set the size in millimetres first

An STL stores numbers without units. Your slicer reads them as millimetres, and a generated model arrives at whatever size the tool chose. Open it, read the X, Y and Z size the slicer shows, and scale it with the proportions locked before you judge anything else. Every thickness scales with the model: print it at half the height and every blade and antenna is half as thick.

28 mm and 32 mm are figure scales, not model heights. Some manufacturers measure from the feet to the eyes rather than the top of the head, so a figure 30 mm to the top of its head can count as a 28 mm miniature, and 32 mm is now the most common size for gaming figures (Wikipedia). Ranges differ, so when you need to match one, load an STL from that range next to yours in the slicer and compare the eye lines. A base, a raised weapon, wings or a tall helmet all add height on top of the scale. Measure the generated figure from the sole to the eyes and the whole model, then:

height to type = target scale x whole model / sole-to-eye height

If wings or a raised axe make the whole model 1.25 times its eye height, a 32 mm figure needs 40 mm.

Display pieces are a different job. At 54 or 75 mm, or as a 1:10 bust, every part is about two to six times thicker than at 30 mm. Thin parts stop being the main problem and resin volume becomes one: see hollowing.

The Export tab of Printara Studio: scale preset 1:56 for 28 mm wargames, an AI Auto-Scale button, Print Height set to 32 mm and a Prepare STL button; the Hollow and Supports tabs show a lock — The Export tab in Printara Studio, from the Academy lesson: a scale preset for 28 mm wargames and a Print Height of 32 mm. Print Height sets the whole model, base and wings included.

2. Check the thin parts at that size

A generator copies what it sees in the picture, so anything thin in the picture comes out thin in the mesh, and capes, wings and blades often taper to a knife edge. On a miniature, measure:

weapon blades seen edge-on, spear and staff shafts, bow strings;
fingers, antennae, horns, tails and loose strands of hair;
wing membranes and the torn edges of capes;
ankles and anything else that carries the weight of the figure;
thin skins the generator can leave between parts that were close in the picture, such as an arm and the body.

How thin is too thin depends on whether the part only has to form or also has to survive. Formlabs rates its Form 4 for 0.2 mm walls and a 0.3 mm wire up to 7 mm tall (0.6 mm for 30 mm tall), tested with its own grey resin at 50 micron layers (Formlabs design specifications). That is what a good printer can form. Washing, cutting supports off and handling need more. As a starting point on a hobby resin printer:

about 0.3 mm for detail attached along its length: a strap on the armour, folds in a cloak, a blade edge on a thick spine;
about 0.8 to 1 mm where a free part leaves the body: an antenna, a spear shaft, a finger held out, a sword held away from the figure;
more for a gaming piece that gets handled and packed in a case than for a display piece on a shelf.

Measure with your slicer's measuring tool if it has one, or in Blender with the 3D-Print Toolbox add-on, whose thickness check marks every face thinner than the value you set. Then scroll the slicer's layer preview through each thin part: if it disappears on some layers or starts as a loose spot, it will not print as one piece.

Fixes, from the least work: print the model bigger; thicken the part in a sculpting tool; cut it off and replace it with brass rod or wire (spear shafts, staffs and antennae take this well); or split it off and print it as a separate part at its own angle. The Academy lesson on splitting a model into parts with pins and dowels shows the cut.

A grey 3D model of a frog knight with long insect wings, two antennae, a double axe held across the body and a torn cape, on a round base — The same frog-fly warrior as generated in Printara, before supports. The parts to measure at 32 mm: the antennae, the wing membranes, the edges of the axe blades and the torn hem of the cape. A render of the real model.

3. Closed, in one piece, and the detail is real

A slicer needs a closed surface to tell inside from outside. Most resin slicers check a file for holes and flipped faces and can repair them. After a repair, look at the places it changed: a hole gets capped with a flat patch, which on a face or a hand is a visible flat spot.

Then look for loose pieces. Small separate shells near the model print as debris or fail as islands; delete them, or join them to the model if they belong to it.

Turn the model all the way round. A model generated from one picture has a back and an underside the picture never showed, so look behind the wings, around the feet and under the base.

Last, check that the detail is in the shape. A colour texture can paint on detail the shape does not have, such as buckles, eyes or scales, and a resin print has only the shape. Look at the model in a plain grey material; detail you cannot see there will not print. Shallow detail has a limit too: Formlabs says raised detail under 0.1 mm may not show on a print.

