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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: Midnight2shayla on Sat, 11 February 2017, 01:07:46

Title: From the JunkDrawer!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sat, 11 February 2017, 01:07:46
Welcome to our making stuff together thread!

We started making caps as a way to pass the time while I was pregnant with my son (who is now 7 months!) and, probably due to our love of the hobby prior, ended up completely engrossed in it. Now, two sales down and ten sculpts in, we are hoping to keep moving forward. Recently, I completed the remake of Chestie (yay!) as well as finishing a couple more in the "monster series" that I have wanted to produce since the beginning. I will try and share each of these things when we get them a little more solid (silicone is done and colorways are solidified).

Our goal is to try and make caps that people will love as much as we love ours. We both have been lucky enough to experience some of the beautiful keys out there, like Coz and KeyKollectiv, Nightcaps and Keyforge, Primecaps and Caps Simulacra, Bro and HKP, Krap, Alveeno, Switzcap and soon Binge. We deeply, deeply respect all of these artisans and have been inspired by their beautiful work. Our greatest hope isn't to make a ton of money at this, or even make tons of caps, our goal is to make something that we love - and others will as well; that's why I hound you guys for feedback so much.

Thank you guys, from the bottom of my heart, for being amazing, and I look forward to being able to produce more for the community. While I'm not a seasoned vet in the hobby, if you ever have any questions about our process or input on our sculpts feel free to PM me or write here - I typically reply pretty quickly!

Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sat, 11 February 2017, 01:08:15
09/10/2017:
[attachimg=3]

06/2017:
[attachimg=2]

UPDATE 04.09.2017:
So, the last week has been crazy. We got new, faster curing resin, we were able to procure some new dyes and some new powders (thermal), and yeti is finally a reality!
I'll make sure to upload pictures tomorrow, but for now my husband has posted some in the thread. I'm so excited, and I can't wait to show you guys. Thank you for all of your support, <3 you all.

UPDATE 03.26.2017:
[attachimg=1]
Blue and Orange - our favorite colors ;)

UPDATE 02.26.2017:
Thank you all for your kind words and checking up, I have been MIA the last couple weeks because - as you guessed - I had my kid on 2/15 (and yes - adjusting to being someones parent is weird). As I type this he is sleeping in a little nest on my lap, smiling every time he passes a particularly gnarly bit of gas. I am continuing my sculpting, but it's taking a bit more balancing. Right now I am working on a couple cute St. Patty's day caps and attempting to learn to sculpt with one hand, as I finish them I will be posting pictures :) I also plan on posting pictures of a couple sketches if anyone is interested; I would love to get some feedback on which are liked!

I also wanted to update saying that we got a better pressure pot (YAY) and are getting some dusts and sturdier/faster setting resin. I'm looking forward to what these things will mean for making caps, as waiting 48 hours between casts was miserable. Thanks for reading guys, and thanks so much for checking on this thread. It meant a lot to me and really made my spirits high while in the hospital. Y'all the real MVPs <3

Here is an IMGUR link with more pictures of my husband and I's adventure so far (and more pictures of the caps from different angles).

For reference: We are using Alumilite Max Strength 3 Silicone, Alumilite "Amazing" Clear Casting Resin, A Pressure Pot (with 32PSI possibility), a hotdog-style air compressor, DSA caps, firm sculpey, and standard sculpting tools from my days of working with clay - we have about 3 colors available so far but are hoping to get more soon after our son is born (because I'll be able to cast again, and we keep hearing how exhausting newborns are).

http://imgur.com/a/SSijN


ORIGINAL POST:
Well, tomorrow I am due with my first child - and in response I have found myself making my own tiny keycaps. For some reason working with my hands again, sketching and bringing those designs to life, has really allowed me freedom from the aches and pains (and anxieties) of these last few weeks. Plus, we have recently spent around 500 on raffles and r/mechmarket between my husband and I, so I figured that this would help us curb the spending a bit.

So far, I have made 5 sculpts, one of which is unbaked still and one of which I scrapped completely, and have made molds of only two of these.

