Author Topic: [ArtKeycaps] No active sales // 100% custom caps open (Read 33478 times)

dustinhxc · « **Reply #51 on:** Sat, 22 November 2014, 13:37:03 »

Awee the chihuahua is so cutee!!

Mandolin · « **Reply #52 on:** Sat, 22 November 2014, 14:02:12 »

BunnyLake · « **Reply #53 on:** Sat, 22 November 2014, 14:22:08 »

Quote from: Mandolin on Sat, 22 November 2014, 14:02:12

Quote from: dustinhxc on Sat, 22 November 2014, 13:37:03
Awee the chihuahua is so cutee!!

I'll have a GH sale soon but I don't think it'll be this week, as I need many more caps and it takes me one hour to cast two caps with multiple colors and some have turned out with a bad stem. I corrected that too, but it took me many iterations to see what I was doing wrong :/... My secret santa and somebody else will receive a cap ;o

Additionally I put the first awesome keycap on ebay available from now (I need urgently money to buy more materials.). It's not really directed to geekhackers, but some of you will see it. Don't get discouraged by the price, as I'll have things that anybody could buy only on GH (and limited stuff for ebay).

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can we see some shots of this and other caps on a keyboard as well as with the key being pressed

Mandolin · « **Reply #54 on:** Sat, 22 November 2014, 14:24:40 »

Quote from: BunnyLake on Sat, 22 November 2014, 14:22:08

Quote from: Mandolin on Sat, 22 November 2014, 14:02:12
Quote from: dustinhxc on Sat, 22 November 2014, 13:37:03
Awee the chihuahua is so cutee!!

I'll have a GH sale soon but I don't think it'll be this week, as I need many more caps and it takes me one hour to cast two caps with multiple colors and some have turned out with a bad stem. I corrected that too, but it took me many iterations to see what I was doing wrong :/... My secret santa and somebody else will receive a cap ;o

Additionally I put the first awesome keycap on ebay available from now (I need urgently money to buy more materials.). It's not really directed to geekhackers, but some of you will see it. Don't get discouraged by the price, as I'll have things that anybody could buy only on GH (and limited stuff for ebay).

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can we see some shots of this and other caps on a keyboard as well as with the key being pressed

Sorry, you can't. I sold my last cherry board months ago, I have an 80's plate, no case, with bare switches where I tested the stem fits a switch. No functional test has been done. I got no full set of cherry caps. A couple loose ones that I used to sculpt.

I use a model M on a daily basis.

Mandolin · « **Reply #55 on:** Sun, 23 November 2014, 13:50:34 »

I set up an email and web to streamline the workflow with orders in future releases.

www.artkeycaps.com

Everything is ready to start molding and casting the next weekend. Keep tuned.

Mandolin · « **Reply #56 on:** Sun, 23 November 2014, 14:49:12 »

Preorders open, limited slots with exclusive features. See the first page.

Form: http://goo.gl/forms/Evjld8o4Vo

GenKaan · « **Reply #57 on:** Mon, 24 November 2014, 03:29:16 »

Getting paid tomorrow, hope at least one spot is open

Was hoping to get a demon cat with some bright, almost neon like colors making it look toxic/radioactive. You think that could be done? (Like neon green, orange, black and mby some red)

Mandolin · « **Reply #58 on:** Mon, 24 November 2014, 04:52:53 »

Quote from: GenKaan on Mon, 24 November 2014, 03:29:16

Getting paid tomorrow, hope at least one spot is open

Was hoping to get a demon cat with some bright, almost neon like colors making it look toxic/radioactive. You think that could be done? (Like neon green, orange, black and mby some red)

Congrats! that's awesome

.

Check your PMs. I think it's possible.

Mandolin · « **Reply #59 on:** Mon, 24 November 2014, 08:47:01 »

Neon colors option will be supported (glow in the dark): strontium aluminate pigments ordered.

Turquoise, blue, green, orange, pink and purple.

I expect them to arrive the first week of january.

Mandolin · « **Reply #60 on:** Fri, 28 November 2014, 06:38:11 »

48 hours remaining for preorders.

Today I'm going to be casting all entries (preorders+giveaway) to have them shipped on monday. I'll try to do a couple more for a GH sale.

I'm open to suggestions about new subjects to sculpt. Be creative. I may end doing them.

Mandolin · « **Reply #61 on:** Fri, 28 November 2014, 17:38:38 »

Some caps from today's casting. Still need some adjustments (letting red paint dry and applying lacquer, sanding flashing and drilling nose holes).

Chihuahua Moo.
Chihuahua Gargoyle
Chihuahua Piggy.

