Steampunk R&D: Page 2

So then, I come back to this thread at least once a week, but hardly ever see something new. Are we gone? What has happened to this section of WonderHowTo? I know that we all have lives outside of the internet... well you guys might, but I just want to know: Are we all leaving now? I miss you guys, please come home to us!

Beautiful etching-like artwork from an upcoming steampunk comic book.

So this thread has been really empty lately. I know that most of you have jobs and lives outside of the internet, but I don't! I miss reading and seeing all about the stuff that you guys used to post. Please start posting again everyone! I miss reading your great articles and your opinions on things!

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.

I made a Steampunk Surfboard recently, just for the fun of it. It took quite a bit of time, but I really like the end result.

Thought I would cross-post a piece I did a while ago.

So I noticed that a lot of the writings on this section of wonder how to are by a great author known as Austin Sirkin. I would just like to throw a huge thank you and keep going his way! Thank you for all of the stories and topics Austin, they have helped me learn a lot about Steampunk. So keep on writing Austin, you inspire us all and make our lives 10x better! I hope to see you keep writing and making even more good stories and topics for us to discus. Maybe you could even write a book or a...

We don't generally think of medicine as being very relevant to Steampunk, but it was a big part of Victorian science fiction. Notable examples that you may be familiar with would be Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

While the pope himself may not be Steampunk, you might be amazed at what is: the coronation stove.

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.

I'm not entirely sure how to describe band Frenchy and the Punk, but if I say things like cabaret, punk, and fun, you'll probably get the idea. Their website calls them "rollicking flapper folk punk cabaret", which is about as many words as you need to describe them. I wouldn't call them punk per se, but you can definitely hear the punk influence in their sound.

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:

Veronique Chevalier coined the term "superculture" as a descriptor for the burgeoning realm of steampunk, and it's now gaining a foothold...She now has her very own footnote in steampunk history, #81 to be exact!

Nikola Tesla is one of the most tragic figures in the history of science, a history that is practically filled to the brim with tragic figures. Francis Bacon, a 16th century philosopher and scientist, caught pneumonia and died because he was trying to stuff snow into a dead chicken. Marie Curie died as a result of her long-term exposure to radioactivity, and her papers from the 1890s are too radioactive to touch without protective gear to this day.

Post your most imaginative captions below this saucy, (but not pornographic) pic here, and win your very own personalized copy of Issue #6 of Steampunk Glamour Revue, published by Antarctic Press featuring The MAD-emoiselle One Herself, Veronique Chevalier!

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.

Most of us are well aware of the gun control debate currently raging in the United States, a debate which reached new heights in the immediate aftermath of the awful tragedy at Sandy Hook.

Hello, I'm new to this group. Thought you might like to see one of my latest creations—my interpretation of a Tesla power generator.

I'm fairly new to the culture of steampunk, having just joined the Olympia Gaslight Guardians, and I'm looking for tips on a steampunk Sniper outfit.

First off, let me say this—using real steam power is dangerous, and heavy, and just generally not worth it when you have modern alternatives. Except, you know, if you're a Steampunk. Or this guy:

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!

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.

There are a lot of different types of Steampunks, and I'm not talking about character archetypes like the mad scientist, air pirate, etc. I mean that within the Steampunk community, you find a variety of different people who all seem to fit into categories that we see all the time. A lot of those categories are annoying, especially when you see them over and over again.

You (or your partner, or both) are a Steampunk. Let's get away from all the mindless, unfeeling commercialism for a few minutes and think about dates instead of gifts—where do you take your significant other for Valentine's Day? What would be the ultimate Steampunk Valentine's Day date?

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most famous characters in modern history, and has appeared in film more often than any other character. No less than 78 different actors have taken their turn at portraying the enigmatic deduction machine in various mediums, and each has brought their own foibles to the role. Some of the names may even surprise you: Tom Baker, John Cleese, Peter Cushing, Charlton Heston, Christopher Lee, Roger Moore, and even Leonard Nimoy.

In my last article, I explained why text adventure games are some of the most Steampunk computer games out there. I even shared a free Steampunk text adventure game that I'd made myself!

Text adventure games, such as the well-known Zork series, were some of the first computer games ever made, second only to the likes of Spacewar! and the better-known Pong.

The vast majority of people involved in Steampunk are interested in history but, like with science, there's something about history that we don't talk about very often:

I started in the steampunk about 3 years ago when a friend of mine uploaded a photo to his facebook profile dressed in steampunk attire saying "I am the Brigadier Winterman Bennet." It was then that I had to ask "Hey, what's that?" "Steampunk" he said, and that's how it all started.

ATTN: HUMOUR ALERT

Cross-dressing and gender-bending are nothing new, but the realm of Steampunk seems to be especially accepting of role-reversal in dress.

In the early 20th century, some people decided that it would be a great idea to play polo with cars. Sounds like a great idea, right?

Many people find Steampunk problematic for a whole host of reasons, not least of which is the glorification of an era of Western history that featured institutionalized slavery, racism, sexism, elitism, and many more -isms.

Many people have spent many hours discussing how to "properly" be Steampunk. Well, I turned it around and asked myself, "How can you not be Steampunk?"

Not that long ago I wrote an article discussing what it would be like, realistically, if you were to accidentally travel back in time to the Victorian era. At the end of that article, I mentioned that the best thing you could bring with you on a time-traveling adventure is a Kindle, or similar e-reader, stuffed full of the knowledge of the 21st century.

Imagine a world where the Rococo period never ended, and it had a lovechild with Sid Vicious. Sounds unlikely? Well, it is. Still, historical accuracy wasn't the goal for this motley group of costumers.

So I have been constantly looking at this world and the more and more I see it the more and more I want to experiment and work with steampunk! I just cant think of anywhere to start. If you guys could help me figure out where to start, that would be much appreciated! I want to be involved but not have it take up all of my time, so that is what I am looking for.

There's a lot that goes into making a nice crystal radio set, so this is going to have to be broken down into two parts. The first part is the actual making of a functional radio, and the second part is making the whole arrangement look nice. In this part, I'm actually going to tell you more than just how to make a crystal radio, but I'm also going to explain how and why they work.

Happy new year!