[beginning production] Nautilus/Helix shell artisan cap.

[NexVestrum]

Alright everyone, let's see what you think. This is my first go at sculpting custom keys, there are a few I'm happy with out of these but I wanted to see if anyone would be interested in any of these designs if I did go and make molds.

Keep in mind most of these are pretty rough and need some cleanup before casting.

Clicky Clacky!

More

Nautilus

Coffee Cap

Strawberry

Grump

Embedded Cube

Grisly Skull

[suicidal_orange]

The top pic is broken and from the name that's the one I'd be most interested in as it's different - skulls, and faces in general, are common themes.

The strawberry is awesome and the coffee cup is good too but they're not things I'd want it on my keyboard (unless the strawberry was triple shot with green leaves, a red strawberry and maybe cream base?  Probably not one for a beginner...) while Grump and Grisly Skull show promise but as you say, they're a little rough around the edges.  The embedded cube just looks painful )

[NexVestrum]

The top pic is broken and from the name that's the one I'd be most interested in as it's different - skulls, and faces in general, are common themes.

The strawberry is awesome and the coffee cup is good too but they're not things I'd want it on my keyboard (unless the strawberry was triple shot with green leaves, a red strawberry and maybe cream base?  Probably not one for a beginner...) while Grump and Grisly Skull show promise but as you say, they're a little rough around the edges.  The embedded cube just looks painful )

Huh. worked for me but I copied the url back in again, see if it works now. Thanks for the feedback, I definitely get that skulls and stuff are pretty common but I couldn't resist making one myself I love the idea of the triple shot strawberry but yeahhhhh that's not gonna happen any time soon. I was thinking about airbrushing the caps by hand and finishing it off with a clear coat for durability.

I like the idea of the embedded cube as a scroll lock as a "why would you use this key??", are there any actual uses for that key any more?

[suicidal_orange]

That fixed it and it is my favourite of the bunch

Scroll lock makes strange things happen in excel, other than that I have no idea what it does besides looking pretty (assuming it's backlit) but the same could be said for num lock on a fullsize - why would you turn it off??

Airbrushing is an interesting idea, wouldn't it be hard on a small 3D model though?  Probably easier than a triple shot...  Give it a go!

[NexVestrum]

The nautilus is my favorite as well. I love the shape of those shells (oops my inner math geek is showing). The airbrushing will definitely be a challenge but you can get superfine airbrushes. Definitely more forgiving than attempting a double or triple shot too. All of that is way down the read anyways, I still need to work on my sculpting skills and then make a halfway decent mold!

[Frogbot]

I like the Embedded Cube! What material are you using for the sculpt?

[NexVestrum]

Just sculpy at this point but I've also been looking at cx5 or putting my 3D skills to use and designing on the computer and getting prints made to cast.

[Dodgy]

I love the Nautilus- but I want eyes on it!

Nice work!

[exitfire401]

Not sure how I missed this thread. Nautilus and Strawberry are my favorites from this group. Looking good! 

[Mandolin]

- Great pictures.
- Neat designs! I love the nautilus and coffee mug. You're up to a really good start! congratulations.

General sculpting:
- Try to have an even, soft, light source when sculpting. Sun light is the best when possible. If you got more than one light source, and they are hard lights, your sculptures will look deformed under normal light.
- Keep a mirror at hand reach to check for symmetry when needed.

Sculpey specifics:
- Are you using sculpey firm, right?. In general to keep it pliable, you must store it in a sealed bag to avoid it loosing humidity, and knead it before each session, adding a little bit of oil (clay softner), to homogenize it. It renders better results, make it less prone to break, etc.
- I see debris on some of the sculpts, to get it out keep a soft toothbrush in hand and scrub it now and then. Probably they don't show as big in real life, but in the pictures it's noticeable. If you get to do wax as CX5 it also applies.
- Sculpey is possible to be smoothed with vegetable oils, baby oil. If not, they sell a clay softner medium, that comes in small bottles. Brush it at the end to even out imperfections.
- A great help for sculpting miniatures is to buy used dental carving tools that comes in various shapes. They are easier to handle than the hobby store/craft shop/hobby lobby kinda tools. Loop tools at this scale don't work, and they are mostly used for clays and for little to nothing in wax works.

[fohat.digs]

As I scrolled down, I first thought that the face was going to be an owl.

That would be a nice image that nobody has hit on before.

[Zapheo]

The Nautilus design is really cool.

[derezzed]

I like the nautilus the most.  The strawberry would look really good if properly doubleshot.  It might even look cool if doubleshot in complementary colors.

[NexVestrum]

- Great pictures.
- Neat designs! I love the nautilus and coffee mug. You're up to a really good start! congratulations.

General sculpting:
- Try to have an even, soft, light source when sculpting. Sun light is the best when possible. If you got more than one light source, and they are hard lights, your sculptures will look deformed under normal light.
- Keep a mirror at hand reach to check for symmetry when needed.

Sculpey specifics:
- Are you using sculpey firm, right?. In general to keep it pliable, you must store it in a sealed bag to avoid it loosing humidity, and knead it before each session, adding a little bit of oil (clay softner), to homogenize it. It renders better results, make it less prone to break, etc.
- I see debris on some of the sculpts, to get it out keep a soft toothbrush in hand and scrub it now and then. Probably they don't show as big in real life, but in the pictures it's noticeable. If you get to do wax as CX5 it also applies.
- Sculpey is possible to be smoothed with vegetable oils, baby oil. If not, they sell a clay softner medium, that comes in small bottles. Brush it at the end to even out imperfections.
- A great help for sculpting miniatures is to buy used dental carving tools that comes in various shapes. They are easier to handle than the hobby store/craft shop/hobby lobby kinda tools. Loop tools at this scale don't work, and they are mostly used for clays and for little to nothing in wax works.

