Ms Bret wrote to say that if you take a look at her site, she’s been doing a series of fashion photography recently with a very heavy Steampunk leaning – there are currently eight specifically Steampunk images (such as the one above, with that lovely dusty effect) and a couple of rather nice Alice in Wonderland themed ones too! The colours are really marvellous with wonderful richness (and it must be said that the clothing selections are wonderful too – I do hope it’s not just the goggles talking.) There’s one or two images in the non-Steampunk section that might have the more delicate employers get a little bothered (one with a topless lady at an angle, the other with what looks like half a mouse – first and second from the left on the second row, respectively) but most of them are perfectly fine for all situations. New photographs are often seen on the Steampunk Fashion livejournal community (which is downright thriving these days, I might add). Lovely work, Ms Bret.

[edit - Foolishly I somehow managed to edit away the link to her site while writing the post - I do apologise, and the link is now included properly.  So sorry.] 

Over at Neatorama, they just posted about a new Flash based adventure point and click game set in 1904 called Covert Front.  This, episode one, seems to tell the tale of Europe at war, and several important scientists gone missing – you, a beautiful and mysterious agent are sent to investigate another important man who has gone missing in the last few days.

So far (and I’m generally quite terrible at these games) I’ve encountered curious steam boilers, secret rooms, mysterious technology and suspicious manservants.  It’s a very stylish game, and just how Steampunk it is (although set very slightly late – some definite Pulp elements) I cannot say without getting further.  Alas, I am stuck at the moment.

Do let me know how you get on, and if you can figure out how to light that darned lamp!

Ms Jade wrote to say that she’d posted about the process and results of her own forays into the dark arts of Steampunk Lady Apron making (originally inspired by Ms Pollock).  From how she made and molded the lovely little cogs on the front, to the trials and tribulations of not quite having enough fabric, she’s shown how the process went and seems to be very happy with the results!

These two ladies show that there is no real excuse for looking anything less than utterly prepared for the next madly scientific (or similar) task ahead.  Wonderful stuff and definitely one of those situations where you think – why hadn’t someone done this before?

Mr Keppel points out some stunning kits offered by the German company, Sun Watch (translated) – one of which is the above Magic Lantern kit!  Constructed from stiff cardboard, and arriving with lenses, electric lights and a series of slides, all that is left to do is assemble and glue the contraption together.  It looks marvellous for a cardboard kit, and the company also does microscopes, telescopes, Stirling engines(!), sextants and sundials – it’s all I can do not to convince myself I need one of each!  I’ve not found a specifically UK or US supplier for these yet, but this company seems to ship internationally (it is battery powered, not mains).
Of course, if you were feeling slightly more adventurous (or less wealthy) you could attempt to make your own by following the instructional video on a slide projector recently posted on Make (thank you, Lucky).  I’m sure with the correct Steampunk styled casing it’d be a delight to behold.

Professor Hardbottle wrote to point out some simply marvelous images from the 2006 Great Race of London at the Dickens Christmas Fair (San Francisco).  A race for the princely sum of £5,000 Sterling using pedaled vehicles of marvelous style attracted apparently few entrants, but those of a very high quality indeed – but as is the case with many such endeavors, apparently all did not go perfectly smooth as demonstrated by apparent Mummy attacks and close encounters of the tea trolley kind.  Oh, and the most stunning ‘flight pack’ above from Professor Flocknocker – very Steampunk indeed! All in all, it looked like a wonderful event (though, I’m not sure who won!).  In fact, I’m quite sorry not to be able to attend the whole Dickens Christmas Fair shebang in general – it sounds delicious!  (Also, I found this image of Ms Havisham and her adoptee, Estella – I thought it was a wonderful photograph, though I do not know the story behind it, or which Fair it was taken at.)

(Please note, it turns out the previous image I used, showing Professor Flocknocker in a rather impressive rocket pack, wasn’t freely available to use – and I’ve removed it at the wishes of the photographer.  The image above is by Flickr user sgilpin80.)

