Defender: Helm with Plate

Today I attached the plate onto the front of the steampunk Defender helm. Not a lot left to do now. Mostly things that don't show.

Defender: The Aether Collector

Here is the working part of the Defender helmet: The luminiferous aether collection device. The neckguard will have a bank of ten of these little beauties.



Luminiferous aether is the substance which fills the upper regions of space beyond the clouds. It is the medium which allows light to travel. The luminiferous aether collection device was designed to gather the energy from the aether and convert it for personal use.

Defender: Adding Piping

To finish off the two eye openings on the mask, as well as the respirator openings I am stitching on leather piping. The mask parts are 4-5 oz leather, while the piping is only 2-3 oz, so it will more easily fold.



The pattern for the piping is a rectangle. Here you can see the piping piece at the bottom, and on one of the eye openings the piping has been attached. In addition to looking better, it makes attaching the resin eyepieces easier.

Defender: Starting the Mask

With the helmet nearing completion, I have begun on the mask. These two parts—the helmet and mask—could be worn alone, but they are designed to be worn together.



This is a variation of the gas mask, with two respirators on the sides of the snout replacing the single central one, which gives it an eerie alien look.



Each of the two eyepieces will be different. One of them will resemble a camera lens, and the other a porthole.



Here is a photo of the mask after the major leather pieces have all been stitched together.

Defender: Antiquing the Helm

I went ahead and riveted the crest to the helm, and then antiqued it all black. The purple and red now remain only as highlights, just the look I was after.



I've been building the luminiferous aether collection devices that fit into the neckguard trim, and I can't assemble that until they are all cast.



Meanwhile, I have started on the headlamp. Here is a photo of the lamp as I found it at a yard sale. I will break it apart, and then the lamp will attach to the front of the helm.

Defender: The Neckguard Trim

I will be adding a second layer of leather over the bottom edge of the neckguard, in order to reinforce it and make it lay smoother. If I make the trim the same size as the neckguard, and stitch them together, the resulting piece will want to lay flat, which I don't want. The neckguard should roughly form a half circle. In order to get it to readily make that shape I will make the trim piece longer than the base piece.

If you take two pieces of paper—one slightly shorter than the other—and fasten the ends together, it will bend into a curve. If you wrap tape around a tube, and keep adding it on over itself, the tape will build up in thickness, with the circumference of each turn being slightly larger than the previous one. Drafting a pattern for the neckguard uses the same principle.


I can make the patterns in paper, and bend and measure them to find the right size differential, but that won't be accurate for cutting it in leather because the leather is thicker than paper, and thus needs a larger differential. Add to that the fact that vegetable tanned leather—which I cut and stitch while damp—will shrink while drying, and I can only guess at how long the trim should be.



Here is the neckguard trim piece after cutting and dying.



And here it is tacked into position. The oblong openings will hold luminiferous aether collection devices.

Underground Explorer Raygun

To finish off the underground explorer's outfit for his formal photograph I put together a down and dirty "rock blaster" raygun.



You can cut through solid rock likes it's butter with this puppy!

Anybody recognize what I made this from?

Underground Explorer: Oxygen Canister

I have had a good response to my writing competition. Seems like there are a lot of writers happy for an excuse to create a short steampunk story.

The final piece of the undeground explorer helmet is the oxygen canister which connects to the leather snout. Pictured below is the antiqued canister with rubber tubing and the connection at the other end.


Still to construct is the leather strapping which will allow the canister to be worn on the back or over the shoulder. Brownie points to anyone who can identify the original item from which the canister was made.

I leave for Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA exactly one week from today, and the finished helmet will be the centerpiece of my display.

Steampunk Writing Competition

I am holding a competition to write the back story that will accompany my Underground Explorer helmet. I am looking for an original and creative tale of a steampunk genre that explains who the owner of the helmet is, and how the helmet came to be. Most if not all of the helmet’s features should be touched upon: The goggles, the respirator (snout), the comb with attached headlamp, and the attached breathing device.


The helmet as pictured is almost but not quite complete. The explorer will have an oxygen canister which connects to the respirator with a black corrugated rubber hose. The canister can be worn on the back or over the shoulder.


This story will be used to promote the sale of the helmet, and will be seen on Etsy, Flickr, and DeviantArt as well as being posted on my blog. The one element that must be adhered to is that the helmet is for underground exploration. It is made almost entirely of leather. The lamp is positionally adjustable. The goggles have dark lenses. The respirator has two side faux metal pieces in addition to the hose that connects to the oxygen canister. Both the goggles and the respirator are detachable.



