Screw the Moogle Kit. Here is my DIY White/Beige Cherry Corp DS Patcher Kit

[pitashen]

1. Intro
So why the heck it is called the moogle kit anyway? I know what moogles are and I've played enough Final Fantasy games to be familiar with them, but making them to have anything to do with the keyboard world bugs me. Anyway, that is beside the point. Not being able to find someone who would be willing to let go their "moogle" kit and knowing the current price point of "moogle" kit in R4 group buy, I decided to take the matter into my own hands. [/B]

*Note that if you are one of those who are trying to recreate the cherry corp DS keys in the closest possible fashion, this may not be for you. My plan was to add a couple of colors of my own liking even if I was gonna get the "moogle" kit. The additional color I had in mind were the blue and red modifiers I own from the RGB kit as well as the poker modifiers.

2. What I did
The first thing I did was heading over to the WASD Keyboard website to see if I can get anything applicable from them. Not sure what's worth getting, I was sure that this is the only place where I will get the spacebar from.From WASD I ordered these:

- 2 space bars, one pure white and one light grey.
- A few modifier keys in both light grey and white. <- for curiosity, did not end up using.

I knew the light grey will probably fit better, but I ordered one white just to see how it will be like.

The second thing I did was heading over to Signature Plastic website to see what they got in their inventory. Luckily they did have some potential candidates in their PBT caps section. They have both row3 1.75 (caps lock) and row4 1.25 (ctrl alt etc) keys available. The color available for the modifiers is grey (GDL). I check the color sample and it appeared to be quite close to the beige used in Cherry DS. Caps Lock key on the other hand only had white (WAS). Despite not having GDL for Caps Lock, I figured the end result wouldn't look that bad if the WAS is close enough to the creamy white in Cherry DS (had my finger crossed). From Signature Plastic, I ordered these:

- 301988 DCS 1.25X ROW4 GREY (GDL) <- Modifiers
- 210923 DCS 1.75X ROW3 WHITE (WAS) <- Caps Lock. No GDL available



3. Pictures and Results
- The light grey from WASD isn't too too bad and it fits much better than pure white. I can live with this.
- The WAS color turn out to be still whiter than the Cherry DS (somewhat expected), but again fits much better than pure white. I can live with this for now.
- The modifiers in GDL are quite a decent match IMO. I can def. live with this!


The modifier's GDL grey from SP works pretty good IMO and doesn't look too out of place. The Caps Lock sure would be nicer if it matches closer to the creamier white or to the beige like the other modifiers.





A closer look at the different shades of white. 5 key from Cherry DS, 1.75 ROW3 in white (WAS) from SP, and lastly white modifier from WASD.


My intended color matching





4. Conclusion
Am I happy with the end results? Not too bad! But I am going to keep an eye on SP's inventory for a better colored Caps Lock key when possible. I will be getting RETRO space bar from R4 and see how it will look.

UPDATE:
Ordered some more caps from SP and played around a bit.
Might be considering Rit-dye up the caps locks key to some cool color.


UPDATE 2
Added Desko green PBT dyesub keys and shifted around my collection of caps.

[hazeluff]

Im not quite sure if you explained what you were doing...and I Read the whole thing

[lootbag]

I am pretty sure pitashen meant to say that he ordered the WASD modifier keycaps in light grey instead of using the Moogle kit.
Was planning to do the same... but was not sure how off the colours would be.
This thread needs photos!

[pitashen]

Right, I ordered keys from both WASD and SP. I also ended up using other keys SP GB kits such as the RGB kit and the Poker modifier Kit

[pitashen]

Im not quite sure if you explained what you were doing...and I Read the whole thing

Sorry that you had to go through that whole text. I would personally never read text of this long on a forum myself lol.

[Atenacius]

Well, you could've always done that. The only thing that really sets the moogle kit (the 2nd version) apart is the font, thus 'completing' the Cherry Corp doubleshots.

I don't know the exact details of the first moogle kit compared to what you're doing but it sounds like the same thing

[alaricljs]

Just so's you know...   the moogle kit is named after moogle stiltskin who is apparently the first one to have run a GB (or suggested it and made someone else run) for the 'missing' Cherry DS keys to use old Cherry DS's on a modern KB.

[pitashen]

I don't know the exact details of the first moogle kit compared to what you're doing but it sounds like the same thing

The goal is to patch up the incompatible keys to the white/beige Cherry DS would look good. So yes, I am trying to achieve a very similar goal as moogle kit except moogle kit intends to recreate the "exact" look of the cherry style in profile, colors and fonts like you stated. My main concerns are the profile and color.

The fact that I was able to harvest 1.25x modifier keys in GDL color from SP's inventory to fill up the blanks is a blessing. SP has DCS profile that is much closer to cherry corp than other sources available to me (or us). Getting caps in very specific row/size and colors is a great hit and miss from SP's inventory.

[limmy]

I was looking to get exactly the same thing this morning plus more. The pricing is not bad, $1 per cap, and it is PBT(my favorite). My plan was to build blank set for my Poker, but as you stated in your post I wasn't able to get the capslock part. Other grey keys are available in GDL color, though. (backspace, enter, L/R shift, and tab.) However, the price gets pretty high if you want to build full 61keys, so I think I will purchase only part of the keys for now.

