Keycaps I'm currently making

[b3Rz3Rko]

Hey guys, I'm kinda new here (long time lurker though)

Anyways decided to give keycap modeling and analog sculpting a try ( I am a 3d modeler, with experience mostly on zbrush and maya) been having a lot of fun doing it. Hope you guys like it, and feel completely free to give me advices on anything as they help me a lot. Also feel free to ask anything about my process and tools I use.

I'm new to sculpting clay my sculps are still rough, currently trying to find a way to smooth them without killing the details like I did on El Typo's prototype face going between rubbing alcohol and charcoal lighter.

http://imgur.com/a/k3PL3

El Typo- Masked wrestler character in a comic book kind of style, the name is a play on words, tipo in Spanish can mean guy.


And the handy keycap (name pending, in case that one already exist, please tell me if it does.)


Right now I'm trying to get the bigger shapes right before before going on smaller details and continue softening the sculpt without killing the details. Any advise on what kind of tools or techniques works best for different kind of scenarios would be helpfull.

[b3Rz3Rko]

Btw if you find that one of my keycaps are copying or look too much like another keycap please tell me so I can desist, don't want to trample on some other dude business  and on the handy keycap prototype the mini arc reactor I put in there for fun, but I keep thinking how cool would it look if it glowed on the keyboard.

[RoastPotatoes]

That's some quite nice sculpting. The hand is especially impressive.

[b3Rz3Rko]

Thanks man, really appreciate it.

My main problem currently is that every time I shape or move something, something else moves out of place, been trying different tools and bought some rubber tipped brushes and metal ball stylus to see if it helps.

EDIT: Looking at the pictures really helps me take notice at some things that are harder to see.

[retrochick]

Keep up the good work! I'm impressed with your sculpts so far. The rubber clay shapers you just bought will be immensely helpful - I use them 50% of the time when I sculpt. Still need to find a good burnisher.

[b3Rz3Rko]

Thanks, can't wait for them to arrive at my mailbox. What I've been doing recently is to let a few drops of charcoal lighter fluid on the mat and a bit of Sculpey letting it kinda melt on the fluid and applying it with a brush on the sculpt, it's like painting a small layer of clay and smoothing at the same time without overdoing it. Gotta learn me the names of the tools

Here's a quick update of the hand sculp.

[b3Rz3Rko]

El Typo update


It's preety much done, gonna wait on the rubber clay shaper to add more details to the gum of the teeth and continue softening up the sculp.

Handy update


I'm continuing working on the fingers (they are a *****! given how small they are) adding fingernails details but the focus on the palm side of the hand.

[KatzenKinder]

Nice work so far! Hand cap has been done by binge

https://bingecap.com/product/mx-primer-hand-e-cap/

And I think there are at least a few  human face type caps out there, like Bro's UMAD.

I'm still trying to figure out for myself what kind of boundaries are okay when it comes to similar ideas, it's frustrating sometimes trying to be too original with the form of the cap being somewhat limiting. You seem to have come to these ideas on your own though, so carry on

[b3Rz3Rko]

Wow, I even used the same name, I honestly didnt know, gonna try and make the hand robotic, if not then desist using it. I have seen u mad before, while not as alike as the hand sculp, there are similarities (Brocap's looks a hundred times better than mine  ). I am honestly not trying to blatantly rip off some other guy's work.

Thanks for the heads up man.

[suicidal_orange]

Faces are an obvious choice for caps as they fit nicely on a square base, aside from the teeth they are very different.  El Typo looks pretty realistic while umad is more of a caricature, it's clearly not a copy.

The latest version looks more angry but if you're asking for opinions I think I preferred the original, wider mouth.

I also really like the yellow eyes - hopefully you'll get good enough to doubleshot them

[b3Rz3Rko]

Thanks man. I agree completely that the mouth looked better before, I was working on the teeth making them centered and ended up changing the mouth, gonna fix that. Thanks

The eyes are pin heads I chopped off, I knew I wanted the eyes really rounded. I really do want to make the eyes double shot

[b3Rz3Rko]

Quick update on el typo


And a new take on making a hand themed keycap, it's a take on the Majestic 12 statue from Deus Ex one of my favorite games of all time.






The idea is to attach the hand to the globe once I'm done modeling it.

[b3Rz3Rko]

Already got some mold making rubber and some casting resin on the way but decided to make something while waiting, a user posted the idea of making a wat face keycap on a brocap thread and I couldn't help myself, seemed like a fun project to do





Still working out some details.but most major shapes are done.

[bcredbottle]

Did you do tabletop wargaming?

[sth]

Already got some mold making rubber and some casting resin on the way but decided to make something while waiting, a user posted the idea of making a wat face keycap on a brocap thread and I couldn't help myself, seemed like a fun project to do

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Still working out some details.but most major shapes are done.

ahaha that rules

[theteam]

omg the wat face is creepy

[BlueNalgene]

I love the Majestic 12 idea.  I would totally want one of those.

