I would like to think that maybe we can collect enough money to get ABS DS, it is $45 per legend. For a full keyboard without the logos, we are looking at something like 110 keys (Some novelty extras_
So are you saying it might be possible to do ABS DS for the legend keyset and PBT for the blanks? If so, that would be amazing. It would just mean having slightly different colors for each set, with the legends set having less well-matched colors to the original TNG palette but with much better legends than if they were dyesub. I think the crispness of double-shot matches the sleek, modern LCARS designs much better anyway.
The reason I prefer the PBT for the blanks is because that material offers much more suitable colors for this particular project—at least in terms the limited colors SP offers in each material—but I think color matters much more on the blank set. For the legends set, what matters most is using the material that provides the best legends, and that is obviously ABS.
If we intentionally picked a different set of colors for the legends set and did it in ABS DS, we could actually offer a really interesting variety within a single project: ABS DS in slightly more saturated colors, and PBT blanks in more muted colors. There is something there to suit almost everybody's tastes! The Best of Both Worlds, as it were.
I like it. The only reason I never proposed this two-pronged approach was because I assumed that doing everything in the same material would save money, but that may not actually prove to be the case, or the difference may be minimal.
Moz: can you confirm that my understanding of all the above is correct?
I ordered the SP color rings last night, by the way, and they are in the mail today on their way to me!
Maybe I can find some ABS colors that work well together. I'm holding out hope that the ABS colors will look better in person. (What SP offers in ABS seems heavily weighted towards grays and beiges.)
Moz: Would you like me to put together a new dual mock-up: one of the legends set in the best-match ABS colors, and the existing blanks mock-up with the (slightly better) PBT colors? I'm going to go try to figure out all the add-on modifier stuff right now by going back through the thread.