[Marlon: add the YouTube video for this tutorial here, plus a hero photo of a finished printed figure]
Printing your own sculpt is one of the most satisfying things you can do as a 3D artist. A character that only existed on screen becomes something you can hold, paint and put on a shelf. But a model that looks perfect in ZBrush can fail on the printer in a dozen ways: holes in the mesh, walls that are too thin, parts that snap, or supports that ruin the surface.
This guide walks through the workflow for turning a ZBrush sculpt into a printed action figure, from preparing the mesh to cleaning the final print.
What you need
- A sculpt in ZBrush. Any character works, but a pose with a stable base and no paper-thin parts is easier for your first print.
- A printer, or a print service. For figures, a resin (MSLA) printer gives far better detail than a filament (FDM) printer. If you don't own one, online print services accept STL files.
- A slicer. Resin slicers such as Chitubox or Lychee handle hollowing, supports and exposure settings.
- Cleanup tools. Isopropyl alcohol (or a wash station), a UV curing light, flush cutters, sandpaper and primer.
1. Design the pose for printing
Decide early that the model will be printed. A few choices in the pose save hours later:
- Give the figure a solid base with enough contact area to stand.
- Avoid thin, unsupported parts such as long fingers, antennas or loose strands of hair. Thicken them or connect them to the body.
- Think about where you will split the model (head, arms, weapon) so seams fall along natural edges like clothing lines.
2. Make the model solid in ZBrush
A printer needs a watertight mesh: a closed surface with no holes, no overlapping shells and no inverted faces. Most sculpts are made of many overlapping SubTools, so this is the step where most first prints go wrong.
- Duplicate your project so you keep the original sculpt untouched.
- Close any open holes, for example with Geometry > Modify Topology > Close Holes.
- Combine the parts that should print as one piece. Either merge the SubTools and DynaMesh them at a high resolution, or use Live Boolean and Make Boolean Mesh to union them while keeping detail.
- Check the result: one continuous shell per printed part, with no internal faces.
DynaMesh is the quickest way to get a solid mesh, but it rebuilds the surface, so use a resolution high enough to keep your fine detail.
3. Scale the model to real-world size
ZBrush units don't map to millimetres by default. Use the 3D Print Hub plugin (Zplugin menu) to set the real size of the figure before exporting. Common sizes are around 75 mm for tabletop miniatures, and around 30 cm for a 1:6 scale figure. Set the size once for the whole figure so every part matches.
4. Split the figure into parts and add keys
Splitting a figure makes it easier to print (each part can be oriented for the best surface) and easier to paint. Cut along natural seams, then add keys: a peg on one side and a matching socket on the other, so the parts only fit one way. Leave a small gap (a few tenths of a millimetre) between peg and socket so they fit after printing.
5. Hollow the parts and add drain holes
For resin printing, large solid parts waste resin and put more stress on the model during printing. Hollow bigger parts with a wall thickness of roughly 1.5–2 mm, and add drain holes near the lowest point so uncured resin can escape. Without drain holes, trapped resin can crack the print later. Most resin slicers can hollow and punch holes for you.
6. Reduce the polycount and export
A high-resolution sculpt can be tens of millions of polygons, far more than the slicer needs. Use Decimation Master to reduce each part while keeping the silhouette and detail, then export STL files with 3D Print Hub.
7. Orient, support and slice
- Orient each part at an angle so each layer has a small cross-section and supports don't land on the face or other important detail.
- Support every island (the lowest point of any area). Missing supports are the most common reason a part fails mid-print.
- Test your exposure with a calibration print before you commit hours to a full figure.
8. Wash, cure and clean up
- Wash the parts in isopropyl alcohol to remove uncured resin.
- Remove supports carefully with flush cutters, ideally before full curing, when the resin is less brittle.
- Cure the parts under UV light.
- Sand support marks, glue the parts together and prime the figure for painting.
Common mistakes
- Exporting overlapping SubTools instead of one solid shell per part.
- Walls or details thinner than the printer can reproduce.
- Forgetting drain holes in hollow parts.
- Placing supports on the face.
- Scaling each part separately, so the pieces no longer fit.
FAQ
How do I make my model solid in ZBrush?
Close the holes, then merge the parts and DynaMesh them at a high resolution, or union them with Live Boolean and Make Boolean Mesh. The goal is one closed, watertight shell per printed part.
Should I use a resin or filament printer for figures?
Resin (MSLA) printers reproduce much finer detail and are the usual choice for figures and miniatures. Filament printers are better for large, simple parts.
Can I print without owning a printer?
Yes. Prepare the STL files the same way and send them to an online print service.
Learn the full workflow
This guide covers the essentials. In 3D Printing from Zero to Hero you go deeper: printer technologies, advanced model preparation, splitting and hollowing complex pieces, printing at home, and assembling and finishing professional-quality prints.
New to ZBrush? Start with Intro to ZBrush: Toony Characters and sculpt your first character to print.