[b3Rz3Rko]

Did you do tabletop wargaming?

Before this I've done 3d sculpting using ZBrush, but nothing traditional. Were I live the War Gamng community must be very small cause I've never seen it before, making it difficult to get into it.

[b3Rz3Rko]

Big update finally started making a mold, can't say that it work like I wanted but at least learned something new



Honestly the best thing I can say about some of them is that they barely work, they are full of bubbles and I used acrylic which I'm not supposed to use.i already bought some alcohol inks following a really helpful guide. I'm going to have to buy a pressure pot, luckily I already have an air compressor.

Also I've been working on two other caps one is an Ork the idea is like he's smirking kind of a cocky smile, and the other one I'm calling it centurion, a Roman Empire warrior I want to add like a Mohawk on top of the helmet a small one though or else it won't fit.

 

[bcredbottle]

Big update finally started making a mold, can't say that it work like I wanted but at least learned something new

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Honestly the best thing I can say about some of them is that they barely work, they are full of bubbles and I used acrylic which I'm not supposed to use.i already bought some alcohol inks following a really helpful guide. I'm going to have to buy a pressure pot, luckily I already have an air compressor.

Also I've been working on two other caps one is an Ork the idea is like he's smirking kind of a cocky smile, and the other one I'm calling it centurion, a Roman Empire warrior I want to add like a Mohawk on top of the helmet a small one though or else it won't fit.

 

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Please do a **** ton of research before buying a pressure pot. I highly recommend PM'ing mkawa, who builds pressure pots and can give you some perspective.

There are ways to reduce bubbles w/o a pressure pot (i.e. using white instead of clear resin, stirring gently, baby-powdering your mold first, etc.). PLUS if those are the first caps that you've ever casted, there is still a ton of experience to be gained with just gravity-casting.

Please, please, please at the very least make sure you read the few posts from this one forward in Binge's thread.

And in case you think that the dangers to which I refer are just theoretical, know that pressure pot catastrophic failure happens and when it does, it's bad.

[bcredbottle]

BTW do you have pics of the back of your caps or your mold? It might be helpful

[b3Rz3Rko]

Sure will post them right here in a couple of hours gotta do something quick, thanks for the tips will do

Edit: I really didn't wanted to show this cause I was ashamed lol





It's horrible I know, the main problem was that before this I watched lot of tutorials but when I was making the mold I just did it by memory and left some important details, plus I did it by the kitchen counter and my niece and nephew were there and like all children will begin asking questions and cause some distractions.

Another big mistake was that I was measuring using a compaq MX wich is my current daily driver, but in my rosewill since it is tighter it would not fit, I had to shaved some clay off of the key. I read that pbt would be able to resist higher temps than abs but the key warped it still fit the stem though.

[b3Rz3Rko]

I undertand the dangers behind pressure pot, but it's always better to be reminded of them, my experience with them are limited to cooking with them though. I wasn't gonna buy the cheapest one believe me, I was thinking more in the grizzly one that goes for about $180 ish, Grizzly is a brand I trust more, but I'll hit mkawa with a pm see what he recommend.

Of course that will go later, I already bought some white resin, I just have to buy some more mold making rubber, I was quite satisfied with the aluminite lvl2 I got on Amazon I just had to shake the mold and the bubbles came right up, I betewen buying the lvl3 one at $25 or the smooth on at $30, money isn't the problem it's just that I didn't found any problem with the cheapest one, but if you or anyone else that can recommend a better one I'll go for that one, the only thing I don't like with the aluminite one is the 10 to 1 ratio but that is really a minor inconvenience really, I'm more interested on final results.

Thanks a lot for the advices really helps a lot, like you said I'll try to find other ways before trying a pressure pot.

Also notice a chunk of the nose cracked off, nothing that can't be fixed though.

[bcredbottle]

I undertand the dangers behind pressure pot, but it's always better to be reminded of them, my experience with them are limited to cooking with them though. I wasn't gonna buy the cheapest one believe me, I was thinking more in the grizzly one that goes for about $180 ish, Grizzly is a brand I trust more, but I'll hit mkawa with a pm see what he recommend.

Of course that will go later, I already bought some white resin, I just have to buy some more mold making rubber, I was quite satisfied with the aluminite lvl2 I got on Amazon I just had to shake the mold and the bubbles came right up, I betewen buying the lvl3 one at $25 or the smooth on at $30, money isn't the problem it's just that I didn't found any problem with the cheapest one, but if you or anyone else that can recommend a better one I'll go for that one, the only thing I don't like with the aluminite one is the 10 to 1 ratio but that is really a minor inconvenience really, I'm more interested on final results.

Thanks a lot for the advices really helps a lot, like you said I'll try to find other ways before trying a pressure pot.

Also notice a chunk of the nose cracked off, nothing that can't be fixed though.

