After two iterations, the boards are here. 

Turns out, mechanical switches from aliexpress aren't always "compliant" to other standards and so what I've got in the end was a headache of them not fitting properly into their places due to their "stump" being around 4.3mm thick instead of 4-ish mm.

Gateron hotswaps were fitting fine into my first version of the board, but not these "REDRAGON" clones.

Fortunately for first iteration I only ordered the top half and after the modification, ordered it again with the bottom half.

And here they are, ready to be assembled and tested. Along with some switches, 9pin "aviation" (this gag may surface later) connector, Waveshare RP2040 board and a little reel of SOD-523 diodes.

Yes, diode placement differs between the boards - that is because I want to see which i like more. Top part has matrix diodes placed in a little table-like section near IOX. Bottom part has diodes placed hear each switch - which also has it's own charm. LMK what you guys do when you spin your own keebs.

I haven't yet decided on keycaps though. I can borrow lowprofile keycaps from a friend, but he says their design might be under NDA, so for a first version I might go for something more crude.

We'll see.