852 TKL - A Hong Kong themed TKL

Hi everyone, dr0pbear here with a new project.
Following the successful GB and fulfillment of the Dropbear60, I'm excited to introduce the 852 TKL, an F12 TKL inspired by the city of Hong Kong, and featuring a triple-mount system.

IC FORM
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About
This board was inspired by Hong Kong, one of the world's great cities. The iconic bauhinia flower is engraved above the arrow cluster, and the internal brass weight features the silhouette of the famous Victoria Harbour. The bottom stainless steel weight is laser engraved with a street map view of the Kowloon area.



Specifications


Form Factor: 87 Key (F12) TKL. WKL/WK Top case.
Angle: 7 degrees, EKH 21.5mm
Materials: Anodised Aluminium 6063 Top and Bottom Case, Sandblasted Brass Internal Weight + Sandblasted Stainless Steel External Weight
Mounting: Choice of Top Mount, Gummy O-Ring Mount or Viton O-Ring Gasket
PCB: PCB designed by zykrah with universal C3 daughterboard (same footprint as h87c).
Plates: Full, Half or "Hybrid" Plate- Half plate with one material and a mini alpha plate with another material
Weight and dimensions: ~2.3kg built, 358 x 140.5 x 33 mm (LxWxH)


Features
"Hybrid" Plate Option: While regular full and half plates will be available, hybrid plates are a way to further customise the sound and feel of the board. Basically, you get a regular half plate in one material (say, aluminium) and a "miniplate" for the alphas cutout in another material (e.g. Polypropylene). The files will be available after fulfillment so you can make your own combinations.

Triple Mounting System: I've also designed this board to be compatible with three different mounting systems. There is a Jane-style top mount and gummy o-ring mount, but also an o-ring gasket option, similar to the Geonworks F1 or Papilio where an o-ring strip is fitted into the top and bottom of the case to provide isolation. The required hardware for all three mounting styles will be provided in the base kit.


Colours

All case bottoms will be anodised silver. For the top case colours, I've prototyped Burgundy, Silver, Lilac, Tiffany and Grey. I will be going ahead with Burgundy, Lilac, Tiffany and either silver or grey, TBA.



Pricing and GB Info

Aiming for a price of ~$450 USD. This is a mid-high end board but I'm aiming to keep prices as low as possible, considering the amount of material and machining time required.
Vendors: Allcaps (OCE), Kibou (HK/CN), k.techs (SG/SEA), other regions TBC.

Kit includes: Case, Plate (material tbd), Solder PCB, Daughterboard, Carry Case, Top mount screws, Viton O-ring gasket strip, 50A Gummy O-Ring.

Media
An example of the hybrid plate and viton o ring mount.
More Photos
https://imgur.com/a/WegH1eD




Updates
October 2023
I have now received the 2nd round of case prototypes with the following changes:
-Enlarged internal weight and hidden JST cable channel under the internal weight
-added split spacebar support to plate
-made bauhinia engraving slightly larger and deeper so as to be more visible
-slight adjustment to gasket mount cutouts
-slight adjustments to corner radius and chamfers

Also received prototypes of custom PCBs designed by zykrah in both hotswap and solder- same footprint as a H87/88c, solder will support F13 but hotswap will only have F12 support. They will come without a USB C port soldered on but you can choose to add one at a later point to use in another board (e.g. Geon F1 series)

To Do
- Confirm final GB colours
- Confirm GB vendors, pricing etc.