A parrot model shown in a plain grey Matcap material in Printara Studio, with the feathers, beak and eye ring as raised and recessed shapes — Matcap view in Printara Studio, from the Academy lesson: no colour, only the shape that will print.

4. Hollow only what is big enough

Print a 28 to 32 mm figure solid. It uses little resin, a solid figure is stronger, and there is no cavity to trap resin. Hollow busts, large monsters and display pieces with thick solid sections:

Walls. Lychee suggests 1.5 to 2 mm for miniatures and small decorative pieces; its default is 2.5 mm (Lychee). Thinner walls save resin and break more easily.
Holes. At least two per cavity: one lets resin out, the other lets air in. Put them near the build plate in print orientation, so they are open from the first layers of the cavity, and where they hide: under the base or on the back. JLC3DP's design guide asks for escape holes of at least 2.5 mm (JLC3DP); bigger holes drain thick resin faster.
No closed pockets. Every cavity must reach a hole. Uncured resin sealed inside can crack the part later.
Clean the inside. Flush the cavity during washing and let it dry before curing; fill the holes afterwards if they show.

5. Tilt the figure, face away from the build plate

Supports attach to the surfaces that face the build plate, so the orientation decides where the marks end up. Point the face, the chest and anything else you want clean away from the plate, and let the back, the underside of the base and the inside of the cape face it.

How far to tilt depends on the figure. Titancraft's orientation guide tilts a humanoid on a base back 20 to 45 degrees and one without a base 5 to 15 degrees. Tilted, a large flat area such as the underside of the base no longer cures in one layer, so each peel pulls less. Thin flat parts are the exception. Wings, flags and capes print better close to vertical, where each layer is a thin line, than at a shallow angle, where they need supports along their whole length.

Settle the angle before you add supports. Changing it afterwards means new supports and a new island check.

6. Supports on the back, not on the face

Every contact leaves a small mark you cut and sand. At 32 mm a head is a few millimetres tall, so one mark on the face spoils it. Put the contacts on the back, under the base, inside the cape and behind the arms.

The lightest tips on fingers, antennae and weapon tips; heavier supports under the body and the base.
Support thin parts along their length, not only at the tip, so the peel does not bend them.
Automatic supports are a starting point. Turn the supported model round and look at every contact near the face and on every thin part before you slice.

A parrot model on a perch seen from the side in Printara Studio, standing on a lattice of resin supports that rises behind its back and under the perch, with a Download Supported STL button — Supports from Printara's Supports tab on the parrot from the Academy lesson, seen from the side: the lattice holds the back and the perch, while the beak and the chest stay clear.

7. Islands and suction cups

An island is a part of the model that is not connected to the rest until later in the print (Lychee documentation). On a miniature that is the lowest point of a chin, a hand hanging down, the tip of each cape tatter, the bottom corner of a blade, a wing tip. Each one needs its own support, or it cures onto the film or floats in the vat instead of joining the model. An island smaller than your lightest support tip can often stay unsupported. Lychee's island detector (Pro and Premium) marks islands for you; in any slicer, scroll the layer preview from the build plate up and stop wherever a new spot appears in mid-air.

A suction cup is a hollow whose opening points away from the build plate in the slicer view: a hollowed body, the inside of a helmet or a shield, a cape that wraps round, the hollow underside of a base. Each time the plate lifts, the pocket pulls a vacuum that can split layers, rip the print off the plate or crack it. Turn the opening toward the build plate, or vent the hollow with a hole near the plate (Formlabs on suction cups).

How Printara does the prep in one place

Printara's AI 3D Generator goes from a picture to a supported STL in one place, in the browser. In the order you use it:

Generate. One photo or image (JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 10 MB) or a text prompt. A model from a picture costs 30 credits as shape only, and 50, 75 or 100 credits with a colour texture. For a resin miniature you will paint, shape only is enough.
Inspect. Turn the model in the 3D view; Matcap shows the shape without colour. To measure the sole-to-eye and whole heights for the formula above, select the model in your Library, press Open together, choose Distance (or press D) and click two points; the distance shows in millimetres. Distance measures the model at the size shown there, so measure thin parts on the exported STL in your slicer.
Size. In the Export tab, type the Print Height (1 to 500 mm) or pick a scale preset such as 1:56 for 28 mm wargames or 1:48 for 36 mm heroic figures, and AI Auto-Scale suggests a height for that scale from what the model shows. Print Height is the height of the whole model, so use the formula above when you need a figure scale. Prepare STL makes the file.
Hollow. Hollows the model for resin with drain holes.
Supports. Adds resin supports at the size and tilt you choose, using the hollowed model if there is one, and Download Supported STL gives you the supported file.

