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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: EverTokki on Sat, 28 November 2020, 03:19:43

Title: Making keycaps - TokKeys
Post by: EverTokki on Sat, 28 November 2020, 03:19:43
Hey guys, long time lurker here!
I finally gathered the materials to cast keycaps and I'm going to document my progress here.
I've seen a lot of threads about making keycaps, but they usually ended up being a page long so I hope to last longer than that!!

Basically I've been trying to make a tiger keycap and have been sculpting a tiger a day!
Here's the progress I've made:

[attach=1]

Ended up casting this boi:

[attach=2]

Turned out okay but a lot of improvements gotta be done..

[attach=3]

I have a griffin that I also doubleshotted:

[attach=4]
[attach=5]

And some more ideas

[attach=6]
[attach=7]

I'm using super sculpey, and a bunch of tools. I use a hairdryer to "bake" the sculpt.

Please let me know of any questions / comments / concerns and some constructive feedback would be great!!
Title: Re: Making keycaps - yet another thread
Post by: suicidal_orange on Sat, 28 November 2020, 03:34:26
I'm on a small screen so maybe flaws are hidden but the multishotting on that tiger looks great, as does the sharpness of the teeth in the first sculpt.

Is your top idea a cyber potato?   Certainly makes a change from the traditional skull (https://cdn.geekhack.org/Smileys/solosmileys/laugh.gif)
Title: Re: Making keycaps - yet another thread
Post by: EverTokki on Sat, 28 November 2020, 07:22:21
Quote from: suicidal_orange on Sat, 28 November 2020, 03:34:26
I'm on a small screen so maybe flaws are hidden but the multishotting on that tiger looks great, as does the sharpness of the teeth in the first sculpt.

Is your top idea a cyber potato?   Certainly makes a change from the traditional skull
Show Image
(https://cdn.geekhack.org/Smileys/solosmileys/laugh.gif)

The sculpt needs some work though, and the butt is non-existant!  ;)

And yes, cyber potato best. It's a talking one too.
Title: Re: Making keycaps - yet another thread
Post by: EverTokki on Sat, 28 November 2020, 21:04:23
Yesterday I sculpted a mouth key to go with the eyes. Still needs improvement.

[attach=1]

And today I took out the casting I did from yesterday; I fixed up a few mistakes on the master and it looks way better lol.

[attach=2]
[attach=3]
[attach=4]

The bubbles are still a problem and I'm a poor university student so no pressure pots until I can afford them.
I think maybe the alcohol ink I use (very bubbly) might be the problem...?? :|
But not sure if I can find a resin pigment that isn't glittery.
I've heard powders work better in resin, simply because they don't add more liquid to it.
Title: Re: Making keycaps - yet another thread
Post by: EverTokki on Mon, 30 November 2020, 06:20:04
Yesterday I sculpted some more stuff, already out of ideas. I think I'll need time to sit down, think about a design I want to do that's easily castable.
This is some rabbit girl without eyes.
[attach=1]

Wondering if something more cute is my way
[attach=2]

I then casted another multishot that I demolded today.
[attach=3]

Seems like there's progress, although I gotta say I liked my first attempt best.
[attach=4]

The butts are nonexistant though, and I really gotta work on that.
I also ordered some sandpaper, and sculpey firm so that should really help.
More importantly, I want a shine on my keycaps; that gotta be the priority from now on.

I was working on a red panda but didn't enjoy the looks of it.
[attach=5]

This is a meme dog in Korea, called "Mum-moom-mi". Basically a ㅁ is a letter pronounced as "m". If you see this cursed pic you gotta replace all your ㅇs to ㅁs. Honestly like the concept of this cap, might cast it later on.
[attach=7]
[attach=6]
Title: Re: Making keycaps - TokKeys
Post by: EverTokki on Tue, 01 December 2020, 07:27:38
To start off, here's a pic of my keycap sitting on my keeb.
[attachimg=1]

Today super sculpey firm arrived in the mail! It was super crumbly and I didn't have any softener so I used cooking oil instead. (A drop is fine!)
Tried out sculpting it into something, it's quite difficult but gives the result/smoothness I've always wanted.
[attach=2]

This one went in the silicone (for the mold), but now I see that the eyes aren't symmetrical, I'm planning to try and fix it a little. Since baked sculpey doesn't stick to raw sculpey, I dunno how that's going to work out though.
[attach=3]
Title: Re: Making keycaps - TokKeys
Post by: EverTokki on Wed, 02 December 2020, 21:43:38
It's been a while, right?
No new sculpting updates, mostly on colorways and trying to get a good master of the new sculpt.
It's been quite difficult though, mostly because I don't have a pressure pot. Bubbles are frequent.

Weird colorway that I tried. I hate that the body is kinda translucent.
[attach=1]

I demolded (because I was impatient) before it was fully cured, and smooshed the tiger in the process. Sad.
[attach=2]

Beer?
[attach=3]

I like the new sculpt. Brushing my sculpt with isopropyl alcohol helped the surface get smooth,
but it also made it quite matte. I still have to figure out how to make it shiny, but I like the matte feel.
[attach=4]

This is what I demolded yesterday, really liking the blue.
[attach=5]

[attach=6]