Anyways! Due to the fun I'm having with this and how much I love this community, I was hoping to share a couple of them here for some feedback/tips and tricks since i am so new and still have no idea really what the hell I'm doing. So, without further ado:

Chestie - My First Sculpt:
http://imgur.com/yBScEJa

Spidey Isaacson:
http://imgur.com/IoaAsoq

Yeti:
http://imgur.com/eOcObw3
http://imgur.com/PNi7bMd

Junk Cat (just for fun, not being produced):
http://imgur.com/gHIB8qw

Toybox (scrapped, but only for now!):
http://imgur.com/kJwO7Sh
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sat, 11 February 2017, 01:08:46
<Reserved for future updates>
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Sneaky Potato on Sat, 11 February 2017, 02:11:41
Spidey and Chesty are very cute. Great work!
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sat, 11 February 2017, 02:28:39
Thank you, holy crap  :eek: - huge fan of your sculpts (my husband was the one who was trying to win your raffle while we were on a date lol).
 I really appreciate your comment - I'm hoping to clean/make a few new sculpts in the hospital (probably focus on making smaller sculpts... I seem to keep making them slightly too big), and will post them here if I do, but I'm not sure they are going to let me have sharp objects under anesthesia/while having contractions.  :-X
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Cocopah on Sat, 11 February 2017, 02:35:54
Wow these are awesome. Interesting choice on the cat.   :))
Title: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Sneaky Potato on Sat, 11 February 2017, 02:45:05
Thank you, holy crap  :eek: - huge fan of your sculpts (my husband was the one who was trying to win your raffle while we were on a date lol).
 I really appreciate your comment - I'm hoping to clean/make a few new sculpts in the hospital (probably focus on making smaller sculpts... I seem to keep making them slightly too big), and will post them here if I do, but I'm not sure they are going to let me have sharp objects under anesthesia/while having contractions.  :-X

He's definitely a keeper then.

Definitely work on smaller, lower profile sculpts. The two biggest mistakes I'm seeing from newer artisans are

1. Sculpts are too large or too tall

2. Designs are rushed, and low-quality sculpts are cast into caps before they're ready

Don't rush it. I personally sculpt a rough draft, and then a separate final key for each of my designs. You'd be amazed at how much better you get in a few months when you force yourself to redo a sculpt that you think is good.

Once you have a nearly perfect sculpt, start casting. Too many people are rushing the casting process because they want to have a sale, but it's worth your while to be patient and do it right.

Also, best of luck with your delivery. Congrats on the newest addition to your family :)
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sat, 11 February 2017, 02:49:36
Yeaaaaah, not sure if you've ever played the game Jackbox but he was born during a particularly interesting round of TKO with our friends a few months back... not sure why that translated in my head into needing to be a keycap, but hey! I'm really glad you like him and I really, genuinely appreciate the comment - was honestly kind of anxious about posting on here :)
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: slickmamba on Sat, 11 February 2017, 02:52:33
love it, wonder if a tonberry sculpt would be possible too
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sat, 11 February 2017, 02:58:01
Thank you, holy crap  :eek: - huge fan of your sculpts (my husband was the one who was trying to win your raffle while we were on a date lol).
 I really appreciate your comment - I'm hoping to clean/make a few new sculpts in the hospital (probably focus on making smaller sculpts... I seem to keep making them slightly too big), and will post them here if I do, but I'm not sure they are going to let me have sharp objects under anesthesia/while having contractions.  :-X

He's definitely a keeper then.

Definitely work on smaller, lower profile sculpts. The two biggest mistakes I'm seeing from newer artisans are

1. Sculpts are too large or too tall

2. Designs are rushed, and low-quality sculpts are cast into caps before they're ready

Don't rush it. I personally sculpt a rough draft, and then a separate final key for each of my designs. You'd be amazed at how much better you get in a few months when you force yourself to redo a sculpt that you think is good.

Once you have a nearly perfect sculpt, start casting. Too many people are rushing the casting process because they want to have a sale, but it's worth your while to be patient and do it right.

