Steampunk R&D Features
News: Have a Little More Christmas in Your Steampunk
Religion is one of the most-ignored topics when it comes to Steampunk, which is surprising given how important religion was in Victorian England. Even the hot-button issues of race and gender are confronted with a greater awareness than religion.
How To: Print Your Emails in Style with This Steampunk Tape "Ticker Machine"
Last year, Instructables user Horatius.Steam created Dr. Brain, a small computer connected to a model brain that can tell stories and have Skype conversations. But one thing it couldn't do was print, so to solve that problem, he came up with this awesome Steampunk "Ticker Machine". A wooden base and glass dome make up the housing for a thermal printer, and the driver is hidden in a paper tube that's painted to look like wood. A slot at the bottom feeds the paper out from under the dome and a ...
News: Trudy's Mechanicals
Concept artwork of a Toronto based video game studio Incubator Games upcoming steampunk turn-base tactic game: Trudy's Mechanicals. The military's boat-like Battle Platform. Butler-bot variations: pantsless four-arms and sleek tuxedo. Denizens of the Clockwork Labyrinths and various fashion. A placard for the Aerie and its floating islands connected by cable cars. Incubator Games » games.
News: New Bioshock Game Goes Steampunk in a Big Way
The trailer for the new Bioshock game, Bioshock Infinite, takes the series away from its dieselpunk roots and into the realm of steampunk.
How To: Eat for Free at DragonCon 2012
If you're like me, you've already spent a ton of money on your costumes, your badge, and your hotel room, and now you're looking for ways to cut costs. There are all kinds of ways to save money at DragonCon, but many of them involve violating the rules in some way, such as not buying a badge, sleeping on the floor in a hallway somewhere, etc. However, the one thing you can do that is totally not against the rules is eat for free. It requires a little self-discipline and a willingness to eat w...
iPhotometer 5: The Only Spectrometer for Steampunk Scientists
Steampunk scientists, there's a new spectrometer for your workshop, and it's called the iPhotometer 5.
News: Maker Thomas Willeford Gets Turned into Steampunk Frankenstein
Thomas Willeford runs Brute Force Leather and is responsible for a lot of really cool steampunk things, like the mechanical arm that Nathan Fillion wore in the TV show Castle.
News: Steampunk Art & Comics
Beautiful etching-like artwork from an upcoming steampunk comic book. Annabelle Avery: Steampunk Girl, Vol. 1 by Matt Kelly.
News: Steampunk Adventure Book About... Knitting?
I couldn't make this up if I wanted to. There's a steampunk adventure book about knitting, and featuring knitting patterns. The full title is "Needles and Artifice: A Refined Adventure Story with Ingenious Knitting Patterns". It's real! Just look at these pictures!
News: "Steamdrunks" Cocktail Book for Steampunks Now for Free!
I just saw that the book Steamdrunks, containing 101 steampunk cocktails and mixed drinks, is on sale for... free! Provided that you have a Kindle.
News: Steampunk Bottle (a Red and Malevolent Glow)
Thought I would cross-post a piece I did a while ago.
Steampunk Music for the Masses: Electro-Swing
Swing music was later than the Victorian era, but electro-swing music can call that retrofuturistic era to mind. I recently saw this review of an electro-swing album, "Electro Swing For the Masses" by Good Co~, who features one of the musicians from the well-known Steampunk band Abney Park. Electro-swing is just what it sounds like: a fusion of electronic and swing music. For anyone who hasn't heard any of it, check it out!
News: ABC's New "Last Resort" TV Show Might Be More Steampunk Than You Think
Is "Last Resort" Steampunk? Well, no. I mean, how could it be?
News: Steampunk Art Doll
Hi, great site - I'm especially inspired by the post on items available at the hardware store. I've used some here in my doll goggles. Mandy at artofdolls.net
How To: Prepare and Present a Panel at a Steampunk Convention
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
News: Transmitting Power... Tesla Style
Matthew Inman, who runs the popular web comic The Oatmeal, decided to test his new hand-held "Tesla Cannon" (which is essentially a small-scale Tesla coil) on one of his friends. His friend, Matt Harding, held a giant light bulb and allowed himself to be shot with the Tesla Cannon.
Steampunk R&D Podcast 03: Justin Stanley on Art and Critique
Justin Stanley, better known to many as the Emperor of the Red Fork Empire, is both an artist and a personality within the Steampunk community. His contributions range far and wide, and in this episode of Steampunk Research and Development, he talks a lot about his artistic vision, how to be an artist, and how best to give and receive artistic criticism.
News: Steampunk Gets Trashed by Two Broke Girls
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.
News: Ingenious Chain Clock Sinks Its Teeth into Steampunk
This clock is amazing, and I think I really need one. I wonder how hard it would be to just make one. It doesn't look that difficult in concept, at least. Might be tricky to get the timing right, though. Designed by Andreas Dober, this clock will only cost you a measly $2,338.
News: Steampunk Shirts Abound at Threadless
Threadless is a great site for anyone who wants to buy some steampunk t-shirts. For example, this bizarre shirt: Or maybe this one is more your speed: You can browse their site and come across all kinds of goodies!