Mandolin · « **Reply #62 on:** Sat, 29 November 2014, 00:33:23 »

Joey Quinn · « **Reply #63 on:** Sat, 29 November 2014, 01:20:58 »

That gargoyle is terrifying!

tigersharkdude · « **Reply #64 on:** Sat, 29 November 2014, 08:05:29 »

I need that gargoyle! :drool:

Mandolin · « **Reply #65 on:** Sat, 29 November 2014, 12:01:13 »

dustinhxc · « **Reply #66 on:** Sat, 29 November 2014, 23:44:41 »

Omg so many chihuahuas! They're so cuute!

Mandolin · « **Reply #67 on:** Sun, 30 November 2014, 00:16:07 »

I've been casting all weekend

... and couldn't end all the orders. It'd be easier with a pressure pot, but I'm learning some nice tricks. The rest are due to the next week.

Shipping on monday:
- Fohat digs (ebay+caps)
- Secret santa. (cap

)
- tigersharkdude (preorder)
- glitched (giveaway)
- Frosty toast (giveaway)
- Sniping. (giveaway)
- Geenkhan (preorder)

Next week:
- Sinjin.
- Jindesu
- Joey quinn

Mandolin · « **Reply #68 on:** Sun, 30 November 2014, 14:08:11 »

I was sanding and decided to something different. I was overall satisfied with the color of each keycap, but decided to accentuate them by painting each inidividual keycap, and the using nail polish over to protect them. If the paint peels off, the base color is good on itself, but this adds another order of dimesion to the designs.

Preorders end today.

GenKaan · « **Reply #69 on:** Sun, 30 November 2014, 14:10:33 »

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet man, cant wait but I expected it to take a little longer. Super happy with the timing

Radioactive/Toxic cat here we go!

Synjin · « **Reply #70 on:** Sun, 30 November 2014, 14:20:01 »

Getting excited that my keycaps will be arriving ^_^ January here I come

Mandolin · « **Reply #71 on:** Sun, 30 November 2014, 18:51:05 »

Shipped.

tigersharkdude · « **Reply #72 on:** Sun, 30 November 2014, 20:28:21 »

Woot woot

Mandolin · « **Reply #73 on:** Sun, 30 November 2014, 20:56:40 »

Chihuahua and demoncat Preorders closed.

New order formulary: http://goo.gl/forms/MPZKVRIYfH

JinDesu · « **Reply #74 on:** Sun, 30 November 2014, 21:07:03 »

I'll break out my macro lens to get some shots to post into this thread.

Mandolin · « **Reply #75 on:** Mon, 01 December 2014, 21:31:17 »

ENHANCING LED SUPPORT WITH FIBER OPTIC:

Currently, to make led compatible keycaps we have 2 options:
(1) To do a thin layer of resin for the light to shine through.
(2) Using a high refractive index material (>water ideally): mineral beads, clear resin.

It's good enough for eyes that are in straight line from the led at the base of the switch, however it doesn't work to illuminate effectively little parts of the keycaps of <2mm spots and or lateral sides.

What hasn't been done?: use fiber optic threads.

Method: at cast time, they should be pinched through the mold and bent towards the base of the keycap, where the led would be located, so they'd be included in the final cast.

Hypothesis: The clarity of illumination should displace poorer performing refractive materials as clear resins or even most crystals.

Uses: to illuminate front and sides of a keycap or accentuate tiny spots on it. If enough threads are grouped together, minor shapes could be achieved such as alphabet characters or little drawings, for instance. It could illuminate just the iris in the eyes.

Dedicated thread

Mandolin · « **Reply #76 on:** Sat, 06 December 2014, 15:25:54 »

Pending preorders of Chihuahua and demoncat are still on schedule to be received by the receipients during the month of january. I'm organizing my workload and ordering the rest of materials to work as smooth as possible because at this time of the year I'm in the finishing the semester at university (exams, midterms), but will be almost entirely dedicated to sculpture (traditional protraits, 1:12 fine art miniatures, artkeycaps, etc, etc) from 2 or 3 weeks onwards, when also new prototypes of keycaps will be revealed. The macro lens I bought is almost in my hands(update: now I got it) and I've been sourcing various sculpting tools that will result in better and best keycaps.

For any inquire I'm an email away, and usually respond within 1 day.

All the packages sent recently appeared to have arrived at their respective countries.

Synjin · « **Reply #77 on:** Sat, 06 December 2014, 16:34:37 »

Approximately when will the rest of the preordered keycaps be sent?

Mandolin · « **Reply #78 on:** Sat, 06 December 2014, 16:42:23 »

Quote from: Synjin on Sat, 06 December 2014, 16:34:37

Approximately when will the rest of the preordered keycaps be sent?