Also, best of luck with your delivery. Congrats on the newest addition to your family :)

Thank you! I'm terrified, but it should be an interesting adventure - and he is a keeper, even if he got me into a rather expensive hobby :P

I know my sculpts are definitely on the too big front right now, I think the only one I somewhat like the size of is spidey and even he needs work. Thankfully, I'm just kind of doing this as a relaxation method right now and have a good chunk of time, so I will definitely be following your advice and trying to perfect them before even thinking about selling them. Yeti, in particular, was my favorite sculpt right now but holy crap do I need to get multiple drafts of him under my belt - he ended up hitting the keys on all sides when I tried to place him on my husbands keyboard (I used to use my corsair for measurements, but apparently the keys are spaced differently on the strafe, so the measurements I tried to stick in were worthless). I think right now I'll try and focus on making cute keys just for myself and to give away rather than worry about selling them - god knows I have a ton to learn about dye and resin in the mean-time as well.

The amount of work you put into your sculpts is definitely evident, they're absolutely gorgeous - even if I tend to lean towards cutesy stuff, your sculpts are hands-down one of my favorites just for the fine detailing. Hearing tips from you is awesome, and if you had any more I'd be all ears!
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sat, 11 February 2017, 03:00:17
love it, wonder if a tonberry sculpt would be possible too

Oh god, I hope so some day; that's one of the projects I really want to do at some point. My profile picture is actually a sketch I planned of a mini-tonberry sculpture/cap - along with another sketch I did of him dressed as a Jawa - I think those are a bit down the line, though... probably when I can get ahold of a $ynth and can make it perfect. :D
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Tue, 14 February 2017, 05:26:13
Overdue now by three days, but we are having fun with colorway experimentation and metallic! Really excited at how these look!
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: romevi on Tue, 14 February 2017, 08:29:48
Holy smokes. Over 40 weeks?! That kid needs an eviction notice!
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: brennan08512 on Tue, 14 February 2017, 12:49:44
Congrats on a baby and the sculpts are cute! It is a decent stress relief also lol
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Tue, 14 February 2017, 14:07:58
Holy smokes. Over 40 weeks?! That kid needs an eviction notice!

He's getting evicted at the 41 week mark if he is stubborn, so we are just kinda waiting for that! :D
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: jal on Tue, 14 February 2017, 14:41:38
Love the sculpting! Spider is awesome.

And best of luck with the kid, and relocation of same.
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Tue, 14 February 2017, 15:11:15
Congrats on a baby and the sculpts are cute! It is a decent stress relief also lol

Thank you!! I had a couple more, but they had an an accident involving a thrift-store oven, sooo back to square one! I'm hoping to have at least one more before I actually have the kid, because I feel like it's going to be difficult to sculpt with a newborn... here's to hoping and I'll post it here if I manage to :D
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Tue, 14 February 2017, 15:14:05
Love the sculpting! Spider is awesome.

And best of luck with the kid, and relocation of same.

Thank you :) that means a lot to me, I feel really thankful that everyone here has been so supportive :D I'm hoping to refine him a bit, learn colorways, and probably do a giveaway of some sort when I feel comfortable.
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: OfTheWild on Tue, 14 February 2017, 20:22:07
Looks like you're having some fun! Those look like an awesome start, good job.  :thumb:
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: fohat.digs on Tue, 14 February 2017, 20:28:46
Yeti looks pretty cool, if not too fragile.

Are any of these buckling spring caps, by any chance?

PS - you never know about gestation - I was 6 weeks early but both my kids were right on time
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Wed, 15 February 2017, 00:13:50
Looks like you're having some fun! Those look like an awesome start, good job.  :thumb:

Thank you! :) I am definitely having fun - a lot more than I originally thought, actually. I hadn't sculpted in years, but figured with the amount of anxiety this pregnancy has brought over its course, it couldn't hurt to try. Thankfully, my husband loves it too so we have been on the same page about getting equipment, dyes, and such to try! :D
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Wed, 15 February 2017, 00:22:24
Yeti looks pretty cool, if not too fragile.

Are any of these buckling spring caps, by any chance?

PS - you never know about gestation - I was 6 weeks early but both my kids were right on time

Yeti is my absolute favorite, honestly... unfortunately, after all was done and baked I found out he did push on other caps with his top layer of hair, so I am hoping like hell I can remake him soon. He's not fragile at all right now, but I do worry about that in the scaling down process. Yeti 1.1 will probably have a thicker horn base and might have a slightly less dramatic curl to his horns.

None of them are buckling spring caps right now - all boring DSA MX,  but I do want to try sculpting on all three types when I can find some to sculpt on.