I wondered how GDL keys looked like on a board, and after looking at your photos I think I will order a set of following GDL keys.

301988 DCS - 1.25X ROW 4 - GREY (GDL) -- (bottom modifiers) x7
212366 DCS - 1.5X ROW 2 - GREY (GDL) -- (tab, backslash) x2
211305 DCS - 2X ROW 1 - GRAY (GDL) -- (backspace) x1
212590 DCS - 2.25X ROW 3 - GRAY (GDL) -- (enter) x1
212370 DCS - 2.25X ROW 4 - GRAY (GDL) -- (left shift) x1
301993 DCS - 2.75X ROW 4 - GRAY (GDL) -- (right shift) x1
210923 DCS - 1.75X ROW 3 - WHITE (WAS) -- (caps lock) x1

Plus some CREAM 1x1 keys.

212013 DCS - 1X ROW 1 - CREAM (WBK)                  
212015 DCS - 1X ROW 2 - CREAM (WBK)                  
212017 DCS - 1X ROW 3 - CREAM (WBK)                  
212018 DCS - 1X ROW 3 HOMING BAR - CREAM (WBK)
212019 DCS - 1X ROW 4 - CREAM (WBK)      

Also, I want to mention that the photo of color samples is from kbdholic. I think it is good to state sources when a photo is not yours.
I saw the same picture here: http://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=261

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[pitashen]

My plan was to build blank set for my Poker, but as you stated in your post I wasn't able to get the capslock part.
I wondered how GDL keys looked like on a board, and after looking at your photos I think I will order a set of following GDL keys.

Also, I want to mention that the photo of color samples is from kbdholic. I think it is good to state sources when a photo is not yours.
I saw the same picture here: http://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=261

They do have the stepped caps lock in GDL. I guess it was intended to go along with the other keys in GDLs

Ya from what I see in person, if you want to recreate the retro white + beige look, I believe what you picked should work pretty good. The texture on those PBT keys are pretty nice.

On the other hand, I would be a bit worried how long will it take to gather the complete set If I were you. I think some luck will be needed. I would particularly be concerned about he space bar. You'll need to have the right size (6.25 I believe) and then the right stem compatibility. Unless if you don't mind mixing the set with some slight color and profile miss matches.

Regarding to the color sample pic, since I directly linked it from the original source instead of my own pic web storage, I figured the URL of the pic speaks for itself.

[litster]

What is the cost of a set of what purchased (minus the keycaps that you don't actually use)?

[pitashen]

What is the cost of a set of what purchased (minus the keycaps that you don't actually use)?

Those SP PBT keys are $1 a key and the WASD spacebar was like $1.5 or something like that.

A typical RGB kit runs about $18 2nd hand, but I did get the kit for the patching purpose at first.  

I wouldn't say my attempt was a total success due to the caps lock (the most difficult part of the kit really...) The entire process of getting things perfect in my own liking may actually turn out to be quite pricy. It is quite fun nonetheless.

[squarebox]

Just use Black Cherry double-shots.
At least they have normal Capslock...

[IvanIvanovich]

Right, there are several Cherry models in MX8000 series that have centered caps lock AND 1.25 modifier in doubleshots (win and menu is not). There are a few HP*US on ebay NIB now for $100ish. Of course if you need to go cheaper, there are always plenty of lasered ones for around $40ish. Then you still get matching colors AND profiles at least.

[pitashen]

I came across an eBay deal on one of those black double shots POS board for 45 bucks a month ago. At the time I did not feel like spending money for just that caps lock key (modifiers are too low of profile in my liking and modding space bar doesn't appeal to me either) for I already have 2 sets of black double shots.

Clickey had a few white lasered pos board caps for 5~10, but by the time i really wanted to go for them clickey did not have them no more.

So at this point I dun really feel like spending 100 ish for black double shots nor 40ish on lasered

[squarebox]

The road to perfection is expensive one.

[IvanIvanovich]

I personally wouldn't pay $100 for just caps lock and modifiers. It might be a way to go for someone that wanted a whole set, and get it all in one go. I was bidding on an MX8200 with doubleshots a few weeks ago, that was in actual ansi NIB. I got sniped at the last few seconds for $.50 more than my bid. I was super pissed as i was the only bidder until then. It wasn't even listed as Cherry or the right model number. Ended at around $28.

[pitashen]

I still dig around eBay from time to time. I'll see what I can get from that department

[DanGWanG]

I came across an eBay deal on one of those black double shots POS board for 45 bucks a month ago. At the time I did not feel like spending money for just that caps lock key (modifiers are too low of profile in my liking and modding space bar doesn't appeal to me either) for I already have 2 sets of black double shots.

Clickey had a few white lasered pos board caps for 5~10, but by the time i really wanted to go for them clickey did not have them no more.

So at this point I dun really feel like spending 100 ish for black double shots nor 40ish on lasered

Is that the one where you sent me the link for it?  That seller should still have some  I messaged him a couple weeks ago, and he said he had some stock left.