Awesome! I purchased a brushed gold one. Wanted to get more than one, but had to restrain myself.
I’d love a heavier backplate for my Norbaforce but I’m not ready to drop $185+. Any plans to make a Heavy-6 style powder coated backplate which would hopefully be a little less expensive?
Stainless and PVD are definitely premium (expensive) manufacturing options, and this was the best I could do in terms of price at any acceptable quality level within those two requirements. Most factories quoted me much higher, and after quite a few samples, most were what I would consider unacceptable cosmetic quality. So, any rate, I sympathize about the costs; some people are just into stainless + PVD in particular and really want those features, in spite of the costs involved.
I’m currently invstigating making powder-coated (non-stainless) steel back-plates eventually, likely in connection with the Mark II project. They’ll weigh less, can’t be PVD coated, and will ship much later, but they would make for an acceptable budget option that is still an upgrade over the Mark I aluminum plates. I’m still working out the details on all this, however, so I can’t make any promises, as I’m still about a month off from even getting completed samples on those, but it’s an option I’m exploring.
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Hi Ryan,
Out of curiosity, did you decide on the final colorways for the mk2? I only ask because the color plate I get will depend on what mk2s will be available!
Thanks for the thorough reply as always. I will eagerly await the Mark II group buy then and cross my fingers.
Hehe. Well, I can give you my tentative list, but it is subject to change. 
I won’t commit to a finish until I actually see it on a prototype keyboard and can take photos of it to share.
These are the powder finishes:
K2 White with a subtle texture.
Aperture The most popular finish from the Heavy-6. Hammer tone silvery gray.
VHS A new finish, textured white and gray that creates an overall light gray impression. This is specifically designed to pair with my forthcomig After-School 1992 keyset, but goes well with tons of sets, especially light-colored ones. See image below. I love, love, love this finish.
Retro Refrigerator will be back! This may be matte or gloss, depending on test results, but I’m shooting to bring back the original glossy version. We’re using a special new process for treating the parts before powder-coating, which I hope will make the reject rate much lower on this tricky finish and therefore make it feasible again.
Astrophysical This deep purple with silver flecks is also returning, by popular demand.
Palm Desert This finish looks a lot like desert sand, textured light tan with medium-brown flecks in it. A great pairing with Chocolatier, or SA 1976, Galaxy Class, etc. I’m also currently working with @sour on an Arabic sublegend keyset that should pair well with this.
I’m also trying to offer Tactical Black, a black Type III (hard) anodized finish and/or Aerospace (clear Type II), but my current plan is to have the Mark IIs made entirely in the USA (for purposes of being able to do in-person quality control), and anodizing is hard here to source because environmental regulation has put most out of business in the past 10-20 years, or so it is said at least. Choice of vendors is therefore usually small, and finding one that can make something up to my cosmetic standards is therefore not assured. I’m getting samples from an anodizer that has been recommended to me highly, however, and will decide based on that.
I’m also thinking of offering a limited-edition solid brass version with a very unusual, experimental finish.
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Oof, may have to buy another Realforce just for this color way.
Brass Norbaforce 
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Want.
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Sandstorm + Palm Desert yes!
I would be very interested to find out how heavy a brass norbaforce would weigh and cost. Haha
Any news on these? Excited to see what the final product is starting to look like.
I just checked and production is supposed to be complete later this week. Give a few weeks for inspection and logistics and then they should be on their way to GB participants. 
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Woohoo! I’m still rocking some drawer liner inside of my Norbaforce, so I’m excited to see how this compares.
If you’ve already got the drawer liner cut, I for one would use both.
That is definitely the plan!
Just wanted to provide a quick update on these. Manufacturing is complete but I rejected several units due to cosmetic issues on the exterior face and remanufacturing is occurring on those now. I hope to be able to get all the completed and fixed units and, assuming that they are up to my standards, should be able to ship everything thereafter, likely in the next few weeks.
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Even though a bit delayed due to my asking the factory to rework some I wasn’t happy with, these are coming along. They’re supposed to be ready to ship to me on the 30th. Please allow another couple of weeks or so for me to get them out, but we’re nearly there.
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Ughhhh, these are PERFECT. Semi-related question for you: I have a standard 87u in a Mark 1 Norbaforce with the tactical black anodizing. I really want the Veracity Mark 2 since my 87u is the Anniversary Edition that I picked up in Korea, etc., etc.
Am I correct in assuming that this rear plate would work on the Mark 2 and that the standard backplate from the Mark 2 could probably be resold (likely to a Mark 1 owner) to help offset the cost of the Veracity? I do realize the frivolity in all of that to purchase such a luxury item, but such is the world of semi-impulsive and sentimental purchasing.
This rear plate with a stainless chassis would be mind blowing, without question.
You are absolutely correct. They are cross-compatible. And the powder-coated rear cover plates that come on the Mark II aren’t being offered separately, so I’m sure a Mark I owner would be interested, especially since these PVD plates were necessarily fairly expensive.
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