Yeah, I'm discovering the unpredictable nature of this adventure. I actually had to get steroid shots and spend some time in the hospital at various points in this pregnancy due to continual bleeding/clotting problems... so I got pretty used to the idea of him coming early, guess he had other plans!
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: XMIT on Sun, 19 February 2017, 14:53:34
I'm hoping the delay since the last post is due to the baby being born. Keep up the good work, and best of luck!
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: hapakey on Sun, 19 February 2017, 15:31:41
Taking longer than a 7bit Group Buy!   :))
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Wylte on Mon, 20 February 2017, 00:40:03
I'm hoping the delay since the last post is due to the baby being born. Keep up the good work, and best of luck!

Just popping in to say that is indeed the reason!  Healthy, happy baby boy, and things will get rolling again once we've figured out how to parent and do other things at the same time.  Thank you for checking in, it was a real treat hearing the wife's excitement at somebody showing interest and wishing luck!

In the meantime we've got some better equipment and built a workbench to keep everything on, so once we've set up we can try out some new materials and maybe start doing this for real  :))
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: rowdy on Mon, 20 February 2017, 03:43:31
I'm hoping the delay since the last post is due to the baby being born. Keep up the good work, and best of luck!

Just popping in to say that is indeed the reason!  Healthy, happy baby boy, and things will get rolling again once we've figured out how to parent and do other things at the same time.  Thank you for checking in, it was a real treat hearing the wife's excitement at somebody showing interest and wishing luck!

In the meantime we've got some better equipment and built a workbench to keep everything on, so once we've set up we can try out some new materials and maybe start doing this for real  :))

Wow!

Congratulations! :D

I hope mother and baby are doing well :)
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Tue, 21 February 2017, 18:42:21
Hey guys!
I just wanted to pop in and say how touched I am that anyone even looked at this thread, let alone asked about my well-being, with me being crappy about updates! Seriously, thank you, you're awesome and why I love this community so much.

The lack of updates, as my husband stated, was due to finally having our son at 4 days overdue. Thankfully, everything went really well and he's been a really easy kid so far (hopefully I didn't just jinx that!). I worked on some new designs in the hospital afterwards, but didn't get any sculpting time in due to constant nurse checks and family coming to visit. I'm planning on trying to continue refining "spidey" (which right now is consisting of me making him a top hat!) and sculpt a couple more in the coming week once I know my little guys routine a little better! In the meantime, if any of you have any cap ideas that you have been dying to see I would love to hear them! One of my favorite things to do right now is sketch new ideas in my sketchbook while doing feedings, and if I end up sketching an idea of yours I promise to post it/send it to you :)
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: HeroXLazer on Tue, 21 February 2017, 20:02:43
Congratulations on the baby!!!
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: jal on Tue, 21 February 2017, 20:47:18
Yay! Congrats! Now begins the not-sleeping part.

Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Sneaky Potato on Tue, 21 February 2017, 21:16:07
Hey guys!
I just wanted to pop in and say how touched I am that anyone even looked at this thread, let alone asked about my well-being, with me being crappy about updates! Seriously, thank you, you're awesome and why I love this community so much.

The lack of updates, as my husband stated, was due to finally having our son at 4 days overdue. Thankfully, everything went really well and he's been a really easy kid so far (hopefully I didn't just jinx that!). I worked on some new designs in the hospital afterwards, but didn't get any sculpting time in due to constant nurse checks and family coming to visit. I'm planning on trying to continue refining "spidey" (which right now is consisting of me making him a top hat!) and sculpt a couple more in the coming week once I know my little guys routine a little better! In the meantime, if any of you have any cap ideas that you have been dying to see I would love to hear them! One of my favorite things to do right now is sketch new ideas in my sketchbook while doing feedings, and if I end up sketching an idea of yours I promise to post it/send it to you :)

