--- title: "VoxelMatters Review: Formlabs’ Tough 2000 V2 resin shows how tough the Form 4 really is" url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/voxelmatters-review-formlabs-tough-2000-v4-resin-shows-how-tough-the-form-4-really-is/ date: 2026-05-09 modified: 2026-05-09 lang: en author: "Davide Sher" description: "Last year, VoxelMatters reviewed the Form 4 Complete Package, basically an end-to-end production system, and testing it was a surprisingly smooth experience. We had lots of fun testing it, but..." categories: - "Advanced Materials" - "Advanced Polymers" - "Decision Makers" - "Materials" - "Photopolymer Resins" - "Polymers" - "VoxelMatters Reviews" tags: - "Featured" image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/F4T2K-1-640x366.jpg word_count: 2405 --- # VoxelMatters Review: Formlabs’ Tough 2000 V2 resin shows how tough the Form 4 really is Last year, [VoxelMatters reviewed the Form 4 Complete Package](https://www.voxelmatters.com/form-4-review-the-definitive-resin-3d-printing-experience-on-your-desktop/), basically an end-to-end production system, and testing it was a surprisingly smooth experience. We had lots of fun testing it, but VoxelMatters is not a service provider, and just using the printer for that review seemed a bit limiting. So we asked [Formlabs](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/formlabs/) for some of its newest, toughest and most precise materials to get and offer our readers a feel for what it's like to make strong, functional parts and ultra-precise models on a Form4-series system. Since then, we have been conducting many other reviews of the latest 3D printers to hit the market, and we've moved into a dedicated lab provided by our friends at White Label (they offer AM services, but mostly with large-format extrusion machines, MJF and Polyjet) at the Galleria degli Artigiani in Milan. We now have a lot more space to work with (but it's filling up quickly), and we got down to business. [Formlabs sent us the new Tough 2000 V2 resin](https://www.voxelmatters.com/formlabs-tough-resin-family-new-materials/) along with the Precision Model V1 resin, as well as a couple of replacement resin tanks and mixers. We also received a unit of the new Form Cure V2 system to rapidly heat treat the printed parts. ![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1756-scaled.jpg)It took a while for us to finalize our tests and this review. First, we had to move everything into the new lab, then we had to figure out what to actually print. It was not easy at first. We wanted to truly test the materials' strengths, but we had to come to terms with the fact that we are not engineers, technicians or even 3D printing experts. We specialize in the 3D printing market; we know the industry and the products. We know their business potential and their marketing appeal. However, there are many like us who don't operate 3D printers as their core business but still need or want to use 3D printers, as machines like the Form 4—with the full end-to-end kit priced at just under $7,000—dramatically expanded the user base. For those like us, it's of fundamental importance that using such complex machines and tough materials is easy and intuitive. That it's repeatable and reliable, without much hassle. In that sense, Formlabs' Form 4 aced every test. And it's not an easy task. Let's see how it went. ## Like no other But first, let's take a closer look at Formlabs' Tough 2000 Resin V2, the primary focus of this review. This is the company's most capable engineering-grade photopolymer to date for the Form 4 platform, and the numbers back it up. With a fracture toughness of 305 J/m², an elongation at break of 79%, and a heat deflection temperature of 70°C at 0.45 MPa, it is positioned squarely against injection-molded ABS — and in several mechanical categories, it matches or beats the reference material on paper. Formlabs claims a threefold improvement in fracture toughness over the previous generation, alongside better thermal resistance and improved surface quality. The new formulation is darker and matte-finished, which matters for functional prototypes and end-use parts where visual contrast and scratch resistance affect usability as much as mechanical performance. At €213.50 per liter for Form 4 cartridges, Tough 2000 V2 sits in premium territory for desktop SLA materials. Volume discounts apply to 30 liters and above, reaching 45% at 3,000 liters — a pricing structure designed for production environments. Whether the material delivers on its ABS-comparable positioning in real-world conditions is what this review sets out to determine. ## When the going gets tough... When we began testing the Tough 2000 resin, the Form 4 had sat unused for a couple of months and had been moved from our previous office to the new lab. We expected some time to re-familiarize ourselves with the machine; instead, the process was immediate. Swapping the Resin Tank and material cartridge took almost no time to figure out. The machine read and recognized the new cartridge right away, prompting us to open the top so resin could flow into the tank. A useful safety feature: the machine detects if the Resin Tank is mounted backward—a mistake that would cause resin to spill outside the tank and cause a huge mess. ![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/updating-PreForm-scaled.jpg)The updated PreForm version featured tons of new capabilities. Getting the latest version of PreForm was one of the highlights. The update packed in a significant number of new features added between December and March. Two changes stand out for Tough 2000 V2 users. The first is Z-Bleed Compensation, which improves print accuracy on threads, overhangs, and bottom-facing surfaces — exactly the geometry common in jigs, housings, and snap-fit assemblies, where this material sees the most use. The second is a progressive rollout of reduced-support-density print settings for Tough 2000 V2, which went through several iterations before the lower-density profile became the default in March 2026. Fewer, larger