Keycao Confections: A Taste of Artisans

[DarthTader]

I recently started a project and figured I should share some of what I've been working on.

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Sculpts: Kepybara and Gnomey by Briz, Keyfur the Beaver by Keybai, and Krud by PrimeCaps.

My family has always loved making chocolate for the holidays, and over the years has progressed into using high quality chocolate to make treats that pretty much everyone we know looks forward to every year.

I'm also obsessed with artisans. I have tried my hand at casting a bit after running the gambit of the big guides/progress threads on here (Booper, Binge, Zorb, etc.) and a handful of other places. I thought it might be fun to try working with my family to combine our hobbies and try out making fully edible chocolate artisan keycaps. They are made with high quality chocolate which is tempered and cast in a variety of methods. It's been a few months since then, and we've made a lot of chocolate so I thought it might be fun to share some!

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Sculpt: Keyfur the Beavur by Keybai

First milk chocolate cap.

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Sculpt: Krud by PrimeCaps

First PrimeCaps Krud casts.

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Sculpt: Gnomey by BRIZ (/u/ipee9932cd)

Dark chocolate Gnomey.

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Sculpt: Keyti by KRAP

White chocolate Keyti.


I should note that I have been given permissions for all the caps shown and all the caps being used in this project from the makers. Here is a current list of those who have agreed to join us in this project:

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Keycao Family

• Aconic
• Alpha Keycaps
• ArtKey
• BadMoJo Keycaps
• Booper
• BRIZ
• Caps Simulcra
• Coz Caps
• DCcaps
• El_Capn
• Hunger Work Studio
• Keybai
• Krap
• Lost Keys
• Nightcaps
• NYCaps
• PrimeCaps
• RAG Caps
• Risk Keycaps
• Suited Up Keycaps
• TinyMakesThings

Well that's it for now. We've still got a long way to go, but thanks for checking out what we've been working on. I hope you all enjoy!

[DarthTader]

I'm excited to add Hunger Work Studio to the list!

Here is the first chocolate cast of the Otterphile sculpt:

[suicidal_orange]

Was expecting 'tasty looking' pastle colours, not real chocolate!

The otter needs to clean his nose but otherwise the detail you've captured is surprising, do you have to pressurise them when casting?

[DarthTader]

That's the first cast of the otter, so with some practice they will (hopefully) improve! 

So far I haven't used any pressure yet. I searched high and low and haven't been able to find anything online about pressure casting chocolate. I will be giving it a shot next week though, so I'll be able to share how it goes soon!

[suicidal_orange]

I searched high and low and haven't been able to find anything online about pressure casting chocolate.

Can't think why ) I guess you would need to look from a jewellery perspective rather than resin as you'll need to keep the chocolate melted...

If you've done this well without pressure I'm not sure it would be worth the hassle and expense though - they look great already and being made of good chocolate they should be eaten, so perfection isn't required.

[DarthTader]

I've got a generous friend who is willing to help test with his pressure pot, so it'll be a good way to test if it's worth the investment.

I'm mainly hoping it will help improve the stems, the molding process, and a few other problem areas.

[DarthTader]

Figuring it's a good time for an update - it's been a while!

I have been spending a lot of my time lately working on molds, and I have made some huge improvements - virtually eliminating the "warting" issue that was present on the surface of some of the molds. This means that I can focus on getting a solid stock of molds for each cap now. I am also experimenting with a few other mold materials and am looking forward to seeing how these turn out.

I was also able to attend the first Vancouver meetup last weekend, which was a blast. It was awesome to see some new faces and to be able to show off some of our work.

Here are a few of the caps from the meetup (unfortunately, I forgot to take photos until after the caps were bagged and sealed):

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(photo taken prior to bags being labeled - sculpts are Nightcaps Puppet Master, Hunger Work Studio Earl ESC, Nightcaps Eggface, Risk Keycaps Squido, and Art Key Jack Bald)

Thanks for looking, I can't wait to show off what else we have in the works soon!

[TomBodet]

The key on top w/gears in the side.   Love that kind of stuff.  Well done.