 Congrats! Also, the Chesty key is very cute. Love it.
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Cocopah on Tue, 21 February 2017, 22:10:01
Congrats! Were going to have to wait a while for a sale  :))
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Overchecken8 on Wed, 22 February 2017, 00:36:34
Whoa I like seeing the mold with the sculpey (I think?) then the finished keycap. That spidey key is nice!
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: fohat.digs on Wed, 22 February 2017, 10:58:19

once we've figured out how to parent


Good luck with that part. Just when you get one phase down, they move on. Elementary school is probably your best time slot for some breathing space.
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Mon, 27 February 2017, 01:24:53
Playing with bunnies :D looooong way to go, mainly detailing, but hey! It fits without touching other keys!
[attach=1]
Title: Re: 40 weeks pregnant - deciding to sculpt to keep from killing people
Post by: brennan08512 on Tue, 28 February 2017, 01:05:09
Playing with bunnies :D looooong way to go, mainly detailing, but hey! It fits without touching other keys!
(Attachment Link)

These are really cute! Hoping to one day you have a sale!
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Tue, 28 February 2017, 01:32:01
Hopefully - and hopefully not too far out..! It all depends on when I feel my sculpts live up to what I would buy/put on my board... I definitely want to make the community proud after how amazing the caps I have gotten are. Coz, sneaky potato, gadzkun, eat_the_food, all the caps I've been fortunate enough to see up close - that's the level of detail I hope to achieve.

I am extremely flattered by your interest :D I tend to be self-conscious about them, so the feedback really, really helps.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Wed, 01 March 2017, 00:56:50
Baby for scale - think I'm pretty happy with this first edition of Cadbury.


Bunny butt! He will not stay soulless, by the way... we have special plans for his eyes ^.~
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: DarthTader on Wed, 01 March 2017, 02:14:12
Wow all these look amazing, glad I stumbled upon this thread! Congrats on the new family member! :)
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: alveeno on Wed, 01 March 2017, 02:27:09
how come i only just saw this thread? great work! :D
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 01 March 2017, 19:48:38
Baby for scale - think I'm pretty happy with this first edition of Cadbury.
(Attachment Link)

Bunny butt! He will not stay soulless, by the way... we have special plans for his eyes ^.~
(Attachment Link)

Did anyone else read that as "baby for sale"? :))
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Wed, 01 March 2017, 22:07:02
Wow all these look amazing, glad I stumbled upon this thread! Congrats on the new family member! :)

Thank you so much - and welcome! :D He's actually been pretty patient with me sculpting over his sleeping body, so I'm really thankful for that! My husband and I have a shared office downstairs, and I discovered early on that making a nest in my lap for him was the best way to sculpt/play games while he napped since he wants to always be touching us lol.

how come i only just saw this thread? great work! :D

Well hello there stranger! Thank you :D hoping that at least one of them ends up being up to my standards so I can contribute to the community - it's seriously an addiction. My husband and I have now gone from 0 caps in October to like 14 caps each now... *sigh*

Baby for scale - think I'm pretty happy with this first edition of Cadbury.
(Attachment Link)

Bunny butt! He will not stay soulless, by the way... we have special plans for his eyes ^.~
(Attachment Link)

Did anyone else read that as "baby for sale"? :))

Lol, I can see that - no baby for sale at this time though, that whole childbirth **** sucks ass - I have major respect for those that do it (surrogates? seriously, major props), but I honestly am still in the "people who go through this 6 or 7 times are crazy" phase of postpartum.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Wylte on Thu, 02 March 2017, 00:48:13
Wanting to keep her original sculpts as full usable keycaps, M2S picked up a grab bag of DSA PBT caps to mess around on.  Super Sculpy bakes at 275f, PBT melts at 433.  No problem. :thumb:
Unfortunately, after throwing Cadbury in the oven to harden before final detailing...it turns out some of the caps are sneaky little DSA wannabes made out of ABS! :eek:
So I put ALL of them in the oven.  Weed out the impure! :))  You can see our cap graveyard, with 5 little survivors in the upper right.

Lesson: always double check your materials!
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Wed, 22 March 2017, 18:59:18
So, sad update.

It's come to my attention that one of my designs has basically been taken and done - I guess I should be flattered, but I'm really just really, really upset. At this time, for me, that means I now need to decide if I'm going to scrap it completely or do it anyways.

I am planning on a first, small sale in the next month and a half featuring at least 3 sculpts and a blank set prototype - but at this time I don't really feel comfortable posting those sculpts until they're done in light of this situation.

Thank you all for your input and support, I love you all and hope I can make you proud. Happy keycap hunting, and I'll see you all again before the sale (I'll update with when and where I'm at periodically if you all like!)
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: breusch91 on Wed, 22 March 2017, 22:56:59
So, sad update.

