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geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: irjoe on Mon, 19 March 2012, 22:09:15

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: irjoe on Mon, 19 March 2012, 22:09:15

so I purchased a rand. sc2 themed modifier from one of the geekhack members from the prev. (short lived) group buy, and received it just today.

First off, I'm relatively new to the mechanical keyboard scene, and these would be the first customized keycaps that I've ever purchased. So with that in mind, I want to reserve my thoughts for the sake of other member's opinions.

When I first pulled them out of the envelope, the modifer just seemed too thin and shallow for my keyboard. When I tried fitting them onto my keyboard, there was certainly a noticeable dip, and was awkward to use the 'cmd' (i'm an apple user) function to tab out or use hotkeys. It was only after installing the O-ring that the levels equalized a tiny bit, as it seems less noticeable on the keyboard.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]44963[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44964[/ATTACH]

Anyways, what I want to know is, were the modifier key caps that were on sale in the groupbuy section all like this? Shallow/thin in height? Or did I receive a bad one?

Thanks for the input guys.

P.S: Sorry for the awkward photos... I don't have a photo editing software at the moment, and I used my iphone. Still probably not a good excuse.

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: snowboarder3 on Mon, 19 March 2012, 22:15:46

Made by signature plastics I think. Their keycap profiles are different than the standards for whatever reason.

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: reaper on Mon, 19 March 2012, 23:15:34

They're supposed to be Cherry profile keycaps (sits a little lower than the ones from Filco, Leopold, etc).  All you have to do is get a set of Cherry DS set to match. lol

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Tue, 20 March 2012, 00:06:39

They don't match Cherry either. They don't match anything that anyone else currently uses at all. All the groupbuys that use Signature Plastics will all be like this.

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: dorkvader on Tue, 20 March 2012, 00:17:45

I thought SP matched WYSE profile pretty well.

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Tue, 20 March 2012, 00:27:11

WYSE is also DCS. Some BTC are also, like the 5100 and 5300 series. But those are all out of production for some time.

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: irjoe on Tue, 20 March 2012, 02:07:50

read through the GLWIC thread.

Is Signature plastics (SP) a specific US based company that produced keycaps for group buys?
(responsible for the soon-to-be round 4, sc2 keys, and other novelty caps)

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: whiskerBox on Tue, 20 March 2012, 02:18:46

I am also an avid Mac user and your only real option is to give in go full SP or deal with Crazy different key heights

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: irjoe on Tue, 20 March 2012, 03:45:13

Quote from: whiskerBox;551247

I am also an avid Mac user and your only real option is to give in go full SP or deal with Crazy different key heights

So does that mean SP is just considered any keycaps that are not produced by well known, standardized manufacturers?

Title: starcraft modifier.... can someone tell me why it's so shallow?
Post by: Autolyze on Tue, 20 March 2012, 07:01:50

Quote from: irjoe;551277

So does that mean SP is just considered any keycaps that are not produced by well known, standardized manufacturers?

As far as I know, there is no official standard for Cherry MX key height. Signature Plastics is fairly well known, but their key profile doesn't match up that well with the keycaps that come on most boards (I'm assuming Costar produce keycaps?). The actual Cherry Corp keycaps, which arguably have the most official profile, wouldn't match up with the stock keycaps that came on your board or the SP ones. The profile difference is probably most noticeable on the bottom row since it has the sharpest slope.