Modding My: Rocket Ninja RN-988 (2)

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale for another chapter of the Modding My series featuring the Rocket Ninja RN-988. In the first part of our build series, we went through some surprising features of this budget mechanical keyboard, removed the key caps and lubricated the stabilizers. Leaving only the next crucial part of modifications which would ultimately determine a big part of the typing experience for this keyboard.

Today, we will be taking a look at the replacement key caps that we will be using for the RN-988. Courtesy of Kraken Keyboards, we have a full set of shine-through PBT key caps which we will be using for this build. I usually go with brands such as Ducky and Tai Hao for my third party key caps but, decided to give the US-based Kraken a shot especially since they were on sale recently.

Aside from coming in a very neatly arranged tray, the key caps also come included nice little bonuses. Such as, the addition of an ISO layout keys, a dust cover for the tray and a transparent key cap puller. The dust tray was a really nice addition which will ensure that dust does not collect on the keys whilst in storage. Where key cap pullers are an expected accessory to have, I had actually never gotten one molded in clear plastic before.

This set of key caps are suitably named "Fresh" for their bright colors which evoke the feeling of an ice slushie type beverage. Each one of the keys are held in place with a cherry stem on the tray itself. While this does mean that each key cap is securely fastened into the tray, it also means removing them ideally requires the use of a key cap puller. In that regard, I do prefer the foam method of holding the key caps in place.

These key caps are both double shot PBT and shine through as evident from the back. A clear stem runs all the way to the back of the key cap which then fills in what is to be the font. Each key is cleanly molded with consistent and bright colors, they are no doubt visually appealing. In terms of wall thickness, the Kraken PBT key caps are only slightly thicker than the stock ABS ones found on the keyboard, and thinner compared to Tai Hao and Ducky's offerings.

Nevertheless, the key caps still feel plenty rigid owing to the material nature of PBT plastics. A quick few key actuation also confirm that they do sound denser and deeper than the standard ABS key caps. These key caps were actually chosen by my co-workers, out of several options I had provided, who would be the main user of this keyboard once it is deployed in office. 

This colorway may certainly not my first option for this build. In fact, I was thinking of going with a faded purple and steel gray colorway. As I assembled the keyboard though, I found myself growing oddly fond of the color scheme. Being a full sized keyboard, having an additional number of blue colored key caps that would normally not be seen in a smaller form factor keyboard helps to balance out the bright green key caps. All in all, I think it was a very nice choice.

Another reason I chose these key caps were for their shine through nature. The RN-988 comes equipped with surface mounted diode (SMD) per-key RGB lighting. As such, having shine through keys would help to highlight that feature of the keyboard. The fact that the keyboard also has a black colored plate also meant that most of the light would be shining through the key caps and not reflected. For a more subdued RGB look, a black plate is certainly the way to go.

You may or may not have noticed it by now but, the Kraken key caps actually have very varying font sizes especially among the keys with multiple letters. This further highlights the issues that Tai Hao first faced when trying to make shine through double shot PBT key caps. Even today, even the best shine through PBT key caps have relatively large fonts.

In order to wrap it all up, I have also ordered two sets of aviator cables for the RN-988, one in purple and another in light blue. I ended up going with the light blue cables as it matched the colors on the key caps best.

With everything assembled, it was time to put the final product to the test. The RN-988 will be put through daily use and I will update the series once more with my long-term impressions of this budget mechanical keyboard. I will admit that even before typing on it, I am already very impressed with the feature set offered at such a low price. This just goes to show how accessible a hobby like mechanical keyboards are becoming which can only be a good thing for everyone. 

As usual, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to leave them in the comments section below. Until then, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!