muglecruzle and the kirby keycaps (w/ pressure pot, no vacuum)

posted my knuckles cap in the #roastme tab in discord on zbutt. I’m going to get destroyed…

I forgot to mention the channels for support, but there are some VERY HELPFUL channels. I were to start again, I’d start here:

zbutt: https://discord.gg/qyu9j9 so many good channels, and famous cap makers there. super helpful. also in the pinned messages show a REALLY fast way to get into the hobby, with all the lessons learned from other users.

primecaps: https://discord.gg/2kJ5yT some other famous (in cap community), not as active, but where I took ideas for pressure pot, and materials as well.

i do not know da wae

i do not know the way to the devil

even with all the issues, I still kinda like the way it turned out!

i do not know the way

mid-multishot (just found out how to make gifs):

mid-multishot da wae

my first attempt at the ‘multi-shot’ keycap.

multiple issues here.

1. black resin on the left eye spilled
2. bottom of cap is too thin/weak, need some more space for resin there.
3. some of the shots (e.g. the light brown skin) bled into the red.
4. I like the colours, but it looks kinda ‘cheap’ compared to the pros… i’m not sure why…

I’ill revist this, but since it takes multiple shots, and much more time than the kirbs (or the tank one im working on) in terms of labour, i’ll leave this on the side for now. What i will do is post this on the keeb discords, and see if others have any suggestions for improvements.

Next on the tab is other ideas on caps. I’m going to revist kirb soon after and recreate the master, but will wait and try the zbutt system with that, since I believe would easier on it. molding on a silicone base is finicky at best when used with hard clay. I believe a hard base is best to mold with caps. Other than kirbs, here’s a tank one im molding (2nd pic is molding the tank as well):

I kept the cap plain, so I can add foliage and possibly trees. another bonus on this is this one is based on a cherry keycap instead of an SA keycap. there is VERY little play room compared to SA, so i modified the base cherry cap to add some room (put some clay on the curved area to make it flat.

I’m worried about the small details, and how the cannon might not be captured correctly/break off when casting. also attempted molding a mini APC, so might be able to create my own, instead of buying it from a 3d printed factory.

So next steps are:

1. get feedback on multishot da wae cap from keeb discord, and reiterate and apply
2. attempt a tank cap, and add paint and folliage
3. recreate the kirby keycap, but using the zbutt system. (get feedback on keeping clay clean and molding with clay though (u-tube tutorials and discord).
4. paint warhammer minis, focus to learn wet-blending and feathering.
5. most important: fucking chill dude, take a break some time. need some R&R and time with the fam.

discord is lit

damn dude, the people in the keycap discords are fucking lit. they’re so helpful, they even stream their shit, and share ideas/advice. it saved me hours and hours of research/testing. its fucking free real-estate. I’ll post about them later (for reference for myself and others to explore) but its basically the zbutt and primecaps ones. there’s probably more out there too.

It's Free Real Estate

pressure casts

left it a overnight, and it stayed at a healthy 50 psi. means no leaks! glorious!

had to write myself a procedure to quickly pump up air safely in the tank, in around 30 secs to a min. Since the compressor doesn’t provide a full tank in one fill, I can slowly control when to stop adding pressure as the compressor starts to fill up again.

I have started using the smooth on 326, with black pigment, on my first step. with the rest of the resin, i put into other SA sized caps.

here’s the plan:

cast steps

started with the black, cures in 60 mins, but its late and might as well wait overnight.

my concern is possible waste of cast. only need a few drops of cast for the eyes, but need equal parts of a and b, and only 0.1% to 3% by weight of pigment of that cast, else possible inhibition may occur, so I use larger amounts, but results with larger waste.

not sure how to get 0.1% of around 5mL (+/- 2mL-ish).

need to find a way to extract very little pigment… will experiment on that.

pressure pot
starting to get lethargy on the project, but gotta progress forward got a pressure pot finally! had to get a lot of parts to attach, such as the 1/4 inch nozzles, a 5/8 bolt and nuts, washers, rubber washers to change a painters pot to a pressure pot.

pressure pot fin

problem is we had some leaks of air on the painters lid, so added some sealant, and checking if any air leaks out via soap bubble test. no bubbles so far, so leaving it overnight at 50 psi and checking the following day if any leaks.

if this is all good, then its reallly time to start some quality caps! created the mold for ‘do you know da wae’ keycap, and will try a simple one shot keycap, later attempting a multishot the following day.

View post on imgur.com

Here’s a really good reference for keycap making by the way, from Z-butt: https://github.com/imyownyear/Z-Butt/wiki

i’m a regular customer to this guy, good stuff.

