Steampunk and its growing following

[Rani Zemirah]

Aww, that sucks, Taffy!!!  Maybe you can get them replaced, since they tore before you even got to wear them?

[Taffy Saltwater]

Unfortunately, you can rarely return vintage clothing.  Besides, I like these enough that it's worth it to me to have them fixed up.  The funny thing is that the boots are made out of heavy-duty leather, but the lacing panels are made from a much lighter weight leather.

Hy vorked on de foks skulls svag for Mamma's bustle today.  Dey is zip tied to a chain and looks very Jager.  But Vy oh Vy doesn't Mamma haff a nize hat?  Mebbe she can't vear vun over dat double decker bun.

[Rani Zemirah]

Oops, my fail... missed the vintage part!  LOL 

Been lookin' though all these newly posted linkys and, WOW...  I am soooooo lusting after some of this stuff!!!  Gettin' some really great ideas from it, also, though, so I don't feel so bad about not being able to afford any of it...  heheh.

Mamma, vhat for hyu haer izz zooo big?!? Hyu knows ve Jagerkin needz ze nyze hatz!!!

[Taffy Saltwater]

For schur dis Jagervoman needs a nize hat.  Besides de fact dat de Jagers are hawt und schmot enuff in der own vay, dey vear de nizest hats - very impawtent.  Maybe she lost hers in the same way Maxim lost his.

What's kind of nice about SP is that it seems to be somewhat easier to find.  I saw boatloads of good SP'able clothes at the Goodwill & Salvation Army, if only I was a lot thinner.  I found a great pair of camel colored, suede granny boots the last time I was there.

[Tanyor]

http://www.gentlemansemporium.com

http://jas-townsend.com/index.php

For the more conservative approach to Steampunk.


Taffy count me in All Hallow's eve will have a buddy also.

I think I going to attempt a Aerocowboy type character

[Taffy Saltwater]

UPDATED ALL HALLOW'S SATURDAY STEAM PUNKER'S BADGE LIST:

Grov
Rani Zemirah
Eloquent XI
Duckie (oops! sorry I missed you!)
tastypasty
Tanyor & companion
Stephanie Lady Perfumer

[Grov]

Good scores today.  My ebay goggles came in.  My Army Surplus guy connected me with a gas mask, WWII canvas spats/leggings, and another set of goggles.  Found a decent pair of kahki cargo pants at the thrift store.  Need to get raw materials for modification now.  Planning on garage sale hunting Sat morning.

[Taffy Saltwater]

Ooooh, Grov - exciting buys!  We're are so totally going to steam up the fair!

[Rani Zemirah]

Been bouncing ideas back and forth with my S'Punk crafting enabler/enablee most of the afternoon, and I'm so jazzed I can hardly stand it!!!  Sent off a package of goodies, and expect to receive one soon, with cool stuff to use/wear/create with!  I'm a little giddy with it all, and it's really fun to be so excited about garb again...  LOL 

Been shopping garage sales, thrift stores and flea markets like a fiend, and will be hitting craft/hobby stores soon, as well as the hardware store... 

Found the most incredible piece to turn into my ray gun, and lots of pieces for a more impressive weapon, as well...  Crew needs to be well armed, right?!?   

[eloquentXI]

Good scores today.  My ebay goggles came in.  My Army Surplus guy connected me with a gas mask, WWII canvas spats/leggings, and another set of goggles.  Found a decent pair of kahki cargo pants at the thrift store.  Need to get raw materials for modification now.  Planning on garage sale hunting Sat morning.

Grov- huge favor, should your surplus guy come across another set of goggles, could you please have them grab them for me, the older and more rusty, the better. I'll paypal you some money for them!

And good luck garage saling, that's where I found both of my guns.

And damn right, a crew needs to be well armed Rani! I've got a ray gun AND a shot gun...what? Me? Trigger happy? Nah!! 

Speaking of, here's some photos of guns and said progress on them...about to start detailing the shotgun. Am letting the second side dry on the water gun thoroughly before going back in for round two of detailing, matching up the detailing, and making sure stuff is pretty smooth before I move onto spray painting it all.