touchpoints mean easier post-processing and better surface finish in supported areas, which ties directly to the matte presentation-quality finish Formlabs is emphasizing across the V2 formulations. Re-familiarizing ourselves with PreForm's core functions was straightforward, and we started printing right away. ![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PreForm-scaled.jpg)It's impressive how quickly and easily PreForm adds supports that enable any part to print, no matter how complex. The material itself is thick and viscous, as expected for a strong, resistant plastic. Its odor is not unpleasant — noticeably better than fused ABS — but it still requires careful handling with gloves and the right tools. The ability to pull out the full Resin Tank of the currently loaded material, store it, and drop in a new tank for a different resin is a significant workflow advantage. The only cleanup required is the print platform, which should be standard practice anyway. You pull it out, set it on the dedicated metal platform, remove the magnetic plate, and clean it with IPA. During the move, we also used the IPA pump to empty the Form Wash. It worked without issues and allowed us to recover the IPA and clear out residual resin from the bottom of the system. Each Resin Tank and Mixer costs around €200, but that figure should be weighed against the overall cost-effectiveness of the Formlabs setup—and the time saved on material changeovers makes the math easier to accept. [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1518-scaled-e1778317954505-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1518-scaled-e1778317954505.jpg) Formlabs sent us a Resin Tank… [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1519-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1519-scaled.jpg) …and a Mixer for each material [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3234-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3234-scaled.jpg) Having stackable tanks makes changing material incredibly easy. ## Not for playing This brings us to what may be the only real gap in the Formlabs ecosystem: the absence of a professional 3D model network. In 2016, Formlabs acquired Pinshape, a 3D design community with over 90,000 users at the time, with the intent of strengthening its offering for designers and engineers. Pinshape continued to operate as a standalone business under Formlabs, which meant it was never developed into a genuinely professional resource. ![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1534-scaled.jpg)Formlabs has clearly been focused on building its installed base, and the hundreds of thousands of professionals who use its machines generally design their own parts. But if the company wants to reach millions of users, developing the software ecosystem further—integrating AI-driven tools that let anyone design, customize, and parametrically modify engineering parts and potentially share or sell them—would be a natural next step. For this review, testing the exact tensile and resistance figures Formlabs publishes for Tough 2000 mattered less than understanding how the material actually behaves in practice. Formlabs' material specs are usually accurate, so the more relevant question was usability—and on the Form 4, it's hard to fault. We went through an entire 1-liter cartridge without a single failed print. The Form Wash adds to the experience, and working with a high-viscosity resin like Tough 2000 makes that clearer than ever. The new Form Cure V2 also stood out. The unit is noticeably larger and better-designed than its predecessor — easier to access and more refined overall. It cured Tough 2000 parts in 10 minutes, a result that would take significantly longer with most other systems. [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1753-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1753-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1754-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1754-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1755-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1755-scaled.jpg) The Form Cure V2 delivers post-cure performance well beyond what the previous version offered: UV power four times higher, heating five times faster, and a chamber 1.3 times larger. For Form 4/B parts, it can complete post-cure in as little as 60 seconds. The unit comes with validated presets for more than 45 Formlabs materials, and advanced users can adjust time and temperature manually for specific applications. Post-curing completes the chemical reaction started during printing, improving dimensional stability, toughness, heat resistance, and creep resistance, while making the surface harder and less tacky. ![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1661-scaled.jpg)The biggest challenge for us was to decide what to print with it to test it. ## Toys to tools (and back) One of the first parts we printed was a robot action figure—Goldrake (also known as Goldorak)—generated with Tripo AI from a single 2D image. [This was part of a broader project comparing the same figure printed across multicolor filament extrusion systems and million-color Mimaki systems](https://www.voxelmatters.com/the-exhilarating-fun-of-creating-full-color-3d-printed-figures-with-ai-and-mimaki-technology/). With Tough 2000, the goal was to see how precise and durable the result would be. It came out excellent: not quite the resolution of a modeling resin but close and significantly more durable. Printing it was straightforward. PreForm handled all the supports automatically, and we made only minor adjustments—tweaking the angle, reducing support count slightly, and applying mini bases. These are all single-click operations. The supports were somewhat harder to remove than with modeling resin, but a clipping tool handled them cleanly. We then moved to functional parts, starting with buckle clips for a backpack—parts originally designed for extrusion 3D printing. Every clip printed without issue across several sizes. They held up well under load, though