Thanks guys! Looks we should be good to go with the group buy hitting around the MOQ, and gray will be no problem. What do you guys think of this color?
Tritan Grey
My only slight concern about dark gray is that dark colors tend more to show the slightly wavy texture that is inherent to all powder coating, and given that people are used to anodized finishes on keyboards I'm hesitant about people feeling like they somehow got an aberrant board when it shows up with a slight visible texture. Just like with automotive show finishes, dark colors tend to show surface texture more than light colors.
Here is a photo of the keyboard with plain (non-wrinkle) black powder coating on it.
You can see the slightly stone-like texture under light at some angles. This is more visible with glossier finishes. So far as I know, it's present on all kinds of powder coating and isn't a sign of any lack of skill on the part of the powder coater. In fact, I'm working with a pretty high-end outfit that primarily does fancy architectural finishes. It's just the nature of how powder coat works: they spray on a charged layer of pigment particles and bake it, causing the powder to melt and flow out, forming a hard shell around the metal part. The advantage is you end up with a thick protective overlayer (relative to anodizing anyway) but it does mean that it's a more irregular layer sitting on top of the metal (more like a really hard spray paint) rather than a dead flat layer like you get with ano. Another thing distinguishing powder is that it allows for a truly opaque coating layer with strong pigmentation. With ano, the metal underneath always colors the dye layer a bit such that everything looks sort of metallic.
norbauer: can you please post some pictures of the Black Enigma with other keycaps?
Poll