Currently my acrylic gothic 70 is barely functional and in a drawer due to a bridge I haven’t been able to locate. The most beautiful PCB is also very frustrating.
Built the YMDK Wings using Boba switches last night (and a few random sky silents because this thing got here so fast I was unprepared) and it was an easy build. One thing to note is that the acrylic midlayer for underglow is extremely thin, like thinner than most pasta. One or two switches were also tough to place in the superplate. But overall I had an easy time putting this together. The PCB also supports a typical 2U backspace with stabilizer cutout, but for some reason the designers chose to only allow for a split backspace layout on the plate.
There are also spots for standard 2U in-switch LEDs to be soldered in, but the cathode leg is marked instead of the anode so take note if you’re looking to build one of these. The printing isn’t clear and many of the -'s look a little bit like half of a +
I have a bunch of square white LEDs I might install but they won’t do much anyway because I’m using opaque Boba switches.
As noted by YMDK, sadly the PCB doesn’t support USB C to USB C connections at all.
The included cone feet unfortunately had the wrong size of screw, but I had another pair I could use. The bottom of the board also has very clean countersinking for the feet screws.
just look at that bottom row, and the top-right modifier area where one key is another space key. The good news here is that unlike many Arisu and Alice layout boards, you won’t need a second B key.
I remapped m0 to be on capslock using the YMDK configurator site that just compiles their fork of QMK for you. but that is a constant reminder that this board isn’t in stock QMK.
When I first built the Wings, it didn’t sound great, but once I got my caps on and used it a little bit more I’ve really come to enjoy the YMDK Wings. The front is pretty tall, and with the uniform SA row caps I’m using it only got taller, but I enjoy typing in the more ergonomic layout.
For $135 + shipping this board is an absolute steal for anyone who wants to try out the Arisu layout as long as you don’t want to hook it up to an iPad or another USB-C only device.
The AV3 ASH is another upcoming Arisu layout board, stacked clear acrylic makes it only $175 but I’m not a fan of stacked boards anymore and clear shows keyboard debris so easily https://iv-works.com/product/av3-ash/
Not sure I am interested either, but it does have some innovation. I like that it offers “plates” in different materials, and the stacked steel layers on the bottom to provide weight and angle are cool.
I miss the extra B key in the Arisu layout. Plus I think I have come to terms with the fact that I only need one Alice board. It is cool layout, but the hype has died off for me.