The competition will run from now until May 31. I alone will be the judge and will determine the winner, who will be announced on June 1. The winner will receive a prize which consists of a $39 credit at my Etsy store, plus shipping. Most all of my cut out masks sell for $39, so think of it as your choice of a mask, although the winner can apply it anyway they want.

Please make your story between 300 and 500 words. You may submit more than one entry. Have fun and start writing! Get as crazy as you like. If you have any questions post them here on this blog. For your finished entry please email it to tom (at) tombanwell (dot) com.

Underground Explorer: Designing the Goggles

These giant sized paper glasses are my beginning attempt to work out the pattern for the goggles. This is going to take a lot of trial and error to get it right.

Underground Explorer: Lamp Comb is Finished

After focusing on the whale tooth for awhile I have returned my attentions to the Underground Explorer's helmet. Yesterday I reworked the comb pattern and remade it to fit properly, then I cut out the leather and hand-stitched it over the acrylic comb form. Today I painted it black, and antiqued it brown to give it that old look. After drying, I bolted and riveted the comb to the leather helm, and attached the lamp to the front.



I have decided on all of the design elements of the helmet, and have just two more to complete: The eyecover/goggles, and the oxygen canister which will hook up to the snout. With this equipment our intrepid explorer will be protected from extremes in pressure and temperature, as well as falling rocks. They will also have a bright light to see what lies before them, and have a fresh supply of oxygen to weather the pockets of foul air. Hopefully this will protect them from all unforseen dangers that might lurk ahead.

Scrimshaw Whale Tooth

After finishing the whale tooth and putting in on the stand, I realized that the scarab bead didn't look right. It was crudely carved and the color was too bright, and detracted from the tooth itself. So I removed it and to cover up the mark on the base I engraved a small 19th century looking black plate with gold lettering.

For the tooth I molded a sperm whale tooth that I had acquired years ago, then cast it in a polyurethane resin. I then sanded down the resin tooth smooth where the scrimshaw was to go, and engraved two steampunk scenes. This left the real ivory tooth undamaged. One side of the tooth shows a giant squid attacking the airship Gryphon.



And the other side shows a steamy mermaid. Here is the story I wrote to explain the history of the piece:

The old Chinese man loved his opium pipe more than any other thing on earth. Because of his devotion to it he had never married, and had long ago lost contact with his family. He had finally found his place in the world on a whaling ship, working as a cook, which allowed him ample time to enjoy his indulgence. It was here plying the seven seas that he learned the art of scrimshaw, scratching a design into a whale tooth, then rubbing lampblack into the marks to make it legible.

It was while in an opiate stupor that he saw the most amazing sight of his life—a giant squid attacking the airship Gryphon. He alone saw it, and the whalers laughed at his tale, but the old man swore it was true, and set about to record the event in bone. On the flip side of the tooth he copied a tattoo worn by one of the sailors, portraying a mermaid in steamy attire—wearing a corset with a set of goggles on her head, and carrying a raygun in her hand.

The old man lost his life while the ship was docked in Alexandria, stabbed to death in a knife fight while gambling in the seediest part of the city. His few possessions were scattered, and his scrimshawed whale tooth—his most precious belonging after his pipe—ended up in a curio shop. The owner paired it with a small display stand which fit it perfectly. It was a bronze casting which portrayed the Egyptian god Horus and lotus blossoms, mounted on a wooden base. He had a small plaque engraved which reads “The Attack of the Giant Tentacled Sea Monster”.

I have more pictures on my Etsy shop.

Scrimshaw Tooth Stand

I am just wrapping up my latest project: A whale tooth with steampunk scrimshaw scenes, which sits on an Egyptian themed base featuring the god Horus. I began by planning it all out, and wanting to be able to have the whale tooth display in several different positions, went looking for an Egyptian motif that could accomplish that. When I found a picture of the god Horus with his upraised wings I knew that would work well.


I proceeded to cut the design out of a sheet of plastic, and engraved the outline. The Horus pieces are made up of two layers of 1/8" acrylic glued together.
I then glued the parts together and made a silicone rubber mold. From the mold I cast the finished part out of cold cast bronze. The part in the photo is right out of the mold, with the bottom gate still attached, and the piece unpolished.

I gathered together the other pieces of the display stand: A walnut base, a turquoise colored scarab bead, and a square headed bolt (for that antique look) to hold the bronze casting to the base.