Mr Keppel wrote admiring the beauty of old tube testers and portable analysers – and if you have ever admired a Bakelite dial or (as above) an gauge with options for “Bad”, “Good” or “?” then you will be quite in heaven at the above page on the site of Mr Johnsons’s Antique Radios and Radio Schematics.  Reminding me in no small part of the (young mind scarring) visage of the machine at the start of Return to Oz, these are beautiful and terrifying boxed cacophonies of knobs and dials – all of mysterious use and dubious safety.  Admittedly a little late for us (generally 1920′s to 30′s or so) but so lovely I could not help myself.  Thank you, Mr Keppel.

Who would have thought that a dragon’s preferred mode of transport would be a Vespa, but so it is – and this particular Vespa (named Quell) has been given a custom paint job to give it a very intricate, Steampunk, wood and brass effect!  The Honky-Tonk Dragon has posted innumerable photographs of both the process and the end results – with more closeups than you can shake a stick at (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3).  There’s detail shots of the side furnace painting, the internal tesla-coil powered ignition effect and the scroll-work that if you squint just right appears to spell out the word Quell – hence the name.  I’d love for there to be some more pictures in future, as the flash on a camera is a harsh mistress on occasion (and especially at night) but time was short.  Very well done, Mr Dragon – you deserve that grin beneath your mustache!

Wardian Cases were invented in 1829 by a gentleman by the name of Dr. Nathanial Bagshaw Ward, who was an avid fern collector in London. However, the air pollution in London at the time was so bad (known as ‘pea-soupers’ and caused by the smoke and sulpur dioxide from the coal fires) that his ferns would die off – delicate things that they were. He also kept glass jars with moths in them, and noticed that some of the ferns would make a go of it from within the tightly sealed glass – and so he asked his carpenter to create him a glazed case, shut fast against the air.

They were known as Wardian Cases, after the good Doctor Ward (although invented independantly some years before by A.A. Maconochie, but never publicized), and created a revolution in botanical transportation – whereas previously precious plants would have to be sent in seed or tuber form (or die from the salt and the upheval) now they could be shut in these glass cases (somewhat like the image above, from Flickr user unertlkm) and would most likely survive the trip. Of course, such a stern and practical version wouldn’t survive the Victorians and multiple ornate and detailed styles emerged. Apparently they do very well these days too, requiring only infrequent watering, indirect sunlight and occasional airing (good grief – perhaps even I could make one and keep it green!).  Personally, I’d love to see one on the back of one of those light-seeking robots – a real traveling greenhouse!

Over at the forum, honoured member Cazouillette has crafted this creature of dreams and nightmares from beautiful brass, clockwork and sculpey.  While you can quite easily imagine it click clicking and tick ticking on those breathtakingly sharp points, it does not, at this time, possess the ability to move.  Perhaps I heard a collective sigh of relief from certain groups of readers, and sighs of disappointment from others.  It’s a wonderful creation, small enough for the palm of the hand and was built to accommodate three pocket watch keys (as ‘program keys) in its abdomen.  Oh it just looks so very much like it is about to scutter off somewhere for mischief.  Ticky ticky ticky…. Tap tap tap.  Beautiful work, Cazouillette!

Over at the Wired “The Underwire” blog, there’s an entry about the above modified magic lantern called “Email Lantern (My Ghost Writer)” by Daniel Liss. In much the same practicality range as Mr Von Slatt’s RSS morse ticker, the Email Lantern projects emails sent to it one letter at a time with a scrolling alphabet. The video shows how it points out the letters, and you really have to concentrate to get the individual letters and words – not something to blindly glance at. It’s being shown (and operated) at New York University Interactive Telecommunication Program’s 2007 Spring Show (what a mouthful!) and apparently you can send an email to it live to get projected. I’d recommend sending something short, if I were you. chuckles Definitely fits into the impractical but lovely side of Steampunk contraptions.