Steam Punk is hip, has been for ages, well, since the industrial revolution at least. The industrial revolution in north west England founded the modern western working world; a modern world that’s re-interpreting what it means to be steam powered. At the forefront has been Neal Stephenson and William Gibson with the novel The Difference Engine, continued by Stephenson in the The Baroque Cycle series of novels. Since then though it’s gone mainstream, art, cartoons and robots. Yay.

First up, how about a steam powered Macintosh?

For this is the Steam Powered Internet Machine: the latest deeply eccentric project from Turner-prizewinning artist Jeremy Deller and his collaborator Alan Kane. “We were thinking about something that connects the industrial revolution and the digital revolution,” said Deller. Kane added: “They are worlds apart but there’s also a proximity. The steam age and the digital age are not so far apart.” Link

A G3 iMac not hip enough for you? How about some steam powered Transformers?

Ever wondered what form your favorite Transformers would take if they existed in different eras? Wonder no more, as IDW’s new Evolutions line will look at some special out-of-continuity tales involving the Robots in Disguise. The line makes its debut in June with the four-part Hearts of Steel. In this standalone miniseries, writer Chuck Dixon and Transformers artist supreme Guido Guidi transplant the ‘bots to the Industrial Revolution, where a charismatic hammer-man named John Henry discovers that a steam drill is really an alien robot named Bumblebee. Link

Slightly more sedate, but hip in its own way and at least it exists right now unlike the above comic, we have steam punk Lego. Yes, Lego. All on a Flickr set.

Scaling up in skill and utter coolness factor we have actual steambots. These are over on Crabfu. Just how cool are these?

Q: Are these all steam powered? how does it work?
A: Yes. The locomotion is steam powered. Water is boiled in the boiler, producing steam pressure which powers the pistons. Here is a PIC with the parts of the Steam Trilobite Tank explained

Q: What made you decide to make these?
A: I’m interested in old Victorian tech and Steampunk. After getting my first steam engine, I was fascinated by how it runs. However, it was a stationary engine, and did not do anything but run on a platform. I then tried to look up where to buy cool r/c steam vehicles and robots, then realized that no one made them. So I started making them :) Besides, I needed a good reason to play with fire.

If you still want more keep an eye on a wonderful steam punk blog over at
Brass Goggles

Related Posts: