Let’s make FDM-friendly miniatures in Titancraft
A short introduction
Recently I used Titancraft and bought the sci-fi package to create some coloured models to use in Talespire VTT. Titancraft is a miniatures design browser-based software that allows a lot of user intervention. I chose it over the competition due to cost (you buy the assets and can use them for unlimited downloads and uses), posability and texturing, and export formats (stl, obj and tsMod).
I was finishing my Five Parsecs from Home: Bug Hunt game in physical format (set up a board and everything), and I realized that once more I was proxying a close-enough mini for one of my three main characters. I’m a 15mm scale player, so choices are limited and for the past few years acquisition, shipping cost, taxes and duties, and availability of miniatures becomes worse and worse – that’s the reason I got into 3d printing with an FDM printer. But I digress. The proxy I’ve been using for the Unity Trooper Ariana Roschke doesn’t actually fit. She usually goes into battle with a Hand Cannon and a Boarding Sword, and instead I used a heroic sci-fi woman holding dual swords.
That is not at all close to my concept, and I recalled that I had made a VTT version of Ariana in Titancraft. So…lightbulb moment, what if I could make an FDM model out of her? I decided I wouldn’t keep the same colour scheme since I wanted her to fit with the rest of my painted Unity Grunts (painted in something inspired by Starship Troopers and Cadian Imperial Guard). And this is the process I’ll talk about. And how I went from this:
To this:
And finally this:
1. Choose your basic model concept in TitanCraft
Don’t worry about posing at this time. Choose a model that best represents the character you want, and outfit the assets you like. It’s quite straightforward. You can use free assets, or buy the ones you like. Depending on your budget and what you plan on doing it might be best to buy asset packs or just the single use. You don’t pay for the assets until the time comes to download your character, and then only if you don’t own them already.
Since we’re talking about FDM printing, some care must be taken here on limitations. Avoid parts that will create Islands or Overhangs. For example, since I was working with a model I had already designed for a VTT, ,I decided to remove the pauldrons, as they’d create more trouble than I wanted. You can always scale, rotate and translate stuff later, but you will have already some rough idea of what works or not.
I also decided to remove the helmet from my model as I wanted something more distinguishing from arms length at table distance in 15mm. I gave her a nice braided ponytail.
2. Give it Heroic proportions
Heroic scale isn’t about the size of the model, but about proportions. If you notice the pewter or plastic cast models, they range in proportions from True scale to Heroic scale. True scale is what a real-life person would look like in a miniature size. Heroic scale offsets the proportions so that the parts that are more distinguishable to us, are more pronounced. This makes them look like angry babies with grownup features, but when you place them on the table they look better actually. Also for FDM (and even more for 15mm scale) it’s important as we strive, but we don’t get the same quality as resin, and heroic proportions help so that the miniature doesn’t end up with vague subtle features. Painted miniature models are all about illusion (same way we paint washes and highlights instead of flat colours). Titancraft models default to somewhere between True scale and Heroic scale, so in order to achieve this, we will use the Sizing tool. Artists learn to do proportions through the use of the Head size ratio, where an adult human would be near 7 Heads tall and a Baby 3-4 Heads. For Heroic scale we want to achieve something like 4-5 Heads (as I said, angry babies with grownup features).
There are a lot of sliders here, but the most important things to do are:
- increase Head size (give it a couple notches to the right)
- decrease Neck length (we want the head close to the body to minimize overhangs)
- increase Hand size (just a bit to make it more visible in the painted model)
- decrease Leg length (it will become shorter for a moment)
- increase Height (to regain the lost height from the Leg length)
In order to find the proper Height, you can use Show Ruler function and add a Reference object (like a human). Just make sure the eye level is close to where you want it and choose the right model scale. Remember to remove any base during this step, and add it again later.
3. Pose the model for FDM printing
Go into Pose and Advanced Controls to start fiddling around with proper placement so that you will not need any supports during printing. Again, we want to avoid any Overhangs or Islands.
In TitanCraft you can click on each items Bones and Translate, Rotate or Scale them. It’s quite easy and intuitive to use. Remember to use the Basic Pose functions first to get a complex pose done (say for a fist or an open palm) before fine-tuning it with Advance Controls.
Things to look for:
- Re-orient horizontal poses as vertical as possible
- Stick any parts overhanging away from the figure
- Touch anything needed back to the ground or to the figure
It may take some work to do, but I find the whole process enjoyable.
In the particular example, what I did:
- Rotated the weapon arm, hand and wrist to be vertical
- Rotated the left arm so that all fingers touch the leg
- Rotated the sword so that it was flush with the back of the torso
- Rotated the neck so that the chin isn’t too overhanging, and scaled the neck down
- Rotated all parts of the braid so that it touched the torso and didn’t cover the sword blade
4. Add base and export
That’s pretty straightforward. Add a base to your liking and export to STL format. You can also optionally texture it to have some idea of how you’ll paint it later on.
The model scale I chose from TitanCraft is 30mm as I found that it’s closer to my printed miniatures.
5. Slice and send to printer
I won’t go into any details about presets and printing. There’s tons of them, and this is out of scope of this guide. After fine-tuning a LOT, I have switched bach to the default presets, however I like to “chonkify” my miniatures with an extra +0.1 or more to the X-Y Contour Compensation settings. This tends to thicken the miniature without scaling it only in one dimension – it doesn’t look squished like a scaling in X-Y would. If you do need specific dimensions for the base be careful to avoid using this parameter on the base (i.e. through the use of a Primitive Modifier).
Depending on your design, you might get a warning or two about floating regions, but if you were careful they shouldn’t have any impact. I personally printed without supports.
In order to achieve the right size in 15mm, I used a 60% scaling down of the miniature. I have tested this against my own collection pewter miniatures from different ranges and manufacturers as well as digital sculpts.
You can see an example of my model below and an exaggerated example (which I didn’t use) to see how X-Y Contour Compensation works.
6. Print and Paint
Pretty straightforward. If you have designed everything well, and make sure to follow the below recommendations, then you should have a nicely printed miniature at the end.
- Use a good modern printer (I personally use Bambu Labs A1 mini)
- Maintain and calibrate the printer (lubricate once per month and calibrate bed, wash and dry the plate)
- Use a nozzle with a small diameter (0.2mm recommended)
- Use a good quality PLA, and dry it if required (depending on climate; I have great results with Elegoo PLA)
For painting I went with a slap chop priming (being careful to drybrush horizontally along the layer lines, instead of against them) and a simple paint job. The wash turned out a bit darker than I’d like, but it’s within acceptable limits I guess.
I find that she’ll fit well with the rest of my Unity troopers, and I’m actually looking forward to designing, printing and painting the rest of the group (Kato Minoru and Ulla Voight).
Hope this guide helps more fellow hobbyists!
Onibaba are discussing. 
Lou, and 
Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice 
Onibaba 1:24 pm on September 9, 2025 Permalink |
Great Guide, stolen!
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giorgis 6:42 pm on September 9, 2025 Permalink |
Enjoy! ☺️
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