News: Canada Honors Real Steam-Powered Vehicles Each Year
Every year in Ontario they have a festival to showcase and appreciative steam-based vehicles, called Steam-Era. Not a very original name but at least it's descriptive.
News: Revisiting the Appeal of Steampunk in Light of Today's Tragic Shooting in Connecticut
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.
News: Flow Chart to Make Something Steampunk
I can't argue with this. Source: Geekcentricity
News: Steampunk As "Superculture" Theory
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!
News: Better Poses Make for Better Pictures
I came across this post, and while it's not specifically steampunk, I think it's still very applicable. Every steampunk wants to have cool pictures, but not every steampunk knows how to get them. A good photographer will help you pose, but not everyone has access to professional photographers. Since you can't rely on having posing advice during a shoot, you should familiarize yourself with some of the tips in this post. Maybe someone on this site can write a steampunk-specific guide to posing!
News: Real Metal-Real Wood-Real Steampunk
If you are tired of finding production line, plastic Steampunk pieces then I hope you check out my site and let me know what you think.
Steampunk R&D Podcast 05: Roundtable Discussion with the Emperor
The Emperor of the Red Fork Empire, aka Justin Stanley, joins us again on Steampunk R&D. This time the subject matter is a little more meandering than last time when I interviewed him about his background as an artist, maker, and performer. If you want, you can check out that podcast first before listening to the latest one below. In this podcast, we talk about current events in the Steampunk world, such as TeslaCon 3 & 4, defining Steampunk, Lantern City, the TSA, and more. We may or may not...
The Anachronist: A Crowd-Funded Steampunk Film About Time Travel
I guess it's steampunk film night, because there's another film out there in the works, though this one is trying to raise money via Kickstarter. The promotional animation that they have up on their kickstarter page is pretty awesome, and from what the director had to say, it sounds like it would be a really cool film. Go over there and check it out, and if you like to contribute to the indie scene, give them some money!
News: Steampunk Comes to Children's Literature as Steamduck
Emilie Bush is about to release her second children's book, Steamduck Learns to Fly. With art like this, it has to be pretty steampunk! Maybe if the book is successful, I can one day buy my very own steamduck for my bathtub!
News: Was Edison Sexy? Hollywood Thinks So
The show doesn't have a name yet, but a TV show following a "sexy" Thomas Edison is developed by NBC. Edison is best known for being the inventor of the light bulb, but is the subject of much controversy in the Steampunk world due to his less-than-savory business practices and poor treatment of contemporary Nikola Tesla. Would you watch a TV show about a hip, sexy Edison? I would, but I wouldn't like it.
News: Caption Contest with Veronique!
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! Ready, aim, (light my) fire! ;-)
News: Botanical Robots Coming Soon to a Shelf Near You
I wish these robots were real, but alas, they're simply the brainchild of Barry McWilliams, an artist who wants to make a book about them. His Kickstarter for only $5,000 is now fully funded, so the book will be coming soon. There's still a lot of time left in the fundraiser, so consider visiting and contributing anyway!
H.G. Wells: World's First Game Master?
According to this article on Kotaku, H.G. Wells invented modern tabletop wargames. War games had been going on for a long time, but Wells was the first person to make them accessible for a casual, non-military audience with his game Little Wars.
News: Parisian Painted Postcards from the Past Picture the Present
Who doesn't love a good alliteration? These postcards were painted in Paris between 1899 and 1910 and were supposed to imagine what Paris would be like in the year 2000. I think they were all right on the money, don't you? I wish they had captions so that we could tell what each one is supposed to be. Some are so odd that I have no idea what's going on.
News: Anthrax and Watchmaking, Together at Last
Anthrax (the band, not the disease) remains one of my favorite bands, so I was really happy to see that Dan Spitz, the former guitarist of Anthrax, is now a master watchmaker, supposedly one of the best in the world. After all, there aren't too many things more steampunk than watchmaking, especially when he even makes some of his own parts. I never really thought about it, but as Spitz mentions in an interview, one of Anthrax's best songs, "Got The Time", is about time.
News: A Grim Look at a Future That Will Hopefully Never Be: Remnant
Penny Dreadful Productions has made a series of short web videos to highlight their costume-making abilities, all of which take place in a world of their own creation, called "Remnant". These videos are amazing, with extremely high production values and great costuming. They're worth a look for anyone who likes steampunk.
News: Get Ready for Steampunk Halloween with Steampunkin
I saw this on the internet the other day, and I thought it was great. I think I remember someone making a steampunk pumpkin sculpture a few years ago, but I really loved this one! It was made by Dolli's Rust Factory, and it's just the thing to get me in the mood for Halloween!
News: Fashion Inspiration for Would-Be Steampunks
I came across this great article that features forgotten fashion trends from the past.
News: Little Clank to Make You Smile on a Monday
Thought I would share a pic of a little "clank" I made a few weeks ago. This one was inspired by the Girl Genius online comic. Repurposed out of a sugar bowl I found at Savers.