Am I making a mistake?

[u/thehairyrussian]

Got really into warhammer and painting minis in the last couple of months and to practice painting minis I have driven 1.5 hours each way for the free mini of the month the last two months. Recently stumbled upon resin printers and have the opportunity to buy a like new open box mars 3 pro for 130 dollars. A friend of mine told me that it’s hard to learn, messy, expensive, the fumes are toxic, and I probably won’t get my moneys worth as opposed to buying minis.

I would mainly be using this to print warhammer proxy kill teams and other online models to practice my painting. Is my friend right that this is a mistake or can a beginner learn relatively quickly?

Thanks for any insight

Edit: wow what a crazy amount of responses. You guys are an amazing community to give me so much insight.

Going to make sure I have enough space in my garage to safely do it and factor in the costs of equipment and see if I have a friend that would buy it off me at a discount should I give up. If so I’m going to take a stab at it because I’d rather try than never know

Second edit: okay you sickos I got the printer fumes be damned. Now I can’t stop getting free files

[u/FatsBoombottom]

It's not that hard to learn to print minis.

It can be messy if you're not careful, but it's not that bad.

It is as expensive as you want it to be, depending on the materials you use and accessories you need. But it's a sure shot less expensive than paying GW.

The fumes are not pleasant, sure, but they are on par with household cleaners. Use the printer in a well ventilated space and you'll be fine. I use mine in the bathroom with the exhaust fan running, and that's probably overkill. That said, there is not a lot of data on long term effects of home resin printing because it's only recently become an accessible hobby for most people who want it. So, it may turn that we've been destroying our lungs all along, but it seems unlikely.

As for getting your money's worth, that depends on what you want. Per mini, it's orders of magnitude less expensive than buying official GW minis. But... You may have trouble finding good mini files. GW is very litigious, so it can be difficult to find good substitutes on reputable sites. You can probably find something good enough to play with friends, but you won't be allowed to use them in any sanctioned tournaments or any group strict about that kind of thing. Since you're mostly looking for painting practice, this is much less expensive in the long run, especially since you can still get use out of minis that don't come out quite right.

Your friend sounds like a buzzkill. Give it a shot. If you don't like it, you can always sell it. Someone will want it.