Thanks for the great tips! I haven't worked with clay in years and never on this scale so all of this is new to me. I'm glad so many people like the Nautilus and Strawberry, those two are my favorites as well. Definitely gonna refine those and hopefully cast them sometime soon! I'll try to remember to post updates and ideas here as I go

[NexVestrum]

ALRIGHTY. It's been too long since an update - stuffs been happening that took priority over creative time unfortunately. But I'm back to trying things out now.

I found out pretty quick my sculpting skills are lacking so I went a different direction and now I can present you with:


_{MX stem OEM profile nautilus sculpt!}

I got some calipers and measured everything out, modeled a nice cap and then sculpted the sea creature dude digitally. I like this process because I can easily swap out model partsfor different stems/cap profiles, even surface texture!

I sampled a few materials here, a dark opaque resin, a more translucent one, and a clear one (the last two having LEDs underneath them).

next step: get theses babies printed out then start practicing casting when I have some money for supplies!
I'll also be translating the strawberry cap to a 3d model next, I'll try to keep this updated.

[sethk_]

ALRIGHTY. It's been too long since an update - stuffs been happening that took priority over creative time unfortunately. But I'm back to trying things out now.

I found out pretty quick my sculpting skills are lacking so I went a different direction and now I can present you with:

Show Image

_{MX stem OEM profile nautilus sculpt!}

I got some calipers and measured everything out, modeled a nice cap and then sculpted the sea creature dude digitally. I like this process because I can easily swap out model partsfor different stems/cap profiles, even surface texture!

I sampled a few materials here, a dark opaque resin, a more translucent one, and a clear one (the last two having LEDs underneath them).

next step: get theses babies printed out then start practicing casting when I have some money for supplies!
I'll also be translating the strawberry cap to a 3d model next, I'll try to keep this updated.

praise helix

[NexVestrum]

praise helix

ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ

[NexVestrum]

Good news! actual physical production is beginning soon. in the next 3 days or so I'll be getting the printed positive so I can test for fitting and quality, if everything checks out I'll move onto casting it (no pressure unfortunately :[ my wallet cant handle that yet). As soon as I can I'll be creating a new thread in the artisan services forum but my account is still too new and I need another month or so before I can start a thread there. Boo.

In the mean time have a bonus render of a material I really want to make for this cap.



Currently the design is on a MX cap, OEM profile. if I can get my hands on some topre, alps, other MX profiles I can get this design on whatever style your keycap loving heart desires!

[SpAmRaY]

Currently the design is on a MX cap, OEM profile. if I can get my hands on some topre, alps, other MX profiles I can get this design on whatever style your keycap loving heart desires!

cherry profile escape key

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,cherrymxkeys&pid=cds_redesc

topre escape cap

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,toprekeys&pid=hh_redescn

[NexVestrum]

cherry profile escape key

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,cherrymxkeys&pid=cds_redesc

topre escape cap

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,toprekeys&pid=hh_redescn

Perfect, thanks! I'm really excited that I'll be able to convert the design to any cap type without having to re sculpt it in clay

[NexVestrum]

Not much to say, but I got the prints today! I spent a while cleaning them up with fine sand paper and they feel wonderful now.




^{this material is really hard to photograph.}

Hopefully I can begin making molds soon, but due to financial stuff I don't know when that will be :/

[derezzed]

Not much to say, but I got the prints today! I spent a while cleaning them up with fine sand paper and they feel wonderful now.

Show Image

^{this material is really hard to photograph.}

Hopefully I can begin making molds soon, but due to financial stuff I don't know when that will be :/

Your nautilus caps are sharp, but the material in that last image is particularly interesting as it is perfect for a concept I have; a keyboard that replicates the effect of Cherenkov radiation.  Lit from underneath with the light rapidly dimming the further it gets from the light source, an acrylic case with a set of those key caps would be awesome. 

 

[NexVestrum]

Not much to say, but I got the prints today! I spent a while cleaning them up with fine sand paper and they feel wonderful now.

Show Image

^{this material is really hard to photograph.}

Hopefully I can begin making molds soon, but due to financial stuff I don't know when that will be :/

Your nautilus caps are sharp, but the material in that last image is particularly interesting as it is perfect for a concept I have; a keyboard that replicates the effect of Cherenkov radiation.  Lit from underneath with the light rapidly dimming the further it gets from the light source, an acrylic case with a set of those key caps would be awesome. 

  (Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)

Ohh now I want to design a reactor core cap. I love the idea!

[derezzed]

Not much to say, but I got the prints today! I spent a while cleaning them up with fine sand paper and they feel wonderful now.

Show Image

^{this material is really hard to photograph.}

Hopefully I can begin making molds soon, but due to financial stuff I don't know when that will be :/

Your nautilus caps are sharp, but the material in that last image is particularly interesting as it is perfect for a concept I have; a keyboard that replicates the effect of Cherenkov radiation.  Lit from underneath with the light rapidly dimming the further it gets from the light source, an acrylic case with a set of those key caps would be awesome. 

  (Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)

Ohh now I want to design a reactor core cap. I love the idea!

I would like to see that.  How does that material respond to yellow/orange light?  If it handles warmer colors like it handles blue, I think it could be used to make a set of keys that mimic the appearance of the sun's corona.  Here's a link to an image for reference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona#/media/File:Magnificent_CME_Erupts_on_the_Sun_-_August_31.jpg