New website for Neo-Elegance Design - my illustration portfolio

Back in April, the service I was using to host three of my other websites expired. While the hosting package was still active, I never fully utilized what I was paying for, updating the sites was a chore to say the least, and getting decent indexing on search engines wasn't happening. Rather than renew my service and continue wasting $130/year on hosting, I decided it was time for a change. Google's Blogger service has been pretty good to me with hosting and web traffic for The Idea Can since 2008, so I figured I may as well save some money and revamp and re-upload the sites to Google. As an added bonus, it would put all the sites in the same place and make uploading and keeping track of each of them that much easier.

The first site to receive a face lift and get back up and running was Neo-Elegance Design, my illustration and design portfolio website. Since the late 1990s, I've worked off and on as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer illustrating t-shirts, rock posters, advertising, company logos, and a bunch of other stuff. In 2006, I started Neo-Elegance Design as a venue to promote my illustration and design work and assist me in the process of acquiring freelance contracts and design jobs.

In July, after putting the professional illustration work aside for awhile, I figured it was time to get back to work applying for illustration gigs on Guru and oDesk. Since my old site was no longer available, getting the new version of Neo-Elegance Design up and running became my first priority.

I think I spent a good 6 hours straight looking around the web for Blogger templates that would allow me the customization and features I was looking for before I lucked out and found the Mad Kassar template that I ended up using for the new site. Once I had it uploaded onto the site and had a few test posts up to check functionality, the next day and a half was spent stretching, poking, prodding, and tweaking as much of the code as I could to give the site the retro-vintage look and feel that I was after. I even made a custom background using some poured cocoa powder Photoshop brushes I found on Dribbble. Once the site looked right, the following week was spent reformatting all of the image files to fit the new layout and appearance of the site and getting everything uploaded.

As of the end of July, the new online home of Neo-Elegance Design is finally live and mostly up to date. I still need to upload some product designs that I've created over the years and a few recent illustrations I've done, but there's enough there to give prospective clients a pretty good sense of what I'm capable of as a designer and illustrator. It seems to have done the trick so far as I've already been hired for a few small projects on oDesk and there are a couple of others that I might be able to luck out and get as well. Now I just need to get the other sites to the same level of completeness.

If you'd like to check it out, the site can be found at: neoelegance.blogspot.com I still need to get my domain, www.neoelegance.com, ported over to the site so I can drop the "blogspot" part of the web address, but it works for now. Also, I'm always up to doing some more illustration and design work. If you've got a project you're working on that you think I could help on, feel free to contact me through the Neo-Elegance Design website or hire me on oDesk.

Until then, it's an idea...

Read More

Customized Steampunk Nerf Guns - Part 10

It's hard to believe that this will be the 10th post I've written about customizing toy guns to look like they're from the Victorian era. For those that have followed this thread, you'll notice that my last post on the subject was way back in 2009.

So why am I starting a 3 year old idea back up? It's simple really. A little over a month ago, I was cleaning out the storage space in my studio, and stumbled upon a large box filled to the brim with Nerf guns, squirt guns, and toy blasters I had picked up when I was customizing toy guns on a regular basis. Rather than throw them out or sell them in bulk, I figured I needed to do something else with them. Why not customize some more toy guns?  There were about 20+ guns in the box (along with a few that I had already customized but never sold), so I decided I'd start customizing and selling them again until either the box was empty or they stopped selling.

Currently, I've completed four new guns along with three left over from when I was customizing before and never got around to selling. I recently listed three of the seven completed guns for sale on eBay to see how well they sell. The market's changed quite a bit since 2009, so I want to test the waters before I go crazy customizing toy guns again. Once these three sell, I'll list the other four for sale as well and start working my way through the rest of the box.

Rather than give a long-winded write-up for each gun in this post (that's already starting to get long-winded by itself), I'll just share some basic details for each one. So, without any further ado, here's the latest in Professor Finneas Wiley's Curiosities and Contraptions along with a new style of faux Victorian advertisement I worked up starting with the three listed on eBay.