It's come to my attention that one of my designs has basically been taken and done - I guess I should be flattered, but I'm really just really, really upset. At this time, for me, that means I now need to decide if I'm going to scrap it completely or do it anyways.

I am planning on a first, small sale in the next month and a half featuring at least 3 sculpts and a blank set prototype - but at this time I don't really feel comfortable posting those sculpts until they're done in light of this situation.

Thank you all for your input and support, I love you all and hope I can make you proud. Happy keycap hunting, and I'll see you all again before the sale (I'll update with when and where I'm at periodically if you all like!)

which design in particular would you be talking about? I don't see anything that matches anything out there i've seen, some small similarities but thats it, I could be missing something though
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Wed, 22 March 2017, 23:19:09
So, sad update.

It's come to my attention that one of my designs has basically been taken and done - I guess I should be flattered, but I'm really just really, really upset. At this time, for me, that means I now need to decide if I'm going to scrap it completely or do it anyways.

I am planning on a first, small sale in the next month and a half featuring at least 3 sculpts and a blank set prototype - but at this time I don't really feel comfortable posting those sculpts until they're done in light of this situation.

Thank you all for your input and support, I love you all and hope I can make you proud. Happy keycap hunting, and I'll see you all again before the sale (I'll update with when and where I'm at periodically if you all like!)

which design in particular would you be talking about? I don't see anything that matches anything out there i've seen, some small similarities but thats it, I could be missing something though

I don't want to cause any drama or call anyone out - so I'm not super comfortable saying who it was - besides the fact that it's not identical, just very eerily similar with suspicious timing... I'm sorry, I know that doesn't answer much :(. I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew I wasn't dead from newborn-related sleep deprivation, and also explain why one of my caps/my designs would possibly be MIA from my sale and admit how upset I am at the event if that person happened to monitor my thread again - might help for people to realize just how close to heart a design is.

Thanks for your reply, I hope you have a great day ❤️
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sun, 26 March 2017, 23:11:51
Just a little teaser  ;)

[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: wishful_cynic on Sun, 26 March 2017, 23:32:32
So, sad update.

It's come to my attention that one of my designs has basically been taken and done - I guess I should be flattered, but I'm really just really, really upset. At this time, for me, that means I now need to decide if I'm going to scrap it completely or do it anyways.

I am planning on a first, small sale in the next month and a half featuring at least 3 sculpts and a blank set prototype - but at this time I don't really feel comfortable posting those sculpts until they're done in light of this situation.

Thank you all for your input and support, I love you all and hope I can make you proud. Happy keycap hunting, and I'll see you all again before the sale (I'll update with when and where I'm at periodically if you all like!)

which design in particular would you be talking about? I don't see anything that matches anything out there i've seen, some small similarities but thats it, I could be missing something though

My guess is they're salty that Junk Cat looks like Growler, which pre-dates Junk Cat.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: wishful_cynic on Sun, 26 March 2017, 23:34:10
So, sad update.

It's come to my attention that one of my designs has basically been taken and done - I guess I should be flattered, but I'm really just really, really upset. At this time, for me, that means I now need to decide if I'm going to scrap it completely or do it anyways.

I am planning on a first, small sale in the next month and a half featuring at least 3 sculpts and a blank set prototype - but at this time I don't really feel comfortable posting those sculpts until they're done in light of this situation.

Thank you all for your input and support, I love you all and hope I can make you proud. Happy keycap hunting, and I'll see you all again before the sale (I'll update with when and where I'm at periodically if you all like!)

which design in particular would you be talking about? I don't see anything that matches anything out there i've seen, some small similarities but thats it, I could be missing something though

My guess is they're salty that Junk Cat looks like Growler, which pre-dates Junk Cat.