one eventually broke, roughly the way an ABS extrusion print would fail under the same conditions. ![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_1745-scaled.jpg) At that point we reached out to the Formlabs team for parts better suited to stereolithography. The file package they sent included 30 buckle clips pre-arranged to fill the entire build plate, a bike pedal, a two-part drill tip enclosure, and a hollow ball with a plug at the base to allow uncured resin to drain. We printed a full set of buckle clips and two bike pedals, nearly filling the plate. Automatic supports were used, but we reduced overall support thickness and halved the contact point size for easier removal. Every print came out clean, including the fine text embossed on the pedals. We also tested door hooks and closet hangers for holding clothing, backpacks, and helmets. All parts handled heavy loads up to 10 kg without issue. The one part that didn't work was a print-in-place foldable closet hook designed for extrusion printing. SLA doesn't offer the tight tolerances that allow connected rotating parts to be printed in place, so the mechanism doesn't function as intended. ![Read VoxelMatters](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_2998-scaled.jpg)Rocky the alien, Formlabs Tough 2000 version. Not quite as strong as Xeonite but almost During testing, we came across a Lamborghini parked near the office and ran an impromptu test: using the Tripo AI app to reconstruct a 3D model from multiple photos taken at different angles. For that print, grey modeling resin was the obvious choice, so we swapped materials. The tank and cartridge change took under a minute; cleaning the print head was the longest step, though that could be reduced with dedicated heads for each material. After printing the Lamborghini—the result speaks for itself, given the model was generated by AI in minutes—we switched back to Tough 2000 for the remaining prints. [One of those was Rocky, an action figure based on the 3D model from the film *Project Hail Mary*](https://www.voxelmatters.com/project-hail-marys-3d-print-campaign-turns-rocky-into-a-desktop-phenomenon-amaze/), published by the production team on the official website. It was a complex print requiring multiple parts positioned carefully on the build plate, and the one-click print option wasn't ideal here. The parts printed well, but the volume of supports made assembly harder, and a part broke during removal. ![Read VoxelMatters](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_2623-scaled.jpg) Tough 2000 may not be the right resin for intricate multi-part assemblies that need to connect precisely. The last test print — the hollow ball — told a different story. The strength and flexibility it showed were genuinely surprising; it bounced in a way that comparable ABS prints don't. The only issue here? Removing the supports inside the ball (which may have not been necessary but were applied by ProForm's automatic support function) was very difficult. ## One more time for precision We made one more material change—the process is quick enough that it's hard not to—and switched to Precision Modeling resin. Formlabs positions Precision Model Resin as a dental-grade material, but in our tests it performed just as well on complex aesthetic and engineering models. Again, AI helped us generate a model that would push the material's limits (without having to print boring teeth models), and again we turned to Japanese anime: Godsigma (Uchuu Taitei Goddo Shiguma, or Cosmic Emperor Godsigma), an 80s robot character. The model featured a large body packed with fine surface detail, microscopic antennas, and a sharp sword. Printed using the one-click option, the result was everything the source material demands — see the gallery below. The resin is formulated to match more than 99% of the printed surface to the digital model within a 100-micrometer tolerance — a spec that shows in the level of detail it reproduces. Its beige tone and matte finish make fine surface features easy to read, which in a dental context means clear margin lines on prosthetic models and in our anime robot test meant every surface detail and antenna came through cleanly. ![Read VoxelMatters](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3251-scaled-e1778327499619.jpg) [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3257-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3257-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3256-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3256-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3255-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3255-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3254-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3254-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3253-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3253-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3252-640x480.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Form4_Tough2000_PrecisionModel_Cure_Review_IMG_3252-scaled.jpg) Compared to the previous Grey Model Resin Precision Model Resin prints three times faster on the Form 4 and delivers improved opacity and surface definition. Post-processing is minimal: five minutes of washing followed by five minutes of ambient-temperature post-cure, with no heat required (or one minute in the Form Cure V2). Eight models can be printed in 90 minutes, which puts it well within range for small-batch production as well as one-off prints. Over the past couple of months, we ran additional test prints across all three materials—less interesting and photogenic than the featured parts, but useful for gauging reliability over time. The Form 4 did not produce a single failed print, including AI-generated models that required automatic mesh repair on import into PreForm and across multiple material changes and changeovers back to previous resins. Reliability and ease of use at a low cost per part are, by a significant margin, the strongest case for the Form 4 series and Formlabs materials.