For those who don't know, LEGO recently came out with a new line called Monster Fighters. This set is about fighting monsters, sure, but it's about fighting classic monsters in a Steampunk universe. Just look at this promotional picture from the LEGO site: That LEGO dude (properly called a minifig) is wearing a vest, pocket watch, bowler hat, and a mean smirk. Not to mention that he has a robotic leg. You won't find the word "steampunk" anywhere in this marketing campaign, but I call Steampun...
This most recent school shooting, one of the worst in history, has devastated our country. That such an act can be performed not by a begrudged child, but by one or more adults, is nearly unthinkable.
Jake von Slatt of The Steampunk Workshop kept breaking the rear glass panel on his iPhone. So, he ended up making his own gorgeous replacement out of brass to replace the standard Apple logo ones who kept getting. The only problem was that it made his signal strength super weak, so he figured out how to transfer the etching onto a glass back. Here's the basic rundown of how he accomplished this feat...
"Jef with one F" from the Houston Press compiled a list of the 10 best steampunk songs, but it's really a collection of the best steampunk music videos. There are some amazing videos in the collection, such as this one, "Brass Goggles" by Steam-Powered Giraffe. It's not the best-looking, but it's a great performance.
If you're a steampunk enthusiast looking to give your bathroom an extra kick, this just might be the project for you. This stylish and functional "vintage" toothbrush timer knows when you've grabbed your toothbrush, and will visually count down two minutes before alerting you when you've brushed long enough. All you'll need to put one together yourself is a microcontroller (the designer used a ATmega328p), a weight sensor, light bulbs, brass cups and a tray, an alarm clock's chime, and some w...
There was recently a case that came to national attention where a gentleman was arrested at an airport for having a watch that looked like a bomb, among other things. As it came out, the watch was, in fact, not a bomb, and the man was just an artist who was probably trying to make a statement of some sort. Well, that message was lost amongst the hail of people shouting that either he had been stupid for bringing that watch on the plane and so deserved to be arrested, or that it's a free count...
Many of us in the Steampunk community have pets that we love and cherish, myself included, and we want those pets to share our joy of Steampunk. In reality, they couldn't care less, but for some reason we still love to dress them up. Their reactions usually range from bemused acceptance to temper tantrums, but the awwwws we get from onlookers usually makes it worthwhile.
This week on the Steampunk Research and Development Podcast, our guest is Joey Marsocci, better known to the world as Dr. Grymm. He's a full-time, professional Steampunk maker, and is the owner and operator of Dr. Grymm Laboratories. He's written several books and has worked as a designer at companies such as Hasbro and Disney. In fact, he worked with Disney to design the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attractions for both Paris and Tokyo Disney parks.
While the pope himself may not be Steampunk, you might be amazed at what is: the coronation stove. For those who don't know, it's been a tradition for a very long time to signal the election of a new pope (or the lack of a new pope) via colored smoke. More specifically, once the cardinals have all voted for the new pope during the conclave, the ballots are burned in a special stove in the Sistine Chapel, and the smoke is visible in St. Peter's square.
It wasn't that long ago that we started seeing a variety of beers catering to the Steampunk crowd, so why not some wine?
The trailer for the new Bioshock game, Bioshock Infinite, takes the series away from its dieselpunk roots and into the realm of steampunk.
Not two random broke girls, but the television show "Two Broke Girls". I think this show is hilarious, and I think Steampunk getting "dissed" by the show is sort of like a song getting parodied by Weird Al: it's a rite of passage for anyone who's famous.
You may or may not have heard of alt-rock band Panic! at the Disco, but a year and a half ago they released a single called "The Ballad of Mona Lisa", which had an accompanying music video that was Steampunk-themed. In fact, here's the video:
What I'm going to do in this tutorial is, as the title implies, teach you how to make nearly anything look like metal. This can especially come in handy in Steampunk, as most of us don't have the ability to machine brass. We do, however, have access to wood, PVC, and spray paint. Not to mention that, as a costumer, I can speak from personal experience when I say that things made of brass are really, really, really heavy!
I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who have no idea what a plague doctor is/was, so I'll start with an explanation.
This two-part series (second part here) will teach you literally everything you need to know in order to make pretty much anything out of leather.
I collect straight razors from the Victorian era and then add some steampunk style. Step 1: Remove the Old Scales
The upcoming web series "Crypto-Historians" does for cryptohistory what Indiana Jones did for archaeology. For those who don't know, cryptohistory is the study of supernatural or alien elements throughout history, and yes—it's a "real" field.