Could also be Spooder, but those are much less similar than Junk Cat:Growler.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Mon, 27 March 2017, 00:11:41
Oh god, no - it's more of a personal thing than those and I apologize if it seemed like that. Hence my reasoning for not calling anyone out - to avoid the "oh it could be this person" thing because it's just stupid drama. As I stated in my follow up post, it was an update to say that I'm still making caps and that one of my designs might be absent and I'm sorry if anyone liked it.
Junk cat was made for amusement, he's not being made at all for clarification, yeti is being remade but will make an appearance soon (damn horns were not silicone friendly!), and Spidey is still in production, hence the pictures. Let's not play "who is this about", please.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: wishful_cynic on Mon, 27 March 2017, 07:09:50
Oh god, no - it's more of a personal thing than those and I apologize if it seemed like that. Hence my reasoning for not calling anyone out - to avoid the "oh it could be this person" thing because it's just stupid drama. As I stated in my follow up post, it was an update to say that I'm still making caps and that one of my designs might be absent and I'm sorry if anyone liked it.
Junk cat was made for amusement, he's not being made at all for clarification, yeti is being remade but will make an appearance soon (damn horns were not silicone friendly!), and Spidey is still in production, hence the pictures. Let's not play "who is this about", please.

You probably should have left the issue alone instead of opening the door.  It's not cool when someone steals someone else's work, and this community is pretty good about coming to the defense of others when that happens.

Any way, good luck, and congrats on your growing family.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Mon, 27 March 2017, 13:11:00
I know that I probably should have - and I know this community is awesome, that's why I was so upset and felt the need to update, because the support that I've had thus far has been incredible and I wanted to be as open as possible with everyone. A side goal was that, if the person who actually did it saw my thread, they would know that it did make me sad and hopefully not repeat it at someone elses work. I do not need, nor want, punishment or drama, I can still make caps and am excited about all that I am learning - plus, I have a lot of caps I really want to make, so one being gone isn't *that* big of a deal, but postpartum hormones definitely made it seem very upsetting nonetheless.

Thank you for the congratulations, the growing family has been fun if not super challenging st first (I'm pretty sure I've begged him for sleep /at least/ a dozen times). I'm just glad he has the mercy to let me sculpt and sketch sometimes.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: wishful_cynic on Mon, 27 March 2017, 13:22:09
Hey, now that I've read your username, I think I sold you an Octo you wanted to give as a birthday present.  Did he like it?

Looking forward to watching your progress.  I'll second Sneaky Potato on the importance of keeping the cap height low.

Also, sorry to stir the pot earlier when you just wanted to keep a lid on it.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Mon, 27 March 2017, 14:21:15
You're totally fine :) I appreciate the concern, I really do!

You did! My husband loved it, it's sitting happily on the top row of his 60%. I was borderline jealous when it came in the mail, I love the granite look up close.

I'm getting better at the height, for sure, but the size in general is having a steep learning curve. I can't wait for the next synth, so I can hopefully get my hands on one.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Tue, 28 March 2017, 22:02:29
Nothing shows you where your focus is needed like clear. I have now learned how unforgiving it can be. Still happy with the results, though!

[attach=1]

[attach=2]
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: wishful_cynic on Wed, 29 March 2017, 10:36:09
Really nice texture on the spider.  I'm anxious to see some future caps once you get some thick stems and cap walls (I think you're synth shopping?  That would help.) and other designs.
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Wed, 29 March 2017, 11:19:33
Thank you :) I definitely know I need to get a synth, I achieved thick walls on Chestie, but he's too big for high profile cases. Spidey and Cadbury were both built on regular old DSAs, so they aren't bad but I want stronger. Stems seem to be coming out perfect, probably because of the slow-set resin, but we are getting them out so slow do to the 48 hour time needed for curing (and the amount of money we have poured in so far, I'm not getting faster resin until I'm more steady).
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Wylte on Thu, 30 March 2017, 13:37:45
Hey, now that I've read your username, I think I sold you an Octo you wanted to give as a birthday present.  Did he like it?

Looking forward to watching your progress.  I'll second Sneaky Potato on the importance of keeping the cap height low.
I do indeed like it, thank you!
And she's finally taking that advice, checking fit and revising sculpts before falling in love and refusing to change them  :))
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Thu, 30 March 2017, 15:32:07
B
Hey, now that I've read your username, I think I sold you an Octo you wanted to give as a birthday present.  Did he like it?