Here is the finished display stand. The bronze casting of Horus has been polished.

In this other view you can see the lotus blossom supports. My next blog will show the scrimshawed whale tooth along with the story behind the project.

Underground: First Comb Attempt

I constructed the helmet comb out of leather and it has some problems, the major one being it is too small once the wet leather shrank.


Although I will have to remake it this picture gives a pretty good idea of how it will look. Of course once the lamp is mounted onto the front it will change again.

Space Helmet: The Eyehole Trim

I'm pretty much making up the design of this piece as I go along. When I found the helmet at the yard sale, I knew I wanted to copy the basic shape in leather, but beyond that I had no plans. Once I had stitched the leather pieces together and removed them from the helmet, I knew that I would have to reinforce all raw edges to keep it from being too floppy.

So today—besides antiquing the helmet and snout, and adding the required snaps—I made a trim piece to go around the eye opening. I gussied it up a bit to make it interesting, adding some cut outs, dyed it black and riveted it onto the helm. Sure enough, it reduces the flop factor.

When I add on the collar it should significantly help the helmet hold its shape.

Designing a Steampunk Spaceman's Helmet

Today, Sunday, my wife and I went to some yard sales. Now sometimes you find nothing, and other times you find one gem. Just as we were about to leave one sale emptyhanded, I spotted a plastic astronaut's helmet. When I inquired about the price, the seller said $1--uh, 50¢--fearing I wouldn't cough up a whole dollar for this plastic helmet that was missing the visor. Of course, I saw much more in it. I knew I could pull a pattern off of it and remake it as a steampunk leather helmet!

Here is the plastic helmet as I bought it.

After thinking about how to break it up into separate leather pieces, I taped it all over with duct tape to make the patterns, and marked the divisions.

Here I've cut off the duct tape using an Xacto knife, and laid it down on heavy paper.

Next I've smoothed out the lines, removed the duct tape, and cut out the heavy paper patterns.

Next using the patterns I cut out the leather pieces, and punched the stitching holes, along with snap and buckle holes. I am leaving the front piece that covers the mouth removable so that the wearer can take it off for eating, etc.

Here I've stitched together the left center piece and the left side piece to see if it will work. I used a seam that exposes the edges, but after seeing it I think I'll remove the thread and do it over with an overlapping seam so that it will lie flat.

I will post more later as I progress on this project.

Flea Market Raygun Finds

Twas a beautiful Spring day, and I went to a local flea market searching for raygun components. Here is what I found.




From top to bottom: A toy cap pistol with good metal parts and a very crude wooden handle; a timing light, all shiney chrome; and an old water sprayer. With a little bit of fixing up and love, these can be made into rayguns. The top one will make a nice air pirate pistol, and the timing light will make a nice futuristic firearm.

Raygun 66: Shaping the Grip

The grip model (black and white on the left) was molded and cast in resin (gray on the right). I wanted the top of the grip to be narrower than the bottom, so I bandsawed the casting right down the middle and sanded a bevel onto both halves. Then I glued the two parts together, and filled in the crack with Bondo™. I'm still trying to figure out what carved design I will inset into the sides of the grip.

Raygun 66: Molding the Grip

The acrylic sheet and Bondo™ construct of the grip is ready to mold for casting. The popcorn cup will get hot-glued down around the grip to hold in the liquid silicone rubber. The wooden dowel and clay below the grip will form an opening in the mold called the gate, through which the rubber will be poured (the mold is made upside down). I will leave it overnight, then cut the mold apart using an Xacto™ knife.

Starting a Second Raygun

After having so much fun making my first raygun—the Raughnold Model 81—I have decided to put together a second one.



These are the parts I'm starting off with: A meat grinder part (bottom), a floral candleholder end (center) (I'm guessing), and a chromed drink pour spout (left). For the grip I've decided to fabricate my own and cast it in resin pieces(right). Each side will have a faux ivory carving inset into the dark colored base. I've made the rough model of the grip by cutting black acrylic sheet and gluing several layers together. To round it off a bit I've filled in the cracks with pink Bondo™ body putty and sanded it down. Next I will make a rubber mold of the grip, then cast it in resin and rework that to get the final shape.


My inspiration came from the pocket pistols of the 19th century, that ladies (and gents) could carry unobtrusively. I love the grips that have the fancy carving on them, and thought of how it would be relatively easy—with my experience working with resin—to construct a nice one in the Steampunk style. Also when I found the pour spout I felt it would make a great middle section of the raygun. Notice some of my sketches for this project.