Steampunk Alert!

        It’s ten days until Hallowe’en and the costumes are complete!  So here we are, P having instigated a full-scale photo shoot to show off our finery.  He is ever-resourceful airship captain and inventor Nathaniel Tarlington.  I am Anna Nightingale, explorer and bard.  T is the odd one out, being a woodland elf involving no steam or machinery of any sort.  I’m the odd one out in that I will not actually be dressing up for Hallowe’en, having no place to go!  My costume is by way of encouragement and company for the others to make theirs.  (I’ll focus on the elven costumes another time: today it’s a Steampunk Alert.  It’s a shame we didn’t have some cool gaslit alley or retro industrial warehouse in which to stage our photo shoot, but what we do have is a yard and a lovely day, so we really can’t complain.)

        Without further ado, allow me to draw your attention to the highlights of our steampunkery.  First up, the requisite goggles designed not merely to protect the eyes but to provide assorted other vital (though somewhat ill-defined) functions.  P’s ray gun was shown already here, but his gauntlet is the newly completed masterpiece, involving a keypad, antenna, energy gauge, and energized dart mini-gun (with its clip of mini-darts.)  Its component parts include an old gardening glove, broken watch case, ball-point pen spring, length of broken watch band found in the gutter, metal number brads which P bought at a craft store, and a gorgeous piece of unidentified turned steel supplied by his uncle the scientist who donated some scraps from his work with instruments.  The picture also shows P’s pocket altimeter, which measures up to 25,000 feet both above and below sea level, since his airship can, when necessary, convert to a submarine.  I also really like his captain’s badge worn on his vest, (which he actually made some time ago but hadn’t come up with a use for until now.  Note more ballpoint pen springs.  Good thing I can never resist saving them when my pens die!)

        For my own costume, here are my goggles and gauges.  I posted a picture of the mechaniola before, and have made only minor tweaks to it since then.  I did want to include this necklace with which I am well pleased even though I can’t really wear it with the costume for fear of scratching and clanking against the mechaniola.  On the other hand, I can wear it on non-costumed occasions, which are considerably more plentiful.
        Happy costuming fun!

[Pictures: P, AEGN, and T wielding our weapons of choice;

P’s costume details: goggles, gauntlet, badge;

A’s costume details: gauges, goggles, necklace (Photos by AEGN and PGN, 2014).]