Let me start out by saying that Steampunk isn't about being historically accurate, and that everything I'm about to tell you is entirely optional. That said, let's take a look at the history of screws! What many people don't realize is that before we had metal screws, wooden screws were in wide use for things like wine and oil presses. Generally, the invention of the screw is attributed to Archimedes in the 3rd century BC. That was a long, long time ago. Metal screws and even screwdrivers hav...
In this episode of Steampunk Research and Development, our guest is Matt Silva, the co-founder and art director of Penny Dreadful Productions. While his current love is producing, Silva is also responsible for bringing to life some amazing creations in PDP's Remnant line, which we talk about on the show. Silva, who supports himself entirely from his work as an artist and a producer, talks about how he got to where he is today and offers advice for anyone interested in following in his steel-p...
So you've made a somersaulting robot, one that delivers your beer, and even a robot you can ride, but you want to try out something really different. Why not add a steam engine?
Do you listen to a lot of music on your smartphone or MP3 player? Ever wished the built-in speaker was louder? You're in luck, because this simple amplifier can increase your volume by 14 decibels and make your device look totally steampunk while you're at it. What You'll Need
You may or may not have heard the term "greebles" or "kit-bashing" before, but if not, they may sound like nonsense. Particularly 'greebles', which sounds more like the name of a small, gremlin-like creature. However, I assure you that they are very important in prop-making, and if you can master them both, you'll be able to make intricate, great-looking props in hardly any time!
One of the hardest, most intimidating parts of making your own Steampunk guns from scratch is the wooden stock of the gun. To be fair, it's probably the hardest part. It requires the most artistry, and is the easiest to mess up.
This ship is over 4 ft. long with many moving parts all run from a live steam engine. There are two videos, one more detailed about the story and one blog showing how it was built. Hope you enjoy.
If you're a Steampunk (or costumer of any variety) and you don't know what Rub 'n Buff is, this tutorial will make your life so much easier. You have no idea.
Steampunking Nerf guns by painting them is a pretty common practice among Steampunks, but unfortunately, the really amazing-looking ones involve literally taking the gun apart, painting it, and then screwing it all back together.
If you want to make clothes for your cat, you're on your own. As I recently said in this article, cats will just totally flip out if you make them wear things. Your dog may also flip out, but I've found them to be more tolerant, personally.
I know, "Steamdown" conjures images of a hoedown, but "Steampunk prop breakdown" is a bit of a mouthful, I thought.
We frequently associate plastics with the modern era, starting at around the 1950s with the prevalence of bakelite. However, for all of you "you can't use plastic in Steampunk" purists out there, I have bad news for you:
You may or may not care about this, but sometimes it physically upsets me when I see gears stuck together haphazardly, with no concern for whether their teeth interlock. I mean, what do you do with non-interlocking gears?
If you've been to a convention of any sort before, you know that there are good and bad panels, and that their inherent goodness or badness often has little to do with the actual content being discussed. That's because giving a panel is a skill that not everyone has. However, it is a skill that everyone could have! In this article, I'll tell you how to give a good panel on practically any subject. Image by Shannon Cottrell
I chose to make this a Steampunk iPad case, but you can change the details and make it look as modern as you'd like. As I said earlier, Steampunks probably shouldn't buy iPhones or iPads, but if you're going to get one, you may as well make it look cool, right? The iPad pictured below was borrowed from a friend of mine, though I should add that this design will easily work with tablet computers of any variety, Apple, Android, or otherwise.
In the first part of this two-part guide, I covered cutting, grooving, beveling, making holes, and stamping/tooling. I hope you enjoyed that part, because we're pushing the accelerator to the floor and moving ahead at full speed!
Thought I would cross-post a piece I did a while ago.
Sometimes I forget that I'm also a fiction writer, so I thought it might be a nice change of pace to share one of my stories with you. I wrote this piece awhile ago for an anthology that never came together and I'm tired of just sitting on it.
If you've never heard of Steampunk before, then you're about to be educated. Steampunk is a relatively new hybrid style (and subgenre) of old anachronisms and technology. So, for instance, a steampunk computer is one that's done in an industrial, victorian manner with brass parts.
Add instant art school style to your outfit by crafting this propeller Steampunk brass ring. Steampunk style, which fuses Victorian/industrial age style with anachronisms like old watch parts and propellers, is on trend right now with Hollywood as well as the indie craft scene.
The key to a good steampunk paint job is getting the distressted metallic look just right. This tutorial shows you how to add a lot of aesthetic appeal to your next steampunk prop mod, whether it's goggles, binoculars or something entirely different.