2 weeks from now as my first statement was to have them ready for january or earlier, but If you're need them quicker I gave you some options. Answered by PM.

The thing is, I could do them on a rush, but I don't want to compromise quality. The reason it took more time to complete the orders was that I tried to match the orders with the color request as best as I could, and discarded many keycaps in the way and that I'm now painting each cap to enhance their colors and add texture.

During the academic year I can only work on weekends, but in 2 weeks from now, I'd be doing it almost full time.

thefebruaryman · « **Reply #79 on:** Sat, 06 December 2014, 17:05:13 »

Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see how my caps come out. I like the element of surprise with these caps

P3TC0CK · « **Reply #80 on:** Wed, 10 December 2014, 12:17:40 »

Been following these since you posted them on reddit. Hopefully I can get in on the next preorder

Mandolin · « **Reply #81 on:** Thu, 11 December 2014, 20:22:32 »

Glow in the dark (strontium aluminate) pigments arrived today, earlier than expected. Optional for future projects.

Turquoise, blue, green, orange, pink and purple.

GenKaan · « **Reply #82 on:** Sat, 13 December 2014, 08:17:20 »

My cap finally got here and clumsy as I am it got dropped the first second and damaged the left ear, not too bad just a small scratch and it kinda works with the design so no big deal.

Love it, looks really toxic / deceased like I wanted it and with soulless eyes. Deferentially someone to keep an eye on in the future.

Some pics:

fohat.digs · « **Reply #83 on:** Sat, 13 December 2014, 20:49:44 »

Synjin · « **Reply #84 on:** Sat, 13 December 2014, 21:04:19 »

Oh my jeez that looks damn awesome. Those toes and fingers as well as that face makes me cry T_T

Mandolin · « **Reply #85 on:** Tue, 16 December 2014, 00:13:10 »

Custom projects addendum:

- Let's clear out that I'm not available to copy another artisan designs.

The work of every artist in this forum is copyrighted. Even adding a small variation to make it legally safe, is just ethically wrong, and plain boring, having the capacity of making another totally new personalized object.

I know how hard it is to work on this, it takes many hours of research and actual hand work to complete a project. I have much respect for every other keycap maker and the certainty that they have passed through a similar process, whatever thing they might do, be it modding, coordinating sales overseas, etc.

P3TC0CK · « **Reply #86 on:** Tue, 16 December 2014, 08:05:52 »

Quote from: Mandolin on Tue, 16 December 2014, 00:13:10

Custom projects addendum:

- Let's clear out that I'm not available to copy another artisan designs.

The work of every artist in this forum is copyrighted. Even adding a small variation to make it legally safe, it's just ethically wrong, and plain boring, having the capacity of making another totally new personalized object.

I know how hard it is to work doing this, it takes many hours of research and actual hand work to complete a project. I have much respect for every other keycap maker and the certainty that they have passed through a similar process, whatever thing they might do, be it modding, coordinating sales overseas, etc. In simple terms, it's not a thing you can just do in a day.

So we can't expect a vader keycap in the near future?

)

tigersharkdude · « **Reply #87 on:** Tue, 16 December 2014, 08:09:47 »

Quote from: P3TC0CK on Tue, 16 December 2014, 08:05:52

Quote from: Mandolin on Tue, 16 December 2014, 00:13:10
Custom projects addendum:

- Let's clear out that I'm not available to copy another artisan designs.

The work of every artist in this forum is copyrighted. Even adding a small variation to make it legally safe, it's just ethically wrong, and plain boring, having the capacity of making another totally new personalized object.

I know how hard it is to work doing this, it takes many hours of research and actual hand work to complete a project. I have much respect for every other keycap maker and the certainty that they have passed through a similar process, whatever thing they might do, be it modding, coordinating sales overseas, etc. In simple terms, it's not a thing you can just do in a day.

So we can't expect a vader keycap in the near future? )

Bruh, we need a Jar Jar Binks cap

Mandolin · « **Reply #88 on:** Tue, 16 December 2014, 19:03:23 »

Quote from: P3TC0CK on Tue, 16 December 2014, 08:05:52

So we can't expect a vader keycap in the near future? )

A user in reddit asked me to do a 1:1 duplicate of artisan keycaps from another artist and I won't do that.

I do like to sculpt faces more than anything. Maybe an unmasked version is possible, as I'd do it from scratch.

I'm trying to solve some problems adding fur to keycaps, so that could open another set of possibilites too.

But, my preference is doing original designs.

