(Part 2) Best products from r/steampunk

I enjoyed The Strange Affair of Springheeled Jackby Mark Hodder. He has at least two other books featuring the same lead characters, but I haven't picked them up yet.

Steampunk Prime: A Vintage Steampunk Reader edited by Mike Ashley was quite good. He includes a blurb about the original authors' history and information about the original publication dates before each short story.

Mike Resnick's The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale was really good. Apparently he's got another one out that I have yet to buy.

I've also got Tim Akers' The Horns of Ruin sitting on my shelf, but I haven't made the time to read through it. The summary on the back interesting enough for me to actually buy it.

You might be interested in the art from BioShock. The BioShock games (1 & 2) have always felt very steampunk to me, as they built this underwater city/world, have a different take on technology/science.

You also might be interested in Neil Gaiman's graphic novel Neverwhere. It's not a steampunk world but an alternate world - the Neverwhere - which is under/beneath/within the London Above ("normal London"). It's a very interesting and unique world with magic, angels, demons, living nightmares, and alternate technology blended.

Have you read the Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher? The world he builds focuses on vertical living within these city spires, with flying ships powered by crystals and steam. There's steam-driven technology, crystals with physical/metaphysical power and people with abilities as a part of their scientific world, and an explanation for why everyone wears goggles aside from looking cool. Not yet in graphic novel form, but his descriptions are sure to be inspiring.

I'm sorry -- I didn't mean to offend.

Your post explaining that you're the artist came after mine, so I presumed this was "found photo, shared on reddit" -- if I'd known you were sharing a personal creation, I would have tried to be more supportive/constructive.

Now I see why /u/GhostfaceHecklah was being more subtle.

 

Actual non-sarcastic congratulations on producing a finished piece of art; extra thanks for sharing it. I start a lot more projects than I finish and they never end up documented anywhere - I'm trying to work on the latter, and I'll use this comment-exchange as a learning experience on presenting my work.

I am actually trying to make a "steampunk" fountain pen. But I'm no master-clockmaker and obviously incapable of replicating the one with actual working gears, so my art would be a largely cosmetic modification to the pen-body - which has me drafting design after design but disappointed that the only ones I like are geometric and not steampunk.

 

Creating good gear-porn is hard because we're fans of an aesthetic that esteems the most complicated of machines, which are no longer produced precisely because they've been replaced by electronic versions with fewer moving parts that are simpler to manufacture.

The beauty of the many interoperating moving parts and simplicity of being able to trace with your eyes the mechanism from motive force to desired action belies the fiendish difficulty of calculating gear ratios & choosing the appropriate mechanical linkage. So we have a battery-operated modern sealed-motor-unit driving most of what we build. I think everyone's aware that we fetishize the impractically complex and accept that the art is in presenting the illusion in an aesthetically pleasing way. Thank you for your contribution.

I'll just reply to my original post with this additional info. Someone in /r/DIY asked how I made the ship. While I don't have any pictures of the process, here's roughly what I did

Mostly, it was just me spending a few hours here and there kitbashing it together...here's a general overview though. I kind of just put together what I thought looked best at the time

Hull: I picked up a cheap, appropriately sized ship as the base. I knew I was going to be heavily modifying it, so it just needed to have the right shape, I could remove and add pieces as I went. Here's where I started http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005F0N6CE/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Artillery/Weapons: Someone in the /r/steampunk sub-reddit correctly guessed the weapons on the ship. I went to Hobby Lobby and sitting on the clearance rack was a model of the U.S.S. Maine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maine_(BB-10)). I took various pieces of it's artillery, mounting them as I saw fit. As it stands, there are 5 weapons on board. The 2 you can see that are on a swivel, one on the very front of the ship (visible in this picture) and then two that are mounted on the left-side, one being barely visible in this picture

Propeller/lower copper assembly: A few items I got mostly locally from hardware stores and hobby shops

1. Copper toilet float bulb - unused
   
2. PEX Manifold - 4 port, unused :)
   
3. Copper acorn nuts
   
4. R/C Airplane Propeller
   
   Balloon/Envelope:
   
5. I found the copper-ish looking ends at a thrift shop, originally they were joined with 4 other sections to make some crazy sort of lamp/ash-tray. I ran a threaded rod between them and put nuts on the inside, with acorn nuts on the outside (visible) ends.
   
   
6. "wood" strips: Thin balsa wood from a local hobby shop. I got them a bit wet and clamped them down against a curve. Once dry, I trimmed them to length and secured to the copper ends with brass bolts + some nuts on the inside
   
   
7. Balloon fabric: I got some thin burlap-like material from a hobby shop or sewing store. I cut the fabric into 4 rectangles (with a slight convex curve to the long edge) and hot-glued them onto the backside of the wood. In hindsight, I could have mounted them much better, but it worked ok
   
   Engine (mounted on deck) / Pump: Converted the existing ship's captains quarters into the engine with a few pieces from the USS Maine above. Bought some thin copper tubing (doing a bad job of bending it) and attached it from the engine to the envelope.
   
   Lines: Simple hemp twine. I used the original eyelets for the ship's mast, relocating them on the ship's hull and epoxying them in place. I tied very secure knots in all of the lines and reinforced each knot with super glue. This thing is going to be hanging from the ceiling after all. While not directly located over our son's crib, I went overboard on this part.
   
