How to 3D-print a custom case for any miniature — beginner guide

By Rodrigo Krug · Last updated June 7, 2026

Foam cut-outs were fine in 2010. Today you can carve a snug, drop-proof case for any tabletop figure in an evening — and this guide walks you through every step from STL to finished print, with sane defaults for FDM and resin printers.

Why a printed case beats foam (and pluck-foam)

Pluck-foam is generic by design: you tear out cubes until something vaguely mini-shaped fits. Within a few car trips the cubes fray, paint rubs off cloaks and banners, and tall heroes tip over when the case is stood on end. A printed case solves all three problems at once. Because the cavity is carved from your actual STL with a millimetre or two of clearance, the model sits in exactly one orientation, only touches the case at its broadest cross-section, and never rattles.

The cost story is friendly too. A single-mini case typically uses 25–40 g of filament — call it 30 to 60 US cents — versus several dollars for a proper foam tray. Multiply that across a 60-mini army and the math gets hard to ignore.

What you actually need

You can do everything in this guide with gear most painters already own. Nothing here is exotic:

• A 3D printer — FDM (Bambu A1, Prusa MK4, Ender 3) or resin (Mars 4, Saturn 4) both work. FDM is cheaper per case; resin gives you crisper external details if you care.
• Filament or resin — PETG for FDM, ABS-like tough resin for SLA. Avoid brittle materials; cases get dropped.
• A slicer — OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, or Lychee for resin. Any modern slicer will do.
• The STL of your miniature — the actual sculpt you want to protect. We'll cover where to get one in a moment.
• Calipers (optional) — useful for a sanity check on base width, but not required.

Step 1 — Get the STL of your miniature

Without an STL there is no case to carve. There are three common ways to get one, ordered from easiest to hardest:

Buy or download the sculpt

Patreon sculpting studios (Artisan Guild, Titan Forge, Archvillain Games) sell printable STLs every month. MyMiniDB, MyMiniFactory, Thangs and Cults host both free and paid downloads. Stick to the presupported or solid version of the file — the pre-cut split version is for printing, not for measuring.

Scan a physical miniature

Free phone apps like Polycam or KIRI Engine turn a 60-second video into a usable mesh. Quality is rough but more than enough for case carving — we only need the outer silhouette.

Use the publisher's STL

Games Workshop sells official sculpts through MyMiniFactory, and most indie studios (Para Bellum, Mantic, Wargames Atlantic) ship STLs with their digital releases. Always check the licence — personal cases are universally allowed; selling printed cases bundled with sculpts is not.

Step 2 — Generate the case at MyMiniCase

Drop the STL onto the MyMiniCase app. The viewer shows your sculpt floating inside a translucent case envelope. From there you tweak four numbers:

1. Wall thickness — 2.0 mm is the default and survives normal handling.
2. Clearance — 1.0–1.5 mm between mini and cavity. Less, and tall banners scrape the lid; more, and the figure rattles.
3. Lid type — friction-fit for quick access, screw-lid for transport, magnet sockets if you keep neodymium discs in a drawer.
4. Padding — optional foam pocket on the lid, useful for delicate freehand banners.

Hit Generate and download the STL. The whole carve runs locally in your browser — your sculpt never touches our servers, which means paid commissions stay safely yours. If you're new to the parametric side of things, our companion guide on the STL-to-printable-case workflow walks through every parameter with screenshots.

Step 3 — Slice and print

Here is where most first-time case-printers slip up. The settings that give a beautiful miniature give an ugly, weak case. A case is a part, not a display piece, so we want it strong and quick:

FDM defaults that just work

• Material: PETG. PLA works if your car never sees direct sun.
• Layer height: 0.20 mm — fast, strong, plenty of detail for a case.
• Walls: 3 perimeters. Two leaves gaps at corners.
• Infill: 15% gyroid. More is wasted plastic.
• Supports: off for the base, on for the lid only (the latch overhang needs them).
• Nozzle: 0.4 mm is fine. 0.6 mm cuts print time roughly in half and the case still looks great.

Resin defaults

Print the case lying flat on the build plate with a small 2-degree tilt so suction forces don't shear the cavity walls. A 0.05 mm layer is the sweet spot — finer wastes time, coarser prints visible steps inside the cavity that catch on freehand details.

Step 4 — Post-process and fit-check

Once the print is off the plate, a quick five-minute pass turns a raw print into a clean case:

1. Remove brim or supports with flush cutters. Don't yank — twist sideways at the contact point.
2. Run a fingernail or a 240-grit sanding stick along the cavity rim to knock off stringing.
3. Drop the miniature in without forcing it. It should slide down the last 5 mm under its own weight.
4. If it sticks, identify the contact point (paint a fingertip and press) and sand exactly there — never the whole cavity.
5. Test the lid: it should close with a soft click and need a finger-pull to open.

That's the whole loop. From here you can branch into specialised cases for specific game systems — start with our Warhammer 40K case guide which covers Primaris-scale clearances, banner pockets, and squad-tray layouts in detail.

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