How much resin does a standard 28mm miniature use?

A solid 28-32mm infantry model uses roughly 3-8g of resin depending on the sculpt's mass. Bulkier models like heavily armored fighters land higher; slim, lightly detailed models land lower. At $0.025 per gram, that's less than $0.20 per model in resin cost.

Does orientation affect how much resin a print uses?

Yes, but not dramatically for most miniatures. Orientation affects support resin more than model resin. Tilting a model to reduce peel forces can change support weight by 20-30%, which matters if you're running large batch prints. The model itself uses roughly the same amount of resin regardless of angle.

Why does the slicer estimate not match what I actually use?

Slicer estimates are generally accurate within 5-10%. Variance comes from support weight (estimated vs. actual), resin density differences between brands, and any resin that cures on the FEP or vat walls (the vat tax every printer runs). The estimate is reliable enough for cost planning.

Is it cheaper to print hollow?

For models over 50mm tall, yes. A solid 75mm character model uses 40-60g of resin. Hollowed at 2mm walls it uses 15-25g. That's a meaningful savings across a batch. For infantry at 28-32mm, hollowing saves maybe 2-3g per model and adds slicer prep time -- usually not worth it.

How much resin does a 1kg bottle actually cover?

Roughly 80-120 standard 28mm infantry, or 15-25 large character models, or 6-10 terrain pieces depending on size. In practice, account for failed prints (which still cost resin), test prints, and the resin that cures on your FEP and vat walls over time. A 1kg bottle doesn't go as far as the math suggests it should.

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How Much Resin Does a Miniature Use? Cost Per Print Breakdown

Size-based resin use estimates for miniatures, with worked cost math and slicer tips for estimating before you hit print.

This guide contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

The question comes up in every beginner thread and the answers are usually too vague to be useful. “It depends” is technically correct. It’s also not helpful when you’re trying to figure out whether your resin budget covers a 40-model warband or ten terrain pieces.

So here’s the actual math. Size-based estimates, cost per print worked through, and how to use your slicer to get a number before you commit resin to a build plate. If you’re still picking which resin to buy, the best resin for miniatures guide covers the full type comparison. And regardless of which resin you’re running, the resin printing safety guide applies every time you open a bottle.

The Short Version: Resin Use by Size

If you just need ballpark numbers, here’s the table:

Model Type	Size	Typical Resin Use (solid)	Resin Use (hollowed)	Cost at $0.025/g
Infantry	25-32mm	3-8g	N/A (don’t hollow)	$0.08-$0.20
Character / Hero	40-54mm	12-25g	8-14g	$0.30-$0.63 solid
Large monster	75mm+	40-80g	15-30g	$1.00-$2.00 solid
Bust (1/10 scale)	~100mm	80-130g	25-45g	$2.00-$3.25 solid
Terrain piece (small)	~50mm cube	20-40g	10-18g	$0.50-$1.00 solid
Terrain piece (large)	~100mm cube	80-180g	25-55g	$2.00-$4.50 solid

These are real-world numbers from a Saturn with mono LCD exposure. Different printers and different resins produce similar volume results since you’re printing the same geometry, but resin density varies slightly between brands, so grams will shift a few percent either direction.

How Resin Use Is Actually Calculated

Your slicer doesn’t guess. It knows the exact geometry of your model and calculates the volume of resin that will cure during the print. Volume times density equals mass in grams.

The math the slicer is doing:

Model volume (cm³) + support volume (cm³) = total volume to cure
Total volume × resin density (roughly 1.1 g/cm³ for most standard resins) = grams

That’s it. The slicer estimate is accurate. The variance between estimated and actual comes from a few sources:

Support weight varies. Slicer support estimates are calculated from the support geometry, but auto-generated supports can be slightly denser or lighter than the algorithm predicts. For infantry, this is a rounding error. For large models on heavy support trees, support resin can be 30-40% of the total.

The vat tax is real. Every session leaves a small amount of resin cured on the FEP film or vat walls -- pixels that fire on the exposure even when no model geometry is there, plus resin that cures during warming and FEP leveling. On a short print it’s negligible. On a session running 8-10 hours, it adds up. I budget about 5-10ml per session as lost resin.

Resin density isn’t exactly 1.1. Standard resins run 1.05-1.15 g/cm³. ABS-like resins often run slightly denser. The slicer uses a default density for the resin type, which is close enough for cost estimation.

Resin Use by Miniature Size

Here’s how to think about each size band:

25-32mm Infantry

The bread and butter of tabletop printing. A 28mm human-proportioned model with normal armor and equipment runs 3-6g of resin solid. Bulkier models -- Chaos Space Marines, heavily armored dwarves, anything with a lot of mass -- land at 6-9g. Slim models with open poses and minimal armor can go as low as 2-3g.

Do not hollow these. The resin savings are literally a few cents per model, and you lose structural integrity at the joints and thin weapon parts. Print solid.

At $0.025 per gram on a $25/kg bottle, the most expensive 28mm infantry you’ll print costs about $0.22 in resin. You can print an entire 20-model unit for under $3 in materials.

54mm Characters and Heroes

This is where the math starts to matter more. A 54mm character model solid runs 15-25g depending on sculpt mass. At $0.025/g that’s $0.38-$0.63 per model. Still cheap, but hollowing becomes worth considering if you’re printing a lot of them.

Hollowed at 2mm walls, a 54mm character typically drops to 8-14g. That’s a 40-50% reduction in resin use. If you’re printing a whole faction at hero scale, hollowing pays off over a batch. For one-off models you’ll paint carefully, the extra prep time probably isn’t worth it.