   Paint and Weathering: Rub n buff I used mainly this stuff, in the Grecian gold and Antique gold colors, to apply much of the coloring you see, especially on the ship hull. I did use some copper/brass spray paint on the artillery however. Rub n buff is great to work with if you are looking for a copper/brass/gold sort of finish, and a little goes a long, long, long way. I've used it several times and have barely made a dent in the tiny tubes
   
   Any particular parts of the ship I didn't touch on, let me know and I'll be happy to answer!

Unexpected! Brent is a friend of mine and part of my writing group, and the feedback he has been providing on my own steampunk novel (currently a WIP) has been invaluable. I haven't read Gears of a Mad God, but his serial Black Dragon Blues is fantastic. I'd highly recommend it if steampunk with an Asian flavour is something that sounds interesting to you. :)

My digital steampunk creation is a game Steampunk Idle Spinner. It can be downloaded from:

AppStore https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/steampunk-idle-spinner/id1445575882

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L9ZGCKJ

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.airapport.steampunkidlespinner

Itch: https://airapport.itch.io/steampunk-idle-spinner

The player starts in a workshop, where, with means of connecting cogwheels and the mad science equipment, the task is to increase the money flow from the main machine. Then it's possible to build a portal and reach the other steampunk worlds with completely different gameplay.

For example, in the Floating Islands each island type now produces its own resource: water, food or oil. And bringing to the island the resources, which are not produced on it, boosts its production.

In the ClockWork City you can grow your city sideways or upwards. Every connection transports 10% less energy, which is received by the central crystal. But you can build windmills, which generate energy independently from the sun, and towers, which are energy shortcuts: they have their own crystals, which receive the sun energy.

I hope you will like it.

I enjoyed Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series, another light-weight summer read - the quality of story varies between the books but they're fun and mostly enjoyable. Bonus werewolves and vampires, because... why not?

If you like this stuff I highly recommend the book Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett (the authors of "Boilerplate"). Tons of fascinating images, meticulously restored, as well as tales of the Reade family's adventures.

I LOVE these guys!!! My college buddy plays guitar for them. Their whole album is seriously epic. :)

Do support them and buy the album if you enjoy their stuff.

Use a fabric wrapped cord. You can simply replace the cord with a new fabric one from someplace like this:

https://www.colorcord.com/pages/fabric-wire

Or, if you are not comfortable rewiring things, you can get fabric cord covers, or some that look kinda fabric like this one, but perhaps in a different color:

https://www.amazon.com/PET-Expandable-Braided-Sleeving-10ft/dp/B00ZATLUZ0

You can use a bit of electrical tape to add a nice clean end on the braided sleeving. I'm sure there are fabric versions somewhere that might look a little better.

How about a clock pendant It's both useful and pretty.

A lot of steampunk jewelry is just going to be gears and clock parts, but try searching for victorian/edwardian jewelry on ebay and etsy.

Chatelaines were very popular during those eras. If she does any crafting or needs to carry a few small things like keys and a watch, they are still an attractive option for keeping track of smaller things.

Writing stories is a bit like a steam locomotive: it works best when the boiler is riveted shut.

In other words, be careful how much you talk about a story before you actually write it, or you may lose momentum.

That said, sounds like you have an interesting premise. Good luck, and remember: bird by bird! (If that makes no sense, you need to read this book.)

I'm using these for halloween - 10 bucks and they look pretty good to be honest. Easy to paint any color you want.

http://www.amazon.com/Elope-LS7225-Potter-Quidditch-Goggles/dp/B0006IIV16

A vest with a collared shirt, perhaps. It gives the same look of a corset, but it would be more casual and definitely more comfortable.

I read it, and do NOT recommend it.

Book is too meh, relies too heavily on common tropes we've seen done time and time again better. The writing style is too slow and ponderous for my liking, while still managing to be imprecise. It's like they wrote it relying more on the ideas and topics then the actual story; it's the kind of thing that if was a movie you'd think was made by committee.

You want a good Steampunk book series? Myst; yes after the game. There are three, and they chronicle the fall and aftermath of a civilization from the perspective of a family. (Grandparent, Mother, Husband, Son, etc...)

Girl Genius is a little whimsical/fantastical to draw direct inspiration from, but it captures the spirit like none other.

Also, Gotham by Gaslight was fun.

Since The Difference Engine (a book I personally consider to be the standard and starting point of modern Steampunk) and Girl Genius (one of the best and most popular current works) are already up here....

Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee - Really unique book.

I'd also suggest this thread. Lots of good things here.

I have one of these, and it feels even cooler than it looks. It's got a really nice heftiness to it that makes it feel like more than a toy. Some people on amazon complained that the USB stick didn't work, but they went out of stock for a good while before coming back. I'm not sure if they fixed it or I just wasn't unlucky, because it works fine on mine.

It's pricey, but if you have the extra cash to burn it's a really cool little gadget. We got it for a murder mystery/ghost story/escape the room style adventure weekend we're creating for our little cousins, and after that's done I'm going to toss all of the things I've written on it and leave it in my library as a curio.

Sold out on amazon.