Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra
Best Overall for Miniatures
- Speed
- 150 mm/h
- Score
- 8.2/10
- Build
- 2.7 L
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Best 3D Printers for Miniatures & Warhammer in 2026
- Best Overall for Miniatures: the Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra, 8.2/10.
- Best for Maximum Resolution: the Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K S, 7.2/10.
- Best for Batch Printing Armies: the Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra, 7.8/10.
- Best Entry-Level Budget Option: the Anycubic Photon Mono 4, 7.4/10.
listicle · updated . Specs from the PrintPick catalog, checked 2026-09-29. Scores are PrintPick ratings out of 10.
By Shadman Rahman · Prices checked
The verdict
Buy the Mars 5 Ultra. Best Overall for Miniatures.
The Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra is the community standard. 14K resolution, tilt release, built-in air purifier. Handles 90% of what hobbyist painters need. Building and painting full armies? Step up to the Saturn 4 Ultra for the throughput. Competition painters or display model creators who need maximum surface fidelity should look at the Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K S. New to resin? Start with the Photon Mono 4. Learn the workflow before committing to a larger machine. Whatever you pick: budget for a wash-and-cure station. It's not optional.
The 4 picks, by the numbers
Same scale within each chart. Teal is the best of the 4.
| Mars 5 Ultra | 8.2/10 (best) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic Mini 8K S | 7.2/10 | |
| Saturn 4 Ultra | 7.8/10 | |
| Photon Mono 4 | 7.4/10 |
| Mars 5 Ultra | 2.7 L | |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic Mini 8K S | 2.1 L | |
| Saturn 4 Ultra | 5.9 L (best) | |
| Photon Mono 4 | 1.3 L |
| Mars 5 Ultra | 150 mm/s (best) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic Mini 8K S | 80 mm/s | |
| Saturn 4 Ultra | 150 mm/s (best) | |
| Photon Mono 4 | 100 mm/s |
Tabletop miniatures demand one thing above everything else: detail. Layer lines visible to the naked eye break immersion at the gaming table. And painting doesn't hide poor surface quality. It highlights it. FDM printers, no matter how good they've become, can't reliably reproduce chainmail links, facial features, or weapon inscriptions at 28mm scale. That means resin. MSLA technology cures entire layers simultaneously using a UV LCD screen, hitting XY resolution down to 22 microns and layer heights of 0.01mm. Roughly ten times finer than the best FDM result. The printers on this list are what the Warhammer, D&D, and tabletop communities actually use. They rank on resolution, reliability, build volume, and value for the miniature painter's workflow, drawing on long-running threads in r/PrintedMinis and the broader Warhammer hobby community.
Best Overall for Miniatures
- Speed
- 150 mm/h
- Score
- 8.2/10
- Build
- 2.7 L
The Mars 5 Ultra is what the community consistently recommends, and after looking at why, it's deserved. The 14K mono LCD packs extraordinary pixel density across a 153x77mm build plate. Enough for four to six 28mm miniatures or two 75mm display figures per run. At this resolution, chainmail, facial wrinkles, sword engravings, and fabric textures all print with fidelity that used to require professional resin printers costing thousands. The tilt release mechanism is the feature that matters most. Instead of pulling the build plate straight up after each layer (creating vacuum suction that can rip delicate details from the FEP film), it tilts to peel. Drastically reduces mechanical stress. Thin spear shafts, outstretched arms, and fine banner details survive. Elegoo quotes 150mm/hour with fast resins. Realistic expectation for standard resin is 100mm/hour. Four 28mm figures takes 2-3 hours. The built-in air purifier genuinely reduces resin smell. Won't eliminate it, but makes the Mars 5 Ultra meaningfully more tolerable in a living space than printers without filtration. At this price, the feature set is hard to argue with.
Best for Maximum Resolution
- Speed
- 80 mm/h
- Score
- 7.2/10
- Build
- 2.1 L
The Sonic Mini 8K S has one job: maximum resolution. 22-micron XY resolution, the finest available in any consumer resin printer. A human hair is roughly 70 microns. This printer reproduces details three times smaller than that. For 28mm Warhammer figures, it captures every detail Games Workshop's sculptors intended. Rivets on Space Marine armor, individual teeth, fur texture. All of it at fidelity that 14K printers can't match. The tradeoffs are worth knowing before you buy. No tilt release means higher peel forces and slightly elevated failure rates on models with large cross-sections or extensive flat overhangs. No air purifier. Print speeds are moderate at 60-80mm/hour. The 165x72mm build plate fits three to four 28mm miniatures per run, smaller than the Mars 5 Ultra. It costs more. The premium is entirely about resolution. Best for competition painters, display model creators who photograph their work professionally, and jewelers making casting masters.
Best for Batch Printing Armies
- Speed
- 150 mm/h
- Score
- 7.8/10
- Build
- 5.9 L
When you need to paint an entire Warhammer 40K army, forty Space Marines, twenty Terminators, five Dreadnoughts, the bottleneck shifts from detail quality to throughput. The Saturn 4 Ultra solves this. Its 218x123mm build plate is more than twice the area of the Mars 5 Ultra. Where the Mars 5 Ultra fits four 28mm miniatures per run, the Saturn 4 Ultra fits twelve to sixteen. Print an army overnight instead of over a week. The 12K resolution is excellent. Not quite the 14K pixel density of the Mars 5 Ultra, but indistinguishable to the naked eye at arm's length. More than sufficient for tabletop gaming where miniatures are viewed from 3-4 feet. The tilt release carries over from Elegoo's smaller machines. Print speeds reach 150mm/hour with compatible resins. It costs significantly more than the Mars 5 Ultra. The premium is justified if you print in volume. The time savings over a month of army painting easily cover the price difference. If you only print one or two miniatures at a time, the extra plate size goes unused. Best for competitive Warhammer and tabletop players building and painting entire armies on a schedule.
Best Entry-Level Budget Option
- Speed
- 100 mm/h
- Score
- 7.4/10
- Build
- 1.3 L
The Photon Mono 4 answers one specific question: how do I find out if resin printing works for me without committing $300? It's the cheapest path to real resin quality. 10K resolution that produces miniatures far beyond what any FDM printer can manage. The 153x77mm build plate fits two to three 28mm miniatures per run. Enough to evaluate whether the workflow fits you. Print quality is genuinely good. Chainmail, faces, fine weapons all come through cleanly. The limitations are real. No tilt mechanism means more print failures than the Mars 5 Ultra, especially with large flat areas or complex overhangs. No air purifier means you need a ventilated space. Small build plate means limited batch printing. You'll also need a wash-and-cure station ($80-120) to properly finish prints. Budget for that before buying. Most people who start here upgrade to a Mars 5 Ultra or Saturn within a year. But as a first resin printer that teaches the workflow without a major financial commitment, it's the smart starting point.