Synjin · « **Reply #89 on:** Tue, 16 December 2014, 19:16:10 »

Unmasked realistic vader would be smexy ^_^ I do think that you are making a great choice by decing to make your own designs because youa re very skilled in sculpting and creating those micro details that otherwise wouldn't be possible from other artisan makers as specific makers specialize in different things.

Mandolin · « **Reply #90 on:** Tue, 16 December 2014, 19:23:33 »

Quote from: Synjin on Tue, 16 December 2014, 19:16:10

Unmasked realistic vader would be smexy ^_^ I do think that you are making a great choice by decing to make your own designs because youa re very skilled in sculpting and creating those micro details that otherwise wouldn't be possible from other artisan makers as specific makers specialize in different things.

Yeah, I was thinking I could even make it in soft silicone. It should work really good for faces

Synjin · « **Reply #91 on:** Tue, 16 December 2014, 20:06:05 »

100% supporter on those realistic faces.

P3TC0CK · « **Reply #92 on:** Wed, 17 December 2014, 07:05:15 »

Quote from: Mandolin on Tue, 16 December 2014, 19:03:23

Quote from: P3TC0CK on Tue, 16 December 2014, 08:05:52

So we can't expect a vader keycap in the near future? )

A user in reddit asked me to do a 1:1 duplicate of artisan keycaps from another artist and I won't do that.

I do like to sculpt faces more than anything. Maybe an unmasked version is possible, as I'd do it from scratch.

I'm trying to solve some problems adding fur to keycaps, so that could open another set of possibilites too.

But, my preference is doing original designs.

Haha, was just being sarcastic since CC vader caps are design copies of vader. I enjoy your realistic keycap designs a lot more, so wouldn't want to see copies anyway.

Mandolin · « **Reply #93 on:** Wed, 17 December 2014, 21:07:44 »

Custom works revision:

I like sculpting the most, and that's what I'm good for. I'm still in the process of refining my casting skills and will purchase the equipment for pressure casting safely in the future, as now seems prohibitive.

I can offer master sculptures for you to cast yourself, for personal or commercial use. Pricing varies according to the intended use and complexity of the subject.

Mandolin · « **Reply #94 on:** Wed, 24 December 2014, 11:16:42 »

Some eyes for keycaps arrived today

.

Mineral stones: Amethyst, lapis lazuli, and others.

When the fiber optic threads arrive too, I'd insert a thread inside, towards the base of the keycap, fixed at half the distance of the mineral sphere, and cover the rest with resin. It will illuminate the eyes with a special glow if used over switches with leds.

Mandolin · « **Reply #95 on:** Fri, 26 December 2014, 13:57:13 »

Fiber optic threads arrived today. I may use them in some casts this weekend.

I quickly tested them in the mineral eyes, and they glow as I expected, the transparent type. That looks cool, and would need a little bit of resin as a diffusor.

They may even be a little overkill as the shine is too much at the end of the cable.

Mandolin · « **Reply #96 on:** Wed, 14 January 2015, 01:25:05 »

Tests and due orders (tomorrow I'll insert fiber optic threads in their eyes). Not for sale.

Mandolin · « **Reply #97 on:** Wed, 14 January 2015, 02:02:16 »

I was thinking in how to do complex paint schemes, specially shading, and make it integral to the plastic. Not for bulk production, just as an idea. Fine texture would be lost, but you still could paint as miniature canvas onto a resin keycap surface.

You got the polyurethane with it's working time, so one could pour it in the center of a tile and then mix it with different paint according to the desired effect. The paint time would be the pot life, so, you gotta be prepared to work fast, and keep adding layers. For a while, depending on the resin, it would adhere to new resin, so shading would be possible in small increments. A clear resin would be ideal for blending.

I'll do a integral miniature paint in a key cap with this method soon as a test

.

dustinhxc · « **Reply #98 on:** Wed, 14 January 2015, 02:24:00 »

Quote from: Mandolin on Tue, 16 December 2014, 19:03:23

Quote from: P3TC0CK on Tue, 16 December 2014, 08:05:52

So we can't expect a vader keycap in the near future? )

A user in reddit asked me to do a 1:1 duplicate of artisan keycaps from another artist and I won't do that.

I do like to sculpt faces more than anything. Maybe an unmasked version is possible, as I'd do it from scratch.

I'm trying to solve some problems adding fur to keycaps, so that could open another set of possibilites too.

But, my preference is doing original designs.

Show Image

Show Image

That would be pretty badass!

Mandolin · « **Reply #99 on:** Thu, 15 January 2015, 00:22:48 »

Custom keycap sample.
Details: sword project photo album
Status: work in progress.

http://imgur.com/a/yaVOb#0

News:

Author Topic: [ArtKeycaps] No active sales // 100% custom caps open (Read 33478 times)