This is what I use for my molds.. It holds detail really well and has a great price. Just make sure that while it's curing you leave it on top of your dryer or bang on the table lol. Gotta get those bubbles out.

For resin I love SmoothCast 321. Holds color well and has enough working life for doubleshots but cures quick enough that you can demold in a couple hours.

Also, I know you had some bad casts, but i don't think there's anything wrong with your mold. If you have stem problems, make sure to fill your stems with liquid resin first and then pour the resin into the cap. Sometimes it's hard for the resin to get into the stem without filling up the stem first.  I think that should solve your stem problem.

I hope it's helpful but I'm pretty new to casting caps, too. I definitely can't sculpt as well as you.

[b3Rz3Rko]

The best advises I can give for modelling are to think of the sculptures from the inside out this of course are more towards humanoid figures, try to start from the skull and work your way out, many muscles are layered one under the other, always start with the one under first, and never focus on one area for more than its needed, it better to work all the major shapes first and then go into details, symmetry is also important, when the sculpt is way asymmetrical it can become off putting, this in my opinion is one of the hardest things to achieve specially on traditional sculpting, in 3D CG i just have to turn on auto-symmetry and i just have to work on one side and later just work on some areas in order not to make it that symmetrical. Symmetry is one of the main reason i love BB v2 so much (that and it also looks very smexy ) sometimes i find it hard to believe BroCap is human lol, he's just so far out, Cherokey is also really amazing, so much detail in so little space. There is no video of a tutorial sculpting artisan key-caps that i know of, but there are many doing figures they help a lot.

Also i recommend using super sculpey firm, i haven't use the regular one yet, but I can't imagine using something softer. For blank keys I believe thick PBT are the best, i am using relegendable key-caps from a harvested Cherry POS keyboard, i believe they are thin PBT. If you're in no particular hurry in Ebay you can find sculpting tools for very cheap, i bought some wax carving tools on amazon as well for only $8 but most of the time i find myself only using 2 or 3 at a time.

[bcredbottle]

The best advises I can give for modelling are to think of the sculptures from the inside out this of course are more towards humanoid figures, try to start from the skull and work your way out, many muscles are layered one under the other, always start with the one under first, and never focus on one area for more than its needed, it better to work all the major shapes first and then go into details, symmetry is also important, when the sculpt is way asymmetrical it can become off putting, this in my opinion is one of the hardest things to achieve specially on traditional sculpting, in 3D CG i just have to turn on auto-symmetry and i just have to work on one side and later just work on some areas in order not to make it that symmetrical. Symmetry is one of the main reason i love BB v2 so much (that and it also looks very smexy ) sometimes i find it hard to believe BroCap is human lol, he's just so far out, Cherokey is also really amazing, so much detail in so little space. There is no video of a tutorial sculpting artisan key-caps that i know of, but there are many doing figures they help a lot.

Also i recommend using super sculpey firm, i haven't use the regular one yet, but I can't imagine using something softer. For blank keys I believe thick PBT are the best, i am using relegendable key-caps from a harvested Cherry POS keyboard, i believe they are thin PBT. If you're in no particular hurry in Ebay you can find sculpting tools for very cheap, i bought some wax carving tools on amazon as well for only $8 but most of the time i find myself only using 2 or 3 at a time.

Do you think super sculpey is better than greenstuff?

[b3Rz3Rko]

Do you think super sculpey is better than greenstuff?

Honestly I haven't tried that one. 

[bcredbottle]

Do you think super sculpey is better than greenstuff?

Honestly I haven't tried that one. 

It's OK. It's the only thing I've used. I'm going to try out super sculpey. I appreciate the tips!

[dgneo]

Sure will post them right here in a couple of hours gotta do something quick, thanks for the tips will do

Edit: I really didn't wanted to show this cause I was ashamed lol

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It's horrible I know, the main problem was that before this I watched lot of tutorials but when I was making the mold I just did it by memory and left some important details, plus I did it by the kitchen counter and my niece and nephew were there and like all children will begin asking questions and cause some distractions.

Another big mistake was that I was measuring using a compaq MX wich is my current daily driver, but in my rosewill since it is tighter it would not fit, I had to shaved some clay off of the key. I read that pbt would be able to resist higher temps than abs but the key warped it still fit the stem though.

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You shouldn't be ashamed, your work looks great! I'm loving the details on all your caps, especially El Typo.

Please keep up the work, can't wait to see your stuff once you've gotten the process refined!

[DrCr4nK]

This is awesome!  Keep it up, man!

[b3Rz3Rko]

Do you think super sculpey is better than greenstuff?

Honestly I haven't tried that one. 

It's OK. It's the only thing I've used. I'm going to try out super sculpey. I appreciate the tips!

I was looking at it, it's mostly used for miniatures which makes it perfect for artisan keycaps and it hardens like a epoxy so no need to bake it, I'm also gonna give it a try.