Hello everyone!
It's been a while since I last posted any updates about my new endeavour but here I am again with big updates!
Life has kept me very busy lately but I never stopped working on the caps and new sculpts, here's a breakdown of everything I have been working on:
While casting with the Synth I noticed that I couldn't get a perfect result (no bubbles at all, at all.), I tried using different resins, I tried all levels of release agents + different brand of release agents and I still had results I was not happy with, so I quickly moved to a 2 parts silicone mold. Following that, I started having a lot more success, more perfect butts with no bubbles at all.
Despite quite a good run with caps I was happy with in terms of "casting quality", I still had to figure out some nice colorways and practice, practice, practice. During this time I decided to reach out to @outragedpudding (on IG, sorry I don't know his nickname on GH if any), and asked him to design a logo for my brand of artisan keycaps, I gave him some instructions about the vibe and the style I was looking for, and he nailed it IMO, I love how it came out:
![Dark Atelier - My Journey Making Artisan Keycaps](https://geekhack.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=jha4udu767drn85epafi7kcvk7tfp8ce&action=dlattach;topic=94283.0;attach=198306;image)
I also settled on a name for my keycaps' brand:
Dark AtelierThen I decided that I wanted different internals for my caps, I wanted thicker walls and more room to sculpt as well as my logo/maker's mark underneath my caps. So I reached out to TheGlyph (Reddit) to have custom internals made with the previous points as guides for the future design, the result was amazing, I now have thicker walls without compromising the clearance space needed between caps, I have more ceiling room (very bottom of the base, where the stem is located, is now lower to allow for more room on top of it, where the face of my artisan sits) which is nice and allow for more depth of details for future sculpts. And also all caps will now have my logo/maker's mark underneath. Also the fit of the stem is tighter (you can flip your board upside down and shake it, the key ain't going anywhere) and the caps slides all the way down of any MX style switch without any problem:
![Dark Atelier - My Journey Making Artisan Keycaps 198307-1](https://geekhack.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=jha4udu767drn85epafi7kcvk7tfp8ce&action=dlattach;topic=94283.0;attach=198307;image)
![Dark Atelier - My Journey Making Artisan Keycaps 198309-2](https://geekhack.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=jha4udu767drn85epafi7kcvk7tfp8ce&action=dlattach;topic=94283.0;attach=198309;image)
I also want to finally unveil the name for this first sculpt: Leshy
Leshy is a deity of the forests in Slavic mythology, strange creature, some said that he likes to lead travelers along incorrect paths until they become hopelessly lost, and others, that he keeps a more neutral positions toward humans.
I would like to share 2 colorways I have been working on until the recipe was right:
This one is called "Forest Keeper":
![Dark Atelier - My Journey Making Artisan Keycaps 198311-3](https://geekhack.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=jha4udu767drn85epafi7kcvk7tfp8ce&action=dlattach;topic=94283.0;attach=198311;image)
And this one "Toxic Waste":
![Dark Atelier - My Journey Making Artisan Keycaps 198313-4](https://geekhack.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=jha4udu767drn85epafi7kcvk7tfp8ce&action=dlattach;topic=94283.0;attach=198313;image)
I'm pretty much done with other colorways as well, I will be posting them soon!
For those who like to lurk on IG, I have created a new account there, I will be posting pics of the new colorways and more: @dark_atelier
Thank you all for your support here, through DMs and other channels, it means a lot!
![Thumbs up! :thumb:](https://cdn.geekhack.org/Smileys/solosmileys/thumbsup.gif)