And then here are the photos of the fabric I bought for my corset, and then the pattern for teh shirt that I'm going have made, adn then the boots that were given to me. Its slowly but surely starting to piece itself together!

[Stephanie, lady perfumer]

Hey! Ya'll are giving me an excuse to make SP garb! I've been a fan of the look for a while now but I have not had anywhere to wear it. I love post-apocalyptic stories, anachronistic technologies and all this fun stuff.

Maybe some of yall also love Firefly & Serenity? I hadn't thought of it as steampunky until someone pointed it out, but its got the same juxtaposition of high tech and gritty adventureous frontiers.

I think my pirate outfit this year will be turn out instead to be a Sky Pirate! I have an idea for a brass eyepiece that's somewhere between a monocle and a spyglass. 

BTW, I go to TRF so I'd love you meet yall at All Hallow's! (Taffy, what is a badge?)

[Taffy Saltwater]

Stephanie Lady Perfumer - a badge is just a fancy favor.  I'm still waiting on parts to come in the mail.  Will add your name to the badge list.

I need to make a cane - anyone got any ideas?

[Grov]

What kind of paint are you using on those plastic guns Elo?  Did you lay down a coat of any primer first?  Hope I can score a shotgun like that one. 

[Rani Zemirah]

Taffy, you could get a piece of bamboo (which is very period for the time) and find and old brass or bronze door knob for the handle.  There are some pretty fancy cut glass knobs to be found also, with brass or bronze fittings, that would look superb, as well.

Elo, LOVE the boots (had a pair exactly like 'em until they fell apart after years of wear), the shirt and corset are going to be gorgeous, and the guns... WOW!!!  I can't wait to see the finished pieces!!!

I've been busy searching out the most fun, crazy and inspiring things ever... and I don't think I've paid over two dollars for any single piece except my skirt, which was $2.99 at the thrift...  It's almost exactly the outer shell of the skirt pic I posted earlier, complete with the straps and buckles in the same place, if you can believe it!?!  Now to add the frilly layers underneath.  Not sure if I'll attach them to the skirt, itself, or just stitch them onto an altered petticoat.

Ok... I'm gonna give up a major secret here... I'm building at least two weapons, and they're both being built out of...  candlesticks...  You know, the big, heavy brass kind that unscrew into sections?  Take them apart and either screw them together in different configurations, or cut off the threaded ends and weld them at the joins.  I've got a welder in the family (lucky me!), but any auto body shop will weld "children's toys", and many times for free.  Of course, it's always nice to offer something for their time and effort...  For the stocks I'm going to try to carve something from a wonderful ash branch I got from Grov, and I'll probably make the trigger and trigger guard out of brass "O" rings, cut and ground to fit.  I may have to use a bit of Sculpy clay here and there just to get the joins between wood and metal smooth, but we'll see.  I'd love to be able to find an old rifle butt, or even a broken bb gun to use, but I've got plenty of time to figure it all out.

Other than that, I'm collecting old wind up alarm clocks from garage sales and wherever, to take apart for the gears and workings inside, so I can make my own jewelry and gizmos to wear and carry...  I'll try to eventually post pics, but that's down the road a ways...

Oh!  Welcome aboard, Stephanie!!!  Glad you're joining us!

Happy Steaming, all you Punky people!!!   

[Taffy Saltwater]

OMG, Rani - I'm getting palpitations just thinking of all the madgirl stuff you are doing.  And I love that hyu got hyur skirt at a thrift store.  Can hardly wait to see it put together.

As far as the cane, it's a load-bearing aid (and in my case, quite a load), so bamboo - though cute - just is too delicate.  Thought I'd run to Ace and look at their copper pipe for the shaft and see if I can find some kind of plumbing fitting that will work for the handle.  I could maybe pad the handle w/some foam and leather.  I found out the hard way last year at fair that I have to use a cane religiously for long-distance walking, which fair certainly is.