Part of the Supports tab in Printara Studio: a note that it uses the hollowed model if available, a reminder to inspect the supported model before printing, three tilt sliders set to 5, 20 and 15 degrees, and a Generate Supports button — The Supports tab in the Academy lesson: set the tilt, then generate. The panel itself reminds you that automatic placement is not a guarantee.

Cost and limits. A Printara account is free; generating uses credits from a plan or a credit pack (the smallest pack is 300 credits for €9.90, or €4.90 with a plan), and every paid button shows its credit cost before you press it. Exporting your own models uses no credits. Hollow and Supports need a paid plan; plans and packs are on the pricing page. There is no wall-thickness check in the Studio, and the supports are a starting point: check the contacts and the islands in your resin slicer and print a small test first.

The Academy lesson shows the whole run on a parrot in 4 minutes 19 seconds, from the picture to the supported STL.

Other routes to the same result: some AI 3D generators check and repair the mesh before export, and resin slicers such as Lychee Slicer and CHITUBOX have their own hollowing, drain hole and support tools, including manual support placement. You open a slicer either way, because that is where the layers are made.

Make a miniature and prepare it in one place

Generate from one picture, set the Print Height in millimetres, then hollow and support it on a paid plan.

Generate a 3D model How the AI 3D Generator works

FAQ

How tall should a 28 mm or 32 mm miniature be?

Taller than 28 or 32 mm. Those are figure scales, and some ranges measure them from the feet to the eyes, so the top of the head, a raised weapon, wings and the base come on top. Measure the eye height and the whole model, then set the height to target scale x whole model / eye height.

How thin can parts be on a resin miniature?

As a starting point on a hobby resin printer: about 0.3 mm for detail attached along its length, and about 0.8 to 1 mm where a free part such as an antenna, a spear shaft or a finger leaves the body. Thinner parts can print but often break when you remove supports or handle the figure. Check after scaling, because every thickness shrinks with the model.

Should I hollow a resin miniature?

Not at 28 to 32 mm: a solid figure uses little resin and is stronger. Hollow busts, big monsters and display pieces with thick sections, with walls of about 1.5 to 2 mm, at least two holes per cavity near the build plate, and no closed pocket left inside.

Where should supports go on a miniature?

On the back, the underside of the base, inside the cape and behind the arms. Tilt the figure with the face and chest pointing away from the build plate, use the lightest tips on fine parts, and make sure every island, such as a chin, a hanging hand or the tip of a cape, has its own support.

Can I print a generated miniature straight from the generator?

Not without checking it. Set its size in millimetres, check thin parts at that size, make sure the mesh is closed and in one piece, then hollow it if it is big and add supports. In Printara the Hollow and Supports tabs do the last two on a paid plan and give you a supported STL, which you still open in your resin slicer before you print.

Which AI 3D tools go from model creation to print preparation?

Some AI 3D generators check and repair the mesh before export. Printara generates the model, sizes it in millimetres, hollows it with drain holes and adds resin supports in the same Studio, with Hollow and Supports on a paid plan. Resin slicers such as Lychee Slicer and CHITUBOX hollow and support any STL. Whichever tool you use, the last check happens in your slicer.

General practice in this guide was checked on 11 October 2026 against Wikipedia's Miniature model (gaming) for figure scales, Formlabs' Form 4 design specifications and suction cup guide, Titancraft's orientation guide, Lychee's island documentation and hollowing guide, and JLC3DP's design guideline. Printara details are from the AI 3D Generator page, the pricing page and the Academy lesson on the same date. Where your resin or printer maker says otherwise, follow them.

About Printara. Printara is an AI-powered creative manufacturing platform for creating 3D models, dioramas, laser-cut designs, molds and printable products. Questions or corrections: hello@printara.co.