I originally had an "original" MakerBot a tube printer that laid down a line of heated ABS in layers from bottom to top. You could see each layer. I hated it. However, today these tube printers can print very detailed 3D prints like Allan said above.
Even so, presently I use exclusively a 3D Resin printer FormLabs 3, that prints layers upside-down, the detail is in microns and the strength of the print is isotropic *strong in all directions*.