The Steampunk thread
- Thread starter Wardsweb
- Start date
Arkay
Lunatic Member
Lacking? Well, maybe in the lower gears, but the high gears look fine to me!
I see/hear Heidelberg presses almost every day, as I pass a couple of print shops near my home that still use them. There were a few other brands, but mostly Heidelbergs; it seems they were the "preferred" brand. There used to be many more around, but the neighborhood they are in --previously a "printing district" has been "yuppified" (ruined, if you ask me!) with trendy restaurants and art galleries taking over in recent years. There was one printer down the street from me which used to run in the evenings, with the shopfront open. If I opened my window, I could hear its rhythmic "breathing". It has since been replaced with some kind of advertising or internet business, silent as a tomb. Sometimes I pause outside of the shops and watched the printers moving, moving... really wonderful pieces of engineering. I like them!
I've "assembled" things from found bits since I was a kid, many of them what would today be called "steampunk", although the term didn't exist when I started. I LOVE creating robotic and fancy stuff that looks great (and if possible, works, or at least appears to), from found junk. I've had some ideas for a few decades that I would have acted on, which would have lead to complete, integrated and by now famous large-scale business ventures along "steampunk" lines, if it weren't for the fact that the required space is too expensive here in Hong Kong, and I don't want to move and start the hard way elsewhere, when it would take a year or more (up to three) to build up what would be needed before starting to turn a profit. You can't make a serious business of it small-scale (too labor and time-intensive), and larger scale requires space, abundant elsewhere but in short supply (and hence way too expensive) here. I have in mind integrated entertainment/restaurant/products like nothing that actually exists in the world, complete with original story lines, etc... I've thought of putting it within commuting distance of the Disneyland and/or city areas here, where there would be sufficient patronage, but the required lead time to build up the decor and such is too great. Supply of parts for such things is super-abundant here, if you know where to look, but the cost of the space required to assemble them into worthwhile things (pre-construction period) is a "deal-killer", unless you have deeper pockets than I do. Even with investment money, things could be built in Australia, but parts sourcing there is inadequate. It could be done across the border in Mainland China at a cheap enough cost, but that opens up several more cans of worms. Nothing unsurmountable, but I'm not in a position with current resources to pull it off, and 99 percent of the population wouldn't be able to imagine what I envisage, since they'd never seen it before, so trying to raise adequate financing would be a challenge. [Try explaining those steampunk pictures to someone who hasn't seen anything like them... and what I have in mind isn't exactly like them, either.] Unless I win a big lottery or something, this will remain no more than a dream in my head. Sigh...:sigh: Some day, perhaps many years from now, someone will do this...
chillwolf
"Play 'em off!"
Just got done reading a novel called "The Difference Engine", it was pretty intriguing. It was based on Babbage's engine and took place in Victorian England.
similost
Rockin and Rollin....
This thread keeps inspring me to punk my new amps.. yeah,, shiny cool chrome and a bad ass layout would be cool, but I'm really sarting to lean towards something really cool and 1800's looking.. I think soundmotor has helped me lean that way with his amp.. THe big caps on the top side sure would lend theirselves well towards it... :scratch2:
ozmoid
Lunatic Member
Steampunk Art installation in London and New York - the "Telectroscope".
Check out "The Golden Compass" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"
Zeppelins, Horseless carriages, 8 wheeled autos, and Nemo's Nautilus the size of an aircraft carrier.
If you are into retropunk (1930s), try "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"
Lynch's version of "Dune" is a good source, too.
Brass fittings, monorails, gold plated spaceships.
Zeppelins, Horseless carriages, 8 wheeled autos, and Nemo's Nautilus the size of an aircraft carrier.
If you are into retropunk (1930s), try "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"
Lynch's version of "Dune" is a good source, too.
Brass fittings, monorails, gold plated spaceships.
