Saturday, September 29, 2012

Saturday Steam 9/29/12

Would you believe this:



...is a NINTENDO?


Absolutely gorgeous mod by Andrew - you can see some in-process shot in his Imgur album. (Thx for the link, Jacob M.!)

And while we're mixing steampunk with retro gaming systems:

How about this steampunk "Monster Arcade" by Doug Haffner? The green portholes on the sides have holographic images of Frankenstien and his bride in them, and I'm digging that rich blue lighting underneath. Hit the link for build photos. (Thx, Erik!)


You know how a lot of people have bucket lists? Well, I have a *craft* bucket list, and making my own nixie tube clock is on it. Here are a few I've been drooling over:


Amy J. sent this one over from Steve's Nixie Clocks. I like how the glass case lets you see all the circuitry inside - plus the reflection looks super cool:


And here's a neat idea: John Clark Mills put his nixie tube clock in an old mantle clock case:

 Such a great way to rescue and re-use old clock cases!

And finally, Instructables member Hellboy added blue LEDs, acrylic tubing, and found objects to make one of the most stunning and unique nixie tube clocks I've ever seen:

 WOW. 
Hit the link up there for his step-by-step tutorial.

There are kits online for building and wiring your own nixie tube clock, so if you're curious just google around a bit. (Sadly I have no specific venders to recommend. If you do, though, please let me know in the comments!)

And finally, Audrey F. over in France sent me a few snapshots of an amazing carousel located in the city of Nantes, the birthplace of Jules Verne. It's called "Le Carrousel Les Machines" and is themed around Verne and his work, so there's plenty of sealife and steampunky contraptions:



I was so intrigued I went looking for more, and found a video of the carousel in action:

As you can see, Audrey's pics barely scratch the surface of the jaw-dropping awesomeness. It's a carousel of automatons! I AM IN AWE.

And as if that weren't enough, I also found a video of some creatures they were planning to add to the carousel in the future. Since the video is a year old, I wonder if they're already there now?

AH - wait for it - MAZING. That sea dragon! Swoon.

So next time you're in Paris, swing by and take a ride on the seahorse for me, k?


That's all for this week! Hope you're having a sensational weekend, and as always, if you see something steamy you'd like to share, hit me up in the comments or over on Facebook!

23 comments:

  1. This is so cool. You always post the best finds. I am planning on visiting Europe next summer, and have another destination we must see! Thanks.

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  2. Those nixie tube clocks are SO COOL!

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  3. That carousel was the bomb diggity!
    I wish I had known about it earlier my friend just got back from paris a few days ago I could have pestered her into taking pictures of it.

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  4. My husband has been working on his nixie tube clock for a few months now. We're actually headed to our local makers faire today so he can get a few more tips on de-soldering. He's a pretty big arduino geek (he built a lightning trigger for his camera so we now have lots of cool lighting pictures). But yeah I'll send some pictures of the clock when it is finished (on a side note do you have any idea how hard it is to find metal mesh/grating with a hex pattern that isn't huge or chicken wire? Its hard!)

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  5. That Nintendo is incredibly impressive. We had to take our old Nintendo apart to get it working but our revamped cover was a tupperware container! Ha!

    If only we had aimed higher. . .

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  6. Okay I'm apparently not awake yet, I looked at the first clock picture and went "huh? that's too many numbers..." it took me a while to figure out duh, ya suppose those are seconds? I'm gonna go take a nap now. Love the 'punked Nintendo!

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  7. Alright, so clearly I have to head to France. ASAP. It's on my "to visit" list now.

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  8. Have you ever played the game Syberia by BenoƮt Sokal? If you haven't, you definitely need to check it out. I think you'd get a huge kick out of it. There's even a sequel. :)

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  9. I love carousels. Sadly I have no plans to visit France but if I did I fear my entire trip would be spent just on this little beauty!

    Thank you Jen for sharing such amazing finds with us...

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  10. There is a BIGGER carousel! WOW! This is going on my bucket list.
    http://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/fr/les-machines-de-l-ile/le-carrousel-des-mondes-marins/presentation/

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  11. All I can say is WOWSERS! That is darn amazing! I also love the sea dragon, Jen. But then again, I love dragons!

    Love the clocks too.......reminds me of the "Back To The Future" movies.

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  12. The machines from Nantes are all worth looking at on YouTube. The huge elephant is probably their best known automaton.

    Hubby is in awe of the Nintendo. I love the nixie tube mantel clock. I don't care if they were invented in the 1950's; they look Steampunk!

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  13. Did anyone else find that the little tentacle things on the dragon's face reminded them of The Luggage (from Discworld)? That carousel so cool! One more reason to stay in French class...

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  14. What an amazing carousal! Think about how fun a costume photoshoot would be there.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  15. For the record, Nantes isn't close enough to Paris that you can just jaunt over there to ride a carousel. :) I wish it were. I'd be over there in a flash....

    @Marie, definitely put it on your list. Nantes is beautiful. There's also a pretty amazing mechanical elephant in the same general area. And Noirmoutier (an adorable little island) is only a two hour bus ride away. Check that out if you can, too.

    There's a Jules Verne festival coming up here in Paris in couple of weeks. Wish I could afford it....

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  16. Oooh, they're all so pretty!

    Not related at all, but when someone sent this to my boyfriend yesterday I thought of you, haha.

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  17. Thank you for making my hubby's day when you posted the Nintendo link he sent you! He hasn't been able to stop talking about how awesome it was to go onto Epbot and see the link (and the thanks) you posted. Thank you!

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  18. For the Nintendo mod the tools that hold the rivet holes in alignment until you can rivet them all are called cleco, you need to buy a set of them plus the pliers here's a link on amazon for them
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008324AG2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A3I835QP9MZHR5

    For the finishing on the rivets in the video he used a rivet shaver which is primarily marketted by the airplane industry. The normal version of this is rather expensive apparently because the tools are pneumatic. You have to by a bit and a collet for it. If anyone has a link for a hobby version of it I'd love to follow it!

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  19. Le Carousel Les Machines is beautiful! It reminds me of the book The Night Circus, oddly... There's a living carousel in it.

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  20. There is a similar carousel in Geneva's botanical gardens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xglAo_SY8nc. Hope you enjoy! :)

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  21. Love this! I found this and thought of you. It's not all steampunk, but what there is is great.

    http://pinterest.com/jadeblue82/my-style/

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  22. Hi Jen, do you know these two brands of craft supplies? They've got gears and other vintage crafty goodness: http://timholtz.com/ http://livewithprima.com/

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  23. Thank you so much Jen for featuring my pictures!

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