Need to make a replacement CDTV keycap?

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Cozzer79

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Hi all,

Due to a courier managing to poke a hole in a parcel containing a complete set of CDTV keycaps, I was left missing two:

MLjxQg.jpg


After a little research, I discovered a product called Rit Dye, which can change the colour of most plastics, so I was thinking to dye some of the original key caps and then applying a decal to correct the top. Amiga key caps are made of ABS, so I had to add some acetone to the mixture to make the colour take at all, but the results were a little lacklustre:

W4cbMF.jpg


So I then decided to paint them instead; turns out that if you thoroughly wash and then dry the keys, and then paint them with Humbrol Acrylic 85 Satin Black, it dries with an almost indiscernible finish:

1o2d2z.jpg


Then I made some decals using white laser decal paper, printing a black background onto the paper to provide white lettering; which I did several test goes with until I managed a good pair of replacements; The font is Helvetica, point size 18 - on a PC there's a free font called Swansea which has the same upper case characters as proper Helvetica:

8utBR9.jpg


I then decided to paint the edges of the decal to tidy up the appearance (more Humbrol 85):

Jz0Okc.jpg


And then finally, I had a complete black keyboard:

gvUYJj.jpg


Hope this might help someone else out :)

Colin
 
Fantastic work there buddy, you should do some keyboard printout`s of the key character`s . I am sure peeps will them ,I would :)
 
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Very nice result. For the decals you can buy a Dymo printer for relatively cheap. These can print white on transparent text.

Bryce.
 
Bryce said:
Very nice result. For the decals you can buy a Dymo printer for relatively cheap. These can print white on transparent text.
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I have one of those which can be hooked up to the PC to print and they are nice to have, but the resolution is horribly low though so it won't look good for that purpose. Also, Dymo labels are probably not thin enough to be used as decals. The text will probably also wear off quickly unless covered with something, making it even thicker.

I do like the finished decals though that #3 is linking to and could probably look good after painting the keys black like the OP.
 
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Yes, they are quite thick, but I never noticed resolution problems, will have to check again. I also have the USB version. Another dis-advantage of owning one of these is that the wife will use up the first 10 cartridges printing labels for things around the house (that don't need labels)!

Bryce.
 
Bryce said:
Another dis-advantage of owning one of these is that the wife will use up the first 10 cartridges printing labels for things around the house (that don't need labels)!
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Like a label on the label maker that says 'Label maker'? :)
 
I did miss out that I did a satin varnish over the lot to seal it... Wasn't sure how close a match the sticker sets were, but Dymo labels wouldn't look right unless you redo all of them, surely the font wouldn't match!
 
limboy777 said:
Looks good. I would buy replacement keys!
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Easier said than done! Very few peeps have CDTV keycaps to trade, and when they do they're generally complete sets and/or very expensive. There's an upcoming Kickstarter which might change that with any luck though. Through a connected project, I should have an all-Black case in the next couple of months :)
 
Hi cozzer . I meant i would buy replacement key off you but i can see how craply worded my initial post was!


Cozzer79 said:
limboy777 said:
Looks good. I would buy replacement keys!
Click to expand...

Easier said than done! Very few peeps have CDTV keycaps to trade, and when they do they're generally complete sets and/or very expensive. There's an upcoming Kickstarter which might change that with any luck though. Through a connected project, I should have an all-Black case in the next couple of months :)
Click to expand...
 
limboy777 said:
Hi cozzer . I meant i would buy replacement key off you but i can see how craply worded my initial post was!
Click to expand...

lol! I think my wife would have something to say if it became a regular thing, but thanks for the complement :) it's not difficult, just time consuming!
 
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