I was tempted by this a while back for the key remapping but they can’t remap the existing Fn button so it essentially becomes a dead key. Translating the zfrontier page to English explains it better.
zFrontier 装备前线
I have a hasu installed on mine: it is the exact same footprint as the stock controller.
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Epbt 9009, Invyr housings with T1 stems, mkultra foam, and i even epoxied the already fabulous leopold stabs to the plate for that extra refined feel on the stabilized keys. She is ready for her Heavy-9 case!
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did you solder on those green leds?
Yes I did. The FC980M PCB (without any alterations) accepts in-switch LEDs for lock keys. I simply desolder the status bar LEDs and solder in in-switch LEDs.
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Received my FC980M today. Have to say this is easily the nicest stock keyboard I’ve ever used. Loving the no-branding look and the keycaps are a dream to type on. Also pleasantly surprised that the board has a bit of heft to it. Now the wait for my Heavy-9 seems eons longer.
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I am so kicking myself I couldn’t get in on a custom color when these ran - now I need to decide between the two stock colors…
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Ahem…two stock colors? No shiny door #3 under consideration? 
In all seriousness - out of interest, what finishes would you have considered going with? I believe either of the two powder coated finishes could be somewhat trivially stripped off, and then a custom powder coat could then be applied. Cost-wise this might be very similar to what a bespoke powder finish would have cost.
Ryan has mentioned a few times that there is minimal/no markup on the bespoke powder coating service, and I don’t believe that stripping a prior finish would add much to the cost). Definitely more legwork on your part to iron out the details though, but perhaps makes the resulting case all the more meaningful.
If anyone has done this (e.g. got a custom powder coat applied to either a Norbauer case, or something else entirely) feel free to add any comments about the experience.
Just some food for thought! 
I have a Norbauer board that I had refinished. The stripping process changes some of the dimensions very slightly and for the cost it’s worth seeing if it can done properly the first time.
Not considering the steel due to the cost.
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What stripping process did they use? I typically try to lean towards vendors who do the stripping chemically, since that doesn’t change the dimensions at all. The housings usually just gets a light bead blast for adhesion right before coating, which shouldn’t significantly throw off tolerances.
A lot of shops (understandably) prefer to do stripping either by do a rough bead blast to remove the existing powder and/or use a burnoff oven. Those two processes are more likely to affect dimensions.
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They bead blasted and then were a bit too heavy handed in the application of a two step coating. Board still works, just needs to be super careful about aligning the Novatouch Plate assembly so it doesn’t bind in the corners.
Excuse to post this again! https://imgur.com/a/GtIo4E5
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Ooh that nice
Wow, gorgeous
I’m interested in more info bc I will eventually need my Retro Heavy-6 refinished. I bought it with existing wear.
What do you mean the dimensions are affected by the removal process?
Aww man, looks like all units are sold out now. I kept going back and forth between K2 and Royal WInkle for too long 
I had to switch the Black Wrinkle finishes to Enigma Black at the last minute to get best finish uniformity, and we’re getting all GB units ready to ship, so I’ve yanked all inventory for now. I may have a few spares after everything has shipped. If so, I’ll put them back into inventory; they would be Enigma Black. But I’ll need to shoot new photos to more accurately represent the finish. FWIW, Enigma Black and Royal Wrinkle look identical from a few feet away. They’re the same level of gloss (i.e., very matte) and color. The patterning of the texture is just slightly different on close inspection.
Backstory: though the sample appeared fine with Royal Wrinkle, the factory was having trouble getting fully uniform patterning of the wrinkle across the parts. The last time I had an issue like this with this shop, getting the parts stripped and refinished added like eight months to the production time (admittedly, some of that COVID-related delays), so I decided better to switch to a more proven/reliable texture like Enigma that would be done in one day rather than to make people wait an indeterminate additional multi-month amount of time while the factory experiments and debugs the issue. If you were affected by texture change, you would have gotten an email from me asking how you’d like to proceed, and (of course) being given the option to choose a refund instead. Most people have replied now and said that they’re cool with the change.
In short, though @arcticarc, I should have a black one available for you if you’re OK with the Enigma finish. (You can just email me.) It looks like the below—basically just a black version of K2.
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Thanks so much for the info relay there. I’d LOVE to take you up on Enigma black, I’ll shoot you off an email now
Oh, right. I forgot that this was that awesome board with the two-stage finish. That heavy two-coat application is very likely the culprit here rather than the fact that it was stripped, since the phenomenon you’re observing is binding between two interior mating surfaces rather than an excessively loose fit (which is what we would expect from excessive material removal due to blasting).
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Oh wow, I’m a huge fan of the Enigma Black. @norbauer I purchased the K2 because I wasn’t a huge fan of the royal wrinkle texture but is there an option to change my order to the EB?
@macclack Absolutely. We’re actually a little short on the K2 finish, so that would be enormous help. 
Please shoot me an email (shop@norbauer.com) and I’ll take care of it.