3D printing materials for figures, and how they actually differ

"3D printed figure" can mean very different things depending on the material. Here are the three you'll actually run into, compared on the points that matter when you're buying one.

PLA (plant-based filament)

Made from corn starch and similar sources, used in FDM printing (melting a filament and stacking it up).

• Colour: whatever colour the filament is. Multiple colours on one figure needs hand painting or a multi-material printer
• Durability: hard to crack if dropped, but it softens in hot places like a car in summer
• Smell: essentially none

It's the most common material for home printers and it's very safe to handle. The trade-off is visible layer lines and less crisp fine detail.

Photopolymer resin

Liquid resin cured with light. Its detail reproduction is the best of the three, which is why it dominates the model kit and garage kit world.

• Colour: single colour by default; painting is assumed
• Durability: hard, but thin parts can chip on impact
• Smell: uncured liquid resin has a distinct smell and needs ventilation

If you want fine facial detail, this wins — but colour becomes a separate painting step.

Full-colour resin

Colour ink is jetted onto the material as it builds up, layer by layer.

• Colour: over ten million colours in a single print. Patterned clothes and gradients come out directly
• Durability: slightly more brittle than painted resin. Made for display, not handling
• Smell: essentially none

When you're making a figure from a photo, you almost always want the actual colours of the clothes and hair, which is what this process is for.

Which one to pick

What matters most	Best material
Keeping the photo's colours	Full-colour resin
Maximum facial detail	Resin + painting
Safe for kids to handle	PLA

FigMee uses full-colour resin, because keeping the colours from your photo is the whole point. These are made to sit on a shelf and be looked at, so we prioritise colour fidelity over toughness.