I've cleaned up panel #2, started soldering the gaming controls, cut and joined the keyboard and started laying out panel #3.

Never mind tapering around the keyboard, i've concluded. I'm testing options for gluing #3. It'll be a little complicated behind the face but not too bad or too bulky. I'd wager the keyboard is the first part to fail from use (depending on the user, of course) no matter what i do but i'll shore up what i can to keep it from flexing, popping solder joints, what have you.

Rows cut, columns joined:

It tests good so far, i don't think i'll have to redo anything but that's a possibility. More likely i'll have to rejigger the gaming controls, but that expectation is colored by a past project that... encountered complications. Regardless, i'm not permanently joining anything with moving parts until those bits function as intended.

I think i need to letter the keys though that's going to cast the whole thing more amateurish if i do it by hand like this. It'll color people's first impressions out of scale with how significant a feature it is. I've been fretting on that but it only just occurred to me to try some kind of transfer.

I'm sure i'll be able to get the video capture card picking up the security cams without infinite work but i'm losing confidence i'll have it done next week. I'm ~1hr of futzing with it from doing something simpler. Speaking of time i'd love to be done with coding the Pico already. Plenty to keep me busy...