From the JunkDrawer!

[Midnight2shayla]

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!

[Midnight2shayla]

09/10/2017:


06/2017:


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:

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

[Midnight2shayla]

<Reserved for future updates>

[Sneaky Potato]

Spidey and Chesty are very cute. Great work!

[Midnight2shayla]

Thank you, holy crap  - 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. 

[Cocopah]

Wow these are awesome. Interesting choice on the cat.   )

[Sneaky Potato]

Thank you, holy crap  - 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. 

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

[Midnight2shayla]

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

[slickmamba]

love it, wonder if a tonberry sculpt would be possible too

[Midnight2shayla]

Thank you, holy crap  - 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. 

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

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!

[Midnight2shayla]

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.

[Midnight2shayla]

Overdue now by three days, but we are having fun with colorway experimentation and metallic! Really excited at how these look!

[romevi]

Holy smokes. Over 40 weeks?! That kid needs an eviction notice!

[brennan08512]

Congrats on a baby and the sculpts are cute! It is a decent stress relief also lol

[Midnight2shayla]

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!

[jal]

Love the sculpting! Spider is awesome.

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

[Midnight2shayla]

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

[Midnight2shayla]

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 I'm hoping to refine him a bit, learn colorways, and probably do a giveaway of some sort when I feel comfortable.

[OfTheWild]

Looks like you're having some fun! Those look like an awesome start, good job. 

[fohat.digs]

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

[Midnight2shayla]

Looks like you're having some fun! Those look like an awesome start, good job. 

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!

[Midnight2shayla]

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!

[XMIT]

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!

[hapakey]

Taking longer than a 7bit Group Buy!   )

[Wylte]

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  )

[rowdy]

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!

I hope mother and baby are doing well

[Midnight2shayla]

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

[HeroXLazer]

Congratulations on the baby!!!

[jal]

Yay! Congrats! Now begins the not-sleeping part.

[Sneaky Potato]

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.

[Cocopah]

Congrats! Were going to have to wait a while for a sale  )

[Overchecken8]

Whoa I like seeing the mold with the sculpey (I think?) then the finished keycap. That spidey key is nice!

[fohat.digs]

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.

[Midnight2shayla]

Playing with bunnies looooong way to go, mainly detailing, but hey! It fits without touching other keys!

[brennan08512]

Playing with bunnies 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!

[Midnight2shayla]

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 I tend to be self-conscious about them, so the feedback really, really helps.

[Midnight2shayla]

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 ^.~

[DarthTader]

Wow all these look amazing, glad I stumbled upon this thread! Congrats on the new family member!

[alveeno]

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

[rowdy]

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"? )

[Midnight2shayla]

Wow all these look amazing, glad I stumbled upon this thread! Congrats on the new family member!

Thank you so much - and welcome! 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!

Well hello there stranger! Thank you 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.

[Wylte]

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.
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!
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!

[Midnight2shayla]

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!)

[breusch91]

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

[Midnight2shayla]

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 ❤️

[Midnight2shayla]

Just a little teaser 

[wishful_cynic]

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.

[wishful_cynic]

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.

[Midnight2shayla]

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.

[wishful_cynic]

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.