Steampunk Jargon = Glee
Yesterday after work I spent TWO hours at Elliot's Hardware--most of that on the plumbing fittings aisle--looking for more parts for my ray gun. I got a couple of brass tee thingies and a couple of brass tube thingies to go with the cat toy to make the aether collector that sits on top.
Now I just need to decide on what to use for the power converter housing. I think I know what I want, but I don't know how I'm going to attach the handle and the aether collector to it. I may have to get a plastic version that I can screw into and then just paint it. That would have the added benefit of keeping the overall weight down. However, I don't want it to be too front heavy. A metal pipe for the pch would help to counter balance the weight of the focusing/firing chamber on the front end. Whatever I use needs to be able to accept (either by screwing in or gluing on) the miniature portable electromagnetic engines on the back end.
Speaking of, I still don't know how I'm going to actually make the mpees. I keep thinking of using an exotic fuse of some sort, but I am a tad leery of using something with glass tubes for a prop that will actually be carried around and used to threaten goons. Another thought was mounting a piece of dicrotic glass or tile onto something. I want the mpee to be something I can also make up on it's own as a stand alone prop to carry around. (Because you really don't want to run out of batteries when escaping the Lair of the Evil Dude)
It looks like I'll be teaching or co-teaching a Steampunk 101 class next spring for the guild. Probably in February. I had originally wanted to have a matched pair of guns and have been buying everything in twos. I'm thinking that if I actually get around to constructing my Personal Aether Focusing Discreator (Deluxe Model with Leather Wrapped Grip) and Portable Miniature Electromagnetic Engines (Extras Available Upon Request for a Small Additional Fee) before the class, I should only make one and have the pieces of the second to show what the completed one was made from.
Steampunk: looking at a plastic ball with a bell in it and thinking "Dude! That would so totally MAKE the aether collector dish!"
Now I just need to decide on what to use for the power converter housing. I think I know what I want, but I don't know how I'm going to attach the handle and the aether collector to it. I may have to get a plastic version that I can screw into and then just paint it. That would have the added benefit of keeping the overall weight down. However, I don't want it to be too front heavy. A metal pipe for the pch would help to counter balance the weight of the focusing/firing chamber on the front end. Whatever I use needs to be able to accept (either by screwing in or gluing on) the miniature portable electromagnetic engines on the back end.
Speaking of, I still don't know how I'm going to actually make the mpees. I keep thinking of using an exotic fuse of some sort, but I am a tad leery of using something with glass tubes for a prop that will actually be carried around and used to threaten goons. Another thought was mounting a piece of dicrotic glass or tile onto something. I want the mpee to be something I can also make up on it's own as a stand alone prop to carry around. (Because you really don't want to run out of batteries when escaping the Lair of the Evil Dude)
It looks like I'll be teaching or co-teaching a Steampunk 101 class next spring for the guild. Probably in February. I had originally wanted to have a matched pair of guns and have been buying everything in twos. I'm thinking that if I actually get around to constructing my Personal Aether Focusing Discreator (Deluxe Model with Leather Wrapped Grip) and Portable Miniature Electromagnetic Engines (Extras Available Upon Request for a Small Additional Fee) before the class, I should only make one and have the pieces of the second to show what the completed one was made from.
Steampunk: looking at a plastic ball with a bell in it and thinking "Dude! That would so totally MAKE the aether collector dish!"