** kirby iteration 1, resin keycap iteration 2 **

Took out my resin drip keycap and the kirb keycap out a day early. its still slightly malluable, but definitely demoldable now.

few things learned:

1. measure twice. kirby is too big! hes out of the keycap itself, and would probably need to recreate the master :(.

2. consider other resins other than art resin. i’m not sure if its the hardness i’m looking for. lo-and-behold, i actually found a hobby store selling a lb of alluminite clear resin! something I intend to try out. (they only have one left though, so maybe not a great for a long term supplier if i decide to sell caps (not kirby though)). Also the resin still needs one day wait for cure time still, so I should wait it out first.

3. do not apply mold release for artresin (like suggested by others). it will provided a matte finish, and not as clear. I havent tried polishing though, that might help.

There are bubbles, but this is expected w/o a pressure pot.

Keycap cont

on next steps, will recreate the kirby master with proper size, and create another master with a different theme, also finally use a pressure pot when it arrives. scheduled to arrive before sept 15th.

whilst waiting on the pressure pot
while waiting on the pressure pot, finished the warhammers for now. also a mini sneakpeak on another keycap design I’m thinking about on the back.

Finished warhammer

also finally getting a zappy cappy’s zbutt system. will try that out, heard good things. probably 3-4 weeks till it comes.

finally added the kirby into clear resin, since im tired of waiting for the grass. ill add it on the next kirby. hopefully no bubbles too. put in yesterday with extra resin for another alcohol ink keycap. Will wait 2 more days, maybe one more and reveal.

uwu

using the techniques and understanding of paints w/ warhammers, started painting the kirby. edge-highlighting helped me freehand the eyes. what took surprisingly long was not the eyes, but the mouth!
any slight difference, makes it look different to all hell. I used vallejo arcylic paints, as many warhammer enthusiasts recommend (good for beginners and experts alike), made my own pink (which is unfortunately not the exact same as kirby) with 50/50 flat red and white. flat brown for the ground, and flat green and refractive green on the grass base. lastly used agrax earthshade (came with warhammer kit) to add shadowing on the lower half of kirbs. painting with warhammer really made me realize the power of shade liquids!

now we wait for the static grass in shipment. should arrive soon, and eventually encopass the whole keycap in artresin (like the blue keycap).

im curious how the static grass with react with the artresin… ill test with a small batch once I get my hands on the grass.

Beginners Luck Pt. 2

Secondly, I completed part 1 of my kirby keycap, and primed with white primer. its facing the same issues as the blue keycap, but worse . its like a cheese foamy texture.

luckily these are the smoothcast 305 (7 min working time, 40 min cure time), so only 40 minutes to wait, compare to 3 days haha

It really feels like a styrafoam sort of texture, it needs a pressure pot for sure. secondly, im not sure how im going to do my second cast, there’s not really a clear path to a sprew for the resin to flow to. gotta think this one through.

for now, im going to continue with this to the end, see if encounter any other issues along the way. later on, will create another kirby keycap with the lessons learned in mind.

Beginners Luck

some great progress been made! however, now im feeling the pressure of not using a pressure pot.

here are some pics on my update 3 days ago on the art resin cap, and looks fantastic! This is the keycap I used ArtResin with around 3 days to cure (pulling out any earlier may cause warping issues, as its sometimes used for hand molding plates, etc.) however there are some definite underlying issues though… see if you can spot them:

There are some really tiny bubbles throughout the keycap, making it a little bit foggy with the tiny bubbles overlaying one another, however the results are still exemplary, especially with my first cap.

The major issue though is the down at stem of the keycap, where most bubbles are prevalent. the air bubbles creates a foamy texture, meaning less resin to support the stem and base, which makes it very easy too break and bend!
It might also be because of my mixing time (although long for about 2 mins) wasn’t long enough /thoroughly mixed, causing it to easily deform!

this is a big no-no.

I watched some tutorials or some highly suggested artResin users, and they recommend 4 minutes. also I pulled the trigger. i amazon’d a pressure pot.

lessons learned: mix for 4 mins with art resin. (both mixing parts are transparent, difficult to tell if fully incomporated, so do so just to be safe) use a pressure pot.

how much do you want to bet it won’t look anything like this…

created a second mold, so can cast different caps in the meantime (still one more day for the first cap):

I’m thinking having multiple molds up and running, so I don’t have to wait for long cure times (like ArtResin). thinking of creating more, so can have some better uptime, but also still new to this, and should keep it safe not to create too much.

this is the big one though! (haven’t even finished the first keycap!)

