HERO HD Curing Guide: Thermal Cure Schedule

HERO HD is designed to be fully cured with heat. This guide covers the schedule, the reason thermal curing matters, and the steps from the printer to a finished mini.

The HERO HD cure schedule

Thermal cure: 215 to 275°F for a minimum of one hour. UV curing is optional. If a part is not fully cured after one hour, keep going until it is.

Why thermal curing

UV light cures the surface first and can leave the inside of a part softer. Heat cures all the way through. Thermal curing drives deeper polymer conversion, which improves toughness, dimensional stability and long term consistency, and it reduces residual reactive material in the part. The result is a mini with more resistance to creep and stress and a wider safety margin for handling. Read more in our article why thermal curing outshines light.

Step by step

  1. Print. HERO HD works with 365 nm, 395 nm and 405 nm light engines. Start from our exposure settings and fine tune with the Starship calibration test.
  2. Wash. Clean off uncured resin with high purity IPA or Rhino Resin Cleaner, then dry the part.
  3. UV cure (optional). A light cure is not required for HERO HD, but you can add one before the heat step.
  4. Thermal cure. Heat the part at 215 to 275°F for a minimum of one hour. Use an oven that holds its temperature, and keep it ventilated. To get started, we typically recommend a large countertop oven, available at any big box store, ideally one with an air fryer feature. The air fryer setting moves air around the oven so the parts heat evenly.
  5. Cool, then finish. Let the part cool, then paint with InstantEffect or your favorite acrylics.

What to expect from the cured part

HERO HD Merchant Grey and Flesh are Shore D 77. The other HERO HD colors are Shore D 79 to 83. Fine features like weapons, fingers and thin walls flex instead of snapping with rigid toughness.

Which HERO HD color to start with

Merchant Grey is our most popular color for merchant printers. See all tabletop resins to compare colors, or read the HERO HD vs RPG vs Standard HD guide.

Questions about curing? Email info@3dresinsolutions.com.

The 3DRS Team