75mm+ Monsters, Dragons, and Large Models

This is where hollowing goes from optional to obvious. A solid large dragon or giant at 100mm runs 60-100g of resin. At $0.025/g you’re looking at $1.50-$2.50 in resin for one print. Hollowed properly at 2-3mm walls, that drops to 20-35g, cutting the material cost by 60-70%.

The hollowing guide covers drain hole placement and wall thickness in detail. The short version: minimum two drain holes at the lowest points in print orientation, 2mm walls for models under 75mm, 3mm for anything larger.

Terrain

Terrain is where resin cost gets serious if you’re printing solid. A ruined wall segment at 100mm long and 60mm tall solid can be 100-150g. Print six of them for a table and you’ve used most of a 1kg bottle on one terrain set.

Hollow large terrain pieces. Always. The mass-to-detail ratio on terrain is poor for solid printing -- most of the interior adds zero visual value and a lot of weight and cost. A properly hollowed 100mm terrain piece comes down to 25-50g depending on wall thickness and geometry.

The one exception is small scatter terrain -- barrels, crates, small stones, anything under 30mm in any dimension. Just print solid. The prep time isn’t worth it.

Busts (1/10 and 1/12 Scale)

Busts are high-detail, high-mass, and consistently the most expensive models to print solid. A 1/10 scale bust at 100-120mm solid uses 90-140g of resin. Hollow at 2.5-3mm walls and that drops to 30-50g. If you’re printing busts regularly, you don’t have a choice -- hollow every one.

Cost Per Print: The Math

The formula is simple:

Cost per print = (bottle price / bottle weight in grams) × slicer estimate in grams

Worked examples using a $25/kg bottle:

28mm infantry at 5g: $25 / 1000g = $0.025/g × 5g = $0.13
54mm character solid at 20g: $0.025 × 20g = $0.50
54mm character hollowed at 10g: $0.025 × 10g = $0.25
Large monster solid at 70g: $0.025 × 70g = $1.75
Large monster hollowed at 28g: $0.025 × 28g = $0.70
Large terrain piece hollowed at 40g: $0.025 × 40g = $1.00

If you’re running a more expensive resin -- Siraya Tech Fast, specialty engineering resins, higher-viscosity ABS-like -- adjust the per-gram cost accordingly. Siraya Fast runs about $35-40 per kg, so the per-gram cost is $0.035-$0.040. The multiplication is the same.

How to Get the Estimate Before You Print

Open Lychee or Chitubox and slice the model. Both slicers show a resin use estimate in the print summary.

In Lychee: The estimate appears in the status bar at the bottom after slicing. It shows volume in ml and weight in grams. Use the grams number.

In Chitubox: The estimate is in the print info panel on the right side after slicing. Same format -- volume and weight.

A few things that affect the accuracy of the estimate:

Orient first, then check. Resin use doesn’t change much with orientation, but support resin does. If you check the estimate before finalizing supports, you’re missing 10-40% of the actual resin consumption. Finish supports, slice, then read the number.

The estimate includes support resin. All of it, including the supports you’ll wash off and throw away. For cost-per-completed-model math, subtract estimated support resin weight (usually visible as a separate number in the print summary) from the total. For cost-per-session budgeting, use the total.

Slicer estimates are within 5-10% of actual. Reliable enough for cost planning. Not a guarantee.

Getting the Cost Per Print Down

A few levers that actually work:

Hollow large models. Already covered. The single biggest resin saver available to you. A hollowed large model uses 50-70% less resin than the same model solid.

Buy in bulk. The per-gram cost difference between a single 500g bottle and a 2-pack of 1kg bottles is often 20-30%. For resins you use regularly, buying in volume is the easiest cost reduction. Elegoo and Anycubic both offer bulk pricing that makes sense if you’re printing regularly.

Match resin to the job. Running Elegoo ABS-Like at $25/kg for terrain you’ll prime and paint is fine. Running a $45/kg engineering resin on the same terrain is a waste. Use your premium resins for models where the mechanical properties or detail fidelity actually matter.

Reduce support resin. Optimizing support settings -- lighter trees, smaller contact points, better orientation to minimize supports -- directly reduces material cost. You’re paying for support resin the same as model resin, and you throw it all away. Heavy default auto-support settings are usually more support than you need.

Anycubic Standard Resin and Siraya Tech Fast are my go-to options for volume printing and detail work respectively. The Anycubic Standard runs around $22-25/kg and is reliable for terrain and background models. Siraya Fast costs more but earns it on character models and anything going under a magnifier.

The Real Per-Bottle Coverage

A 1kg bottle does not print 1000g of models. Here’s where it actually goes:

Model resin: 60-75% of the bottle, depending on print efficiency
Support resin (washed off): 15-25%
Vat losses (FEP tax, failed prints, test prints): 10-15%

In practice, 1kg of resin buys you roughly:

80-120 infantry at 28mm (solid)
15-25 hero models at 54mm (solid) or 25-40 hollowed
8-12 large monster models (hollowed)
A full table of small-to-medium terrain (hollowed)

If your math says 1kg covers more than that, you’re not accounting for failed prints and waste. If it covers less, you’re running heavy supports or have suboptimal print settings.

Track your actual consumption for a month. Note the start and end level of your resin bottle against the number of prints you completed. The real number from your printer with your settings is more useful than any estimate in this guide.

Resin is not the most expensive part of this hobby. The printer is, the time is, the STLs are. But it’s also not free, and knowing roughly what a print will cost before you start is the difference between budgeting sessions accurately and wondering why you’re through three bottles without a complete warband to show for it.

Run the math once on a few representative models in your queue, get a feel for your cost per gram, and the estimates become second nature. The slicer does the geometry; you just need to know the multiplier.

For safe handling of any resin you buy -- including proper disposal of wash waste and PPE requirements -- the resin printing safety guide is worth reading before you open a new bottle type.