With 3D printers, the Reality Equation is in full force. You can run it faster or do thicker layers, but the quality will suffer more and more the more streamlining you do. I have no problem starting a big or complex print and letting it go, slow and high-res, and just checking on it sporadically. Patience pays off in the lack of need for post-processing. More detail captured, so less needs to be fixed. Finer layer lines, so less sanding and filling is needed. Et cetera. Here's my First Order SE-44C sidearm blaster, printed on a Prusa i3:
The only real cleanup needed was on the trigger guard where the support didn't separate cleanly and on the muzzle where there are recessed bands on the levels where the holes were. This test fitting was after ten minutes of sanding with 240-grit. The only piece that didn't work with FDM was the delicate upper sight piece. I ended up just ordering it from Shapeways.
Yeah, the whole thing took days on multiple printers, but minimizing the work after printing was worth it to me. Besides, since I was waiting on Anovos for my armor and helmet, I wasn't in a huge rush.
When I get my big printer finished, it'll be more stable than the Prusas I printed this on, and I can print a whole chest piece in one go, let alone helmets. Unless something is catastrophically borked, I'll just be able to start it, make sure it's taking, and then leave it for a week (I mean -- I'll be obsessively checking it multiple times a day, fascinated by the process, but you know what I mean...).