Tina-A "Nemo" w/GMK Nautulis (2017)

Tina-A (Ture HHKB) Case from KBDFans

DZ60 PCB from KBDFans

Cherry Clip-in Stabilsers (Lubed and Clipped)

Brass Plate from Mekanisk

BOX Navys (Stock) from NovelKeys

 

GMK Nautulis by Zambumon from Massdrop

Thabertooth - Nemo by B'Gnu-Thun

Raven - Dark Navy by Hot Keys Project

Trooper - Dark Navy by Hot Keys Project

Two Tone Resin HHKB Nav Cluster by Hidden Lab

 

Coiled Detachable USB-Mini cable Midnight Blue paracord with Blue Techflex and yellow heatshrink from Zap Cables

 

Custom Blue/Yellow Sleeve with Light Blue Fleece Lining from MechFashion

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After having used a number of stock and sandwhich style boards, I decided to pull the pin on a CNC'd aluminium board.

 

When the Tina was in Group Buy, there was a lot of hype around a cheap-ish case like this. Avaialable in three flavours (True HHKB, MX HHKB, and Standard 60%,), I went for the True HHKB laybout to see what the fuss was over (the layout that was popularised by the Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro 2), and needless to say, I love it. The split backspace and left shift, the blockers on the bottom row alongside the 6u spacebar, all atribute themeselves to a really useful layout, arrow keys via the nav cluster on the left, and even dropping the Caps Lock for a more useful Control, with everything else you need at your fingertips.

 

The BOX Navy's quickly became my favourite clicky switch; the "thicc clicc" bar is to die for. Most normal clicky swtiches operate with a plastic "click jacket" the creates the sound of the click, but with these, they have a thick metal bar that snaps backwards and forwards leading to a very nice (and heavy) "CLICK" as the switch is actuated. As far as tactility is concerned, these are heavy, and super snappy, the closest I can liken them to is a lightswitch.

 

I really wanted to hit home the "20,000 Leagues" vibe, so wtih the brass plate and industrial dark grey anodisation on the case, it felt like a no brainer. All in all, this board has a lot of heft, and if one was so inclinded could cause some serious long and/or short term damage.

 

The keyset was another that I fell in love with (I'm starting to feel that I have poor impulse control at this point). The goregous 2 two-tone blue, with yellow and blue legends, and the red highlight on the Enter, all compliment themselves really well. Through in some yellow underglow and a sweet difuse layer under the PCB, and everything is balanced just right.

 

The artisans were a bit of a different story. I already had a handful of B'Gnu-Thun's sculpts, and the colour match with the Thabertooth were too good. The Hot Key Project ones aren't quite the right colour, but work well enough. To round things out, the nav cluster from Hidden Lab was a nice touch, and helped to define the HHKB arrow layout.

 

The cable was a real pain, as shortly after I had the whole board finshed up, I migrated to using a detachabele "aviator" style cable that allows for quick and painless swapping in the middle of the cable, as opposed to the USB port. So naturally I had to get detachable extenstion to add to the board, and I don't think the colours could have come out any better.

 

The sleeve was also made specifically with Nautulis in mind, and is a really snug fit with the Tina. The quality on it is second to none though; durable waterproof outer, with a premium fleece inner.

 

This guy (or girl) stayed as my daily driver for a good while, and I feel for anyone that had to deal with me clicking away in the wee hours on the BOX Navy's.

 

Done