542 days later from the topic being created, and 293 since the last post... I'll try and sum up what happened since the last post.
For a brief overview, please see the OP. It's fully accurate, and I expect nothing to change between now and when the GB runs (apart from maybe adding a winkey top piece).
Wall of detail about the past:
The main thing holding this back was factory quality. Previous places I've used just weren't up to the high standard we all expect, so I've been working on 1) finding a very high quality manufacturer, 2) delivering previous buys, and 3) having a solid supply chain. Step 1 is done. Step 2 is in progress (X60 Rs were delivered a few months back, some batches in between, and now some 280s are being delivered shortly), and Step 3 is the important one. I'm finally happy with every step of the way, from placing the order to shipping out boards, which means that I don't feel too bad giving some hope to the project.
The manufacturer only wants 3 colors + silver per batch to maintain a high quality of anodizing. I'll be producing boards with the colors for this anyway, so it makes sense to "tag along" with them. I could do it sooner, but I'm not confident as a whole that I want to take on more right now. This is really
"here's what I'm thinking, take it with a grain of salt".
More relevant information with the present:
Design has been completely overhauled. It's now "seamless" (seam on bottom vs the side) which is better for overall aesthetic. All tolerances and measurements were done again - I have a better understand of Topre as a whole. Daughterboard was redeveloped. Lots of smaller other things.
My hopes are to do a smaller round 1 for now, then run a larger round 2 of the back of that. I don't want to take on another massive project right now, but sub 50 units is easy to handle with the good supply chain that's set up. Winkeyless only for now (based on what I've polled on my Discord), since winkey will raise the price, but will think about it if I do something closer to 50 and not 20 units.
And here's the update I posted in my Discord server earlier.
Wanted to post a quick update - will be ordering the daughterboard prototype in a couple weeks. Getting a working daughterboard is the last step before starting the group buy. Probably will have it working in a 5-6 weeks. Then I'll be happy to start a group buy for it.
As I have it scheduled now, it'd be these three colors: Lightning Silver; Hyper Red; and Meteorite Gray. I'd still like to do a smaller GB, maybe 20-40 units. Approx timeline would be start late July/early August, delivered in late October. Unsure about price, I need to decide unit count (40 is easy due to the supply chain that's currently set up [more units, cheaper GB price]).
This is still in IC, and until it's a GB, I can't really promise anything. Nothing is final timeline wise, but all the information should help to catch up.