dsv101 wrote:I may try anyway, also because of that fact, If I design a custom mold that is less intricate and add a a few cool things to it, would that be more practical than replicas?
(i'm doing this very thing atm, so i'll just throw out some tips about it)...
if you are wanting to handcast these in your own molds at your house, goooooood luck. you'll find the shape and the design not suitable for this. and it wont work unless you are some sort of casting prodigy... buttons are hard enough, but you'd be doing something that's three pieces, and if they are off by any amount (very easy to do in silicon molds) they won't fit... if you can do this you've got my admiration!
which means you'd need to approach this from the 'professional' direction and have them injection-molded and a proper CAD file and all that jazz. if you don't do CAD yourself and need a designer, expect them to request 50-125 per hour... (you get what you pay for too, btw, just be warned... in other words, avoid cheap chinese designers on this one). if its at all possible, its better to do EVERYTHING in the design yourself until you hit that impasse, and only then seek out some help.
the cost of the mold alone is enough of a project killer for most, its probably a bit more than you may be expecting. i've done a fair bit of plastics work, and i was surprised myself. for a project like this, there is so much to take care of the mold can get pretty overwhelming. the DMG case we're doing, three different companies have done various things to our mold based on their specialty (supposedly ours is in the final pass of the surface treatment! OMG!!!).
basically, be very aware that a project like this, even though its not that big and seems rather straightforward (i mean, its only three pieces right!), is going to stretch you out on funding something insane...
this is the one we're doing atm: http://store.kitsch-bent.com/product/custom-dmg-shell
hope that helps! i'm not trying to discourage you, only tone own your exuberance a little and warn you of the bill at the end of this happy trail its frightening.
of course, if you've sent off for quotes on stuff like this before (just the manufacturing) you already know this.
and, IF you can do this via handcasting, i'd LOVE to see pics of your process and how you manage it all.