Has anyone made a half-decent Tux keycap to replace the ubiquitous Windows key with? I found this 3d-printable one but I can’t say I’m crazy about its looks… I mean, look at this:

A Tux keycap that looks like a time-weathered relief

(To be clear, this is not my keyboard.)

Maybe the way to go is a generic penguin-themed keycap?

  • IndigoGolem@lemmy.world
    3·
    23 hours ago

    It looks out of place as a sculpted key next to keys with printed legends. I think what would be better is a slightly simpler picture of Tux with thicker lines that can be filled in like a normal key legend. Or the lines could be filled in with a different color on the printer, for printers that support that.

    But no, i haven’t seen any better Tux caps. I also haven’t looked, so for all i know they’re out there. I could probably throw something together in Blender if people really want this.

    • IndigoGolem@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      20 hours ago

      I forgot how frustrating Blender’s boolean modifiers can be sometimes. I did try but Blender crashed my computer.

      I’m about ready to give up on solving this problem that i have no personal stake in, but here’s what i was planning to do.

      1. Open a blank keycap model in Blender and import that SVG.
      2. Convert all the line segments to meshes and join them into a single object.
      3. In edit mode, extrude Tux to make him 3D.
      4. In object mode, line him up with the top (or front, i guess) of a key and shrink and rotate him so he sticks into the cap.
      5. Select the key and make a boolean difference modifier on it with Tux. This should cut a Tux-shaped hole into the cap.
      6. Export as STL and import into a slicer program for 3D printing.

      I found suitable caps for MX and Choc V1, though i didn’t get around to trying the Choc files.

      The SVG i used is based on the flat one here, and my monochome single-object version is here, since i can’t upload an SVG in a comment here. It’s text but you can copy that into a plain text editor (xed, Notepad, etc.) and save it as an SVG file.

      On the custom keyboard i’m designing, my plan is actually to use U+2756 ❖ as the legend for my super key if i ever put legends on the keys. That key doesn’t have a standard symbol but this one works well enough.

      • Obi@sopuli.xyz
        3·
        19 hours ago

        Yeah this kind of task is better suited to a CAD program than blender.

    • toothpaste_sandwich@thebrainbin.orgOP
      1·
      23 hours ago

      I have no Blender skills whatsoever, so if you want to give it a go that’d be grand, of course!

      I have looked for other Tux caps, but this was the best one I found.