going to make a mold out of this. a little bit concerned, as this is a plat based silicone, and prone to issues when with sulfur or contaminants.
the clay is sulfur free, but my hands aren’t that clean on the clay, so we’ll see…

Progress2

well wish me luck. 3 days wait time on Artresin. expecting bubbles. there’s a lot I bet. had extra to test with.

kirby v0.1: kill me edition

oh fuck me, clay modelling a miniature is hell on earth. I should’ve just bought a 3d printer or something and call it a day. like shit dude, I was googling how to make a clay ball! seriously, how do you do that? my balls look like the fourth ed in ed edd and eddy ;)

but hey, its a ‘true artisian’ i guess… I used small splinters of wood to attach the legs and arms, and with a few brief tutorials on clay modelling (like *really *brief), got the basics down of making the ‘general’ parts, and detailing it down in 3 stages. since I’d like to use acrylic paint (vallejo & warhammer/citadel), the details should probably be just done by paint… maybe… hmm, maybe ill try detailing in clay later…

here’s a comparison with clock Artisan keycap I bought from Etzy from Ehaizo(i.e. not by me, but defintely inspired me!). as you can see, I don’t have much room to work with. I wanted to add some fake grass and to really sell the piece! (not actually sell, daddy sakurai stop, im not selling shesh):

good news though, I finished the mold! (kind of). okay not really.
based in L2K, they made their sprews (the holes where excess resin is pushed out, and can push out air as well) post mold, and used giant-ass needles to make them holes. well who the fuck has giant ass needles?! i mean like the ones you would use sleep a elephant! no worries, with the power of google and prime one day shipping, I ordered 6G piercing needles. (https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08421VC8J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) these are used for piercings like ears, or mouth. but this is the largest ones I could find, any larger is not a damn needle anymore.
here are my attempts of piercing with an air pump needle:

as you can see (or maybe not see) the holes are too small. putting slightly larger diameter rod just stretches it, does not tear or extend like i want it to ;).

so even though I was technically delayed a day, made some progress scultping the kirbs tommorow will pierce and start the week 3 goal: alcohol Keycap!

slight warning, this resin (artResin) has a long cure time (and is not a casting resin in the first place), so i’m going to give it a day and a half to two days once we start.

I’m expecting hardship and issues…

Materials Used if anyone is interested in my research, and to remind myself why I bought these:

note that I’m experimenting with a few different resins and silicones, and am based in Canada, so shipping for some things (like most aluminite, or cheap resins available in 'merica) is usually not a lucrative solution if considering shipping). also considering the politics with USPS too, it might be a nightmare.

Silicone Molds:

Mold star 30 plat silicone - 2lb: https://www.smooth-on.com/products/mold-star-30/ reasoning: one of the most recommended platnimum based silcones I researched. there’s a vendor for smooth-on based products near kipling station! GLORIOUS! It doesnt require degassing (using a vacuum) but heard it helps. plat siliones tend to catch more detail, but a super reactive to sulfur. got some non-sulfur clay, so were fine in that. fantastic tear strength, especially compared to oomoo 30

Alumilite High Strength 3 tin-based silicone - despite alumilite brand being difficult to find in Canada, this one is easily available in amazon.ca, but its one of their cheaper lines. if these end up good, ill use it more often! known for its nice stretchyness, good for undercut molds, and high complexit so something im considering with molding the ‘kirby’ part. we’ll see. worried about the shrinkage, and the 6 month shelf life (not even being used). do not need to degass, but recommended.

Resins/Epoxies:

ArtResin (clear)- the cheapass clear resin easily available and made in Canada. now I heard of mixed reviews, since this isn’t a ‘casting’ resin, more of a put-on-top-of-your-painting-and-make-it-look-shiney resin. I may need to fill the resin bit by bit, but will try putting it all in baby! secondly this will take 1-2 days to completely cure! ooof! the great part is it’s second best clear resin based on research (second to crystal clear 200 smooth-on series) and very non-toxic. I may be able to also ‘torch’ the bubbles out, which is a big plus!

Smooth Cast 305 white Resin (300 series, 7 min pot life) - everyone keeps recommending smooth cast 300, but thats only a 3 min pot life! dude! I need some time to relax and don’t want to rush putting the resin in, which can cause mistakes!
just a white resin, thinking of using this as a base, where kirby, or the bottom of the keycap will lie. very commonly used in artisan keycaps that do not have clear resin (the 300 series).

Smooth Cast 326 clear amber resin (325 series, 60 min cure time) - considering this for drip resin, or coloring my base. works well with colors. using a cheap one though.

Clay: Chavant NSP Hard. - no sulfur, recommend by ZappyCappy’s guide for modelling caps.

