Good news from Hank! 
It is possible to get the Emisar D18 without leds for 10$ less. 
Nice. I now have a TK D18 on the way.
That's a joke right?
Are you wanting to buy 18 SST-20’s? I’ll buy a D18 and sell them to you for $25
I would rather pay 10$ for an empty mcpcb.
What would be the best combo for throw with a neutral tint ? I’m not opposed to mixing them up
The regular SST-20 5000K flavor is probably the best option for that.
That would be too easy…no mixing tints, no challenging Vf problem?
Any chance it’ll come with standby LEDs similar to the D4S?
I ordered a D18 with SST20 3000k and 4000k. I like both Colortemperatures, so i thought this might be really good.
the 4000k has a bit green on low levels? do you think mixing in 3000k will hide that greenish look?
I dont use my lights on very low levels though so i will not suffer to much, but still.
Im not sure which layout Hank chose when installing the emitters, but i would guess its like TK’s layout, for maximum blending.
Thanks !
No, probably not.
Order another one with 3000K, 4000K, and 6500K. Now I have the perfect 4500K mixed!
No joke, you can PM Hank to ask. I also thought it would be more like 15-20$ less for a D18 without leds. But maybe it disturbs the manufacturing process somehow, who knows. :person_facepalming: It would just be easier and faster to solder leds to an empty MCPCB instead of having to remove the previous ones.
Thank you for the offer, contactcr, but I would just buy the normal D18 then. 
If you get 18 SST20 leds for 10$ it could even be worth the effort to remove the leds from the MCPCB and replace them with Luxeon V2’s.
Can you post some pictures of beamshots and close-ups when you receive it? What did you end up choosing for the layout of the 3 tint mix?
Oof.
That isn’t going to look all that good.
If only there was an SST-20 5000k 95CRI.
Would make things easier.
there is simply almost none room to make an Aux board, the conventional way placing on the MCPCB
the only option I would see would be a hack replacing the front panel PCB
simply have it with holes and let the LEDs shine through them, basically all parts are on te back, but diodes flipped so the emitters shine through the holes
The inner ring of emitters appear to be the 6500K & 3000K, arranged alternately.
The outer ring of emitters appear to be the 5000K & 4000K, arranged in pairs alternately.
The sample here appears to be arranged slightly differently:
inner ring is similar: 6500K & 3000K alternate
outer ring is now alternate 5000K & 4000K (not in pairs)
I will also try to make a front cover PCB with aux LEDs integrated shining through the board
I sent this pm to Hank:
I found that you can do D18 custom builds.
Can you: 1. do one with Nichia 219b’s? or: build one up that would be the equivalent tint/cri of the 219b 4000k? (the slightly rosy tint)
I already have one with the sst-20’s and I absolutely love it but it is kinda yellow.
We’ll see. Someone had a d18 on bst with 219B’s that I missed and I’m sick at heart…
You can always buy the d-18, and send it to a modder in the states, I know of one that has 219b’s and has done work for me before.
I had Hank put (6x)sst-20 6500k and (12x)sst-20 3000k and I love it!