I'm personally all about the 4x12 ortho layout and like what you're proposing here. Adding sorbothane to a mechmini 2's mounting points has had nice enough effects that I'm a believer in these sort of systems on small boards.



On the other hand, I'd assume that the cost of the construction/materials involved here would put this in the $250-300 high end 40% price bracket. There hasn't really been a product that's proven the market for an ortholinear-only option at that position is large enough to make such a group buy viable, and I'm not fully convinced that's the case (though hopefully you can show that it is).



I do think the design could be refined aesthetically - the overall shape is a bit too tall and boxy for a keyboard this size IMO. The top piece's proportions are obviously set by the need to fit over the plate and bottom, but I feel it should be possible to take a more elegant looking approach to the bezelled look, somehow.



Oh, and a sandwiched 4x12 aluminium plate surely doesn't have enough flex for those PCB slots to make any difference at all. You'd probably need some sort of half plate, which on a 40% means you'd have the top alpha row really inconsistent with the other two.