Other non-picked , but great suggestions:

oomoo 30 - easy to use, no degassing required, and can capture detail relatively nicely. cons is that it has bad tear stregnth (they do note that in the product page, and is recommended for simple designs for beginners), but the major issue I have is its bad for multiple casts based on multiple people’s suggestions. so this will not be a good long term solution

Diamond Clarity Resin - asked someone on reddit what resin he used for his drip style effect cap, and this one is it. its a casting resin, and its clear, what’s not to like? it’s mostly available in merica, and shipping is ass to Canada. :(.

Crystal Clear 200 (smooth on) - the best clear resin based on multiple forum boards and reddit updoots, very resistant to UV light, and have a smooth on supplier close to my quarters. cons? is hella poinsonous! can cause long-term lung damage if exposed multiple times, recommended for factory use only, (but hey tons of people still use it anyways). before even considering this, I want to first get a couple keycaps going, and should own a pressure pot first before approaching this idea! I have the PPE, but ventilation is key. basically it floats easily and having plastic cure in your lungs is a side-effect.
yeah, fuck that dude.

smooth on epoxycast 690 clear resin - easily available in Canada with supplier near by, fantastic clear resin, decently workable without a pressure pot, and used by multiple resin artists (even Zappy Cappys!) cons? prone to yellowing and UV and can amber up in large areas of use. will experiment with ArtResin first, even if the cure time is so fucking long.

alumilite clear/ water clear/ amazing clear cast - alumilite, please retail in Ontario ok? Great clear resin, used by many artisans, but shipping to Canada and price really kills it for me. also requires a pressure pot for sure.

pressure pot - removes bubbles. cons? about 300 dollars, and need to do some manual retrofit. I’ll consider pulling the trigger once I get a few caps going. you really cant continue this hobby without one really. I asked primeCaps (one of the famous-side of keycap artisans imo) that she(he?) uses something similar to this pressure pot that’s available in Canada, but will still need to retrofit it: https://www.amazon.ca/VEVOR-Pressure-Gallon-liters-Agitator/dp/B07F5TD26R/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=TCP+Global+Commercial+2.5&qid=1598070283&sr=8-4

Vacuum - although recommended, many artisans note they can survive without one through a couple of tricks like:

1. painting your keycap with the silicone before pouring to avoid bubbles attaching to the cap.
2. use a slow curing resins to get the bubbles up
3. use a torch to pop the bubbles.
4. pop the bubbles.
5. get a silicone that doesnt require degassing (which is why i’m liking the mold star 30).

but using one definitely will improve results, and open more resins/silicones to use.

L2ks arrived yesterday, can FINALLY start molding:

not as toxic as the crystal clear 200 ( that im not using anyways) or the other resins, but safety first!

first part of my mold, 45 min working time, and 6 hour cure time, so I got time. waking tommorow morning to finish this up with the second cast of the two part mold:

Man I haven’t been posting any updates. but do not fret, progress has been made! L2K’s have arrived!
In summary: Week 1 goals are pretty close to done. done enough. 1 more warhammer to complete. Week 2 goals: I really havent dont much in clay modelling practice. however I mostly researched further into keycaps, and the materials to partake. loots of research and discussions within discords. I have to thank primecaps discord and /r/mechanicalKeyboards for their suggestions artisians pinging me the exact materials they use!

Week 3 Goals: have begun. started to do the L2K casting, now the adapter has arrived. I’m really considering a pressure pot. I will attempt to make the two part mold of an SA row 5 keycap, and use ArtResin + alcohol inks to get a sick effect.
I’ll add more details and pictures in my next update (even if no one reads!).

L2K adapter Estimated ship date: Aug 21st.
welp.

I need the adapter to really start making keycaps. however I can practice modeling and painting. So I’ll keep tabs on that while I wait.

paint retardant.

holy hell. trying to do this thing called ‘edge highlighting’, but b/c of this dry climate in the ol’ Canada this paint dries REAL quick when using small amounts! i do correct brush stroke, but no paint is applied, if i apply just a little much pressure, SPLOSH, BLOBS ON YOUR MODEL. super messy work.

ordering some drying retardant to delay the paints and giving me some more work time. should also help in the kirby keycap if it gets to that. but honestly, pretty proud of my first ‘edge highlighting’. its like 50/50 good/bad. have no idea how warhammer 40k’ers finish a whole army of these. these take me hours each

shipping delays!
waiting on some supplies for painting, may need to extend some time for sure!

week 1: start a few days ago, bought, primed minatures, applying ‘zenithal’ priming technique. attempted clay. no tutorials yet. will attempt paint first few coats.