Looking forward to watching your progress.  I'll second Sneaky Potato on the importance of keeping the cap height low.
I do indeed like it, thank you!
And she's finally taking that advice, checking fit and revising sculpts before falling in love and refusing to change them  :))

Bite me, I love yeti - even if I have to remake him :P
Title: Re: Had my baby! Back to sculpting!
Post by: Wylte on Sun, 09 April 2017, 03:15:17
Got some Smooth-On 327 - work time pretty much the same, but cap turnaround just dropped from 48 hours to 4.  Feels like the end of an era.

Building up our A stock, feeling pretty good about all this!
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer...keycaps :D
Post by: libertycannon on Sun, 09 April 2017, 20:45:33
looking awesome!!
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... Yeti has returned! :D
Post by: wishful_cynic on Mon, 10 April 2017, 09:58:26
Did you make those caps with the little hearts on top?
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... Yeti has returned! :D
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Mon, 10 April 2017, 10:23:56
looking awesome!!

Thank you :)



Did you make those caps with the little hearts on top?

Hi again! :D
I'm sorry, I'm not sure which one you mean? What picture is it you're asking about?
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... Yeti has returned! :D
Post by: wishful_cynic on Mon, 10 April 2017, 10:36:41
https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=87591.0;attach=164405;image

Sorry, not sure how to reply to an image but above is the link.
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... Yeti has returned! :D
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Mon, 10 April 2017, 10:54:59
You're good :D if you mean my arrow keys then no, those are the alveeno paw caps, I just have top lights so it kills the lighting on the top of them.
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... Yeti has returned! :D
Post by: wishful_cynic on Mon, 10 April 2017, 11:11:05
Ooh they look like hearts in that pic lol
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... Yeti has returned! :D
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Mon, 10 April 2017, 11:23:45
Yeaaaah, my lighting/camera combo is potato-ey. I plan on taking better pictures later but just tend to get overly excited to share that I don't. Maybe today when we get a couple more casts out I'll take a picture of the crazy that has taken over our office lol.
So far I have made Cadbury (bunny), Spidey (spider), Chestie (treasure chest), and Yeti (little horned monster dude on my husbands board). Yeti has been the biggest pain in the ass yet, but he's also my favorite so I'm excited to take actual pictures of him in an actually pretty colorway. My husband is also working on his own blanks, but I'm sure he will share pictures of those later :)
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... Yeti has returned! :D
Post by: wishful_cynic on Mon, 10 April 2017, 23:16:50
I love a dank blank.

Chestie is a really novel sculpt btw.
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... Yeti has returned! :D
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Tue, 11 April 2017, 20:31:09
I love a dank blank.

Chestie is a really novel sculpt btw.

Thank you so much :) I'm hoping to redo him soon with more inset style eyes, plus a variation of him to match - but I do really love him. He's also been our least-difficult mold, so we have a good number of him now lol.
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... Yeti has returned! :D
Post by: Wylte on Thu, 13 April 2017, 19:31:36
Baby got needy at the wrong time, resin turned into a measuring cup instead of keycaps  :))
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... looking for spare parts!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Fri, 05 May 2017, 01:14:56
Stanley's humble beginnings! First edition, probably gonna be remade a few times.
[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... looking for spare parts!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sat, 17 June 2017, 04:04:22
Lucky enough to have gotten my hands on a :~$ynth - I feel like this is the start of a new phase in my sculpting and I'm so excited :)

For right now, I'm trying to get used to sculpting on it, but I will be working on a couple new projects over the next few weeks as the baby god allows; including (hopefully) a new little monster friend for Yeti!

For now, here's one of my sculpting exercises: a lucky little ladybug :D
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer... looking for spare parts!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Sun, 10 September 2017, 19:14:33
Welcome back, Chestie!.. also, welcome to the pack Bixlow!

Chestie works 100% in a 1.25 - I'm so happy that I can't even express it. Bixlow is still having some problems with caps being directly in front and behind him due to his mouth and tail. The main problem is his mouth catching DSA keys. Not quite sure how I'm going to fix it, or if I'm going to have to remake him, but we will see! [attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
Title: Re: From the JunkDrawer!
Post by: Midnight2shayla on Mon, 30 October 2023, 22:23:37
It's been like 7 years, but I wanted to come back here and post some of the flocking journey we've been on lately! Plus some sculpts we've done since we left that may, or may not, be actually cast in resin (since I was a lunatic and made too many at a time).