The Peacemaker - a custom steampunk Nerf Maverick

Along with the usual removal of all raised text from the base Nerf Maverick, The Peacemaker was customized to include faux battle damage, full air restrictor removal to allow better air flow and use of Stefans, and all the screw holes filled with Milliput plastic epoxy and sanded smooth to provide a more realistic appearance. It was then painted to give the appearance of aged antique brass, rusted worn gunmetal, and patina'd copper with silver swirl accents and coated in Future Shine Polish to protect the finish.

The NTX-1745GH Blaster - a custom steampunk Star Wars blaster

Starting with a stock Star Wars General Grievous' Blaster, I sanded off all the raised text and filled the screw holes (with the exception of the battery compartment cover) with Milliput plastic epoxy. Once it was dry, it was sanded smooth and the gun was painted to give the appearance of aged antique brass, rusted worn gunmetal, patina'd copper, and aged porcelain. To finish it off before adding Future Shine Polish to protect the finish, I hand-painted the name of the gun on one side in black with gold accents.

The Majesty's Air Service 42 - a custom dieselpunk GI Joe Lazer Tag Blaster

Back when I was still digging through the junk store to find guns to customize, I found an old GI Joe Lazer Tag blaster from either the late 1980s or early 1990s that had great detailing in the mold it was made from. Because the casting was so well made in its design, I didn't even need to fill the screw holes with Milliput as they placed matching fake screws on the opposite side of each real screw. The Majesty's Air Service 42 (or MAS-42) was the result after giving it a dieselpunk finish in aged copper, aluminum, and worn hammered gunmetal.

As mentioned earlier in this post, the next four guns will be listed for sale once the other three sell.

The Kraken's Tongue - a custom steampunk Super Soaker Max-D 4000

The Kraken's Tongue is a gun I thought I had sold years ago, but found in the box with the rest of the guns waiting to be finished. Starting from a Super Soaker Max-D 4000, the plastic name plate was removed and the printed text was sanded off before it was then painted in patina'd copper, worn black brass, and rusted cast iron. As always, it was then finished with Future Shine Polish to protect the painted surface.

The Castile Nebulizing Generator - a custom steampunk bubble gun

Another finished gun I found in the box and never sold, The Castile Nebulizing Generator is my first and only toy bubble gun that I've worked on. Like the MAS-42, I found it in the junk store and the plastic casting was begging to be customized. I had to be careful during the finishing process to make sure that the ability to shoot bubbles wasn't impeded by the paint, because I could just see a steampunk kid shooting bubbles at people during a sci-fi or comic convention. The screw holes (with the exception of the battery compartment) were filled with Milliput and sanded smooth before the whole thing was painted to give the appearance of aged antique brass, patina'd copper, and aged porcelain.

The ZX-25 Pocket Blaster - a custom steampunk squirt gun

Originally finished to loan to a friend to use as part of his costume at ComicCon in 2010, The ZX-25 Pocket Blaster is the most recent dihydrogen monoxide ray gun that I've customized. The raised text was sanded off before the squirt gun was painted to give the appearance of aged copper, worn rusted gunmetal, and emerald green with steel accents and silver scroll-work on either side. Finished in Future Shine Polish to protect the paint job.

The P2 Quantum Assault Ray - a custom dieselpunk toy space gun

Starting from a no-name sound and lights style toy space gun, The P2 Quantum Assault Ray was the last gun I've customized so far. The raised text was sanded smooth and the screw holes were filled with Milliput to smooth out the profile, before it was painted to give the appearance of worn rusted gunmetal, aged copper, rubber, rusted cast iron, and aged porcelain and finished with Future Shine Polish.

If you're interested in owning any of these, the auction listings for the three guns currently for sale are as follows:
The Peacemaker (Sold)
The NTX-1745GH Blaster (Sold)
The Majesty's Air Service 42 (Sold)

As a final note, I was never fully satisfied with the small size or physical appearance of the, "Professor Finneas Wiley's Curiosities and Contraptions - Volume 1", that I published through Blurb and mentioned here a few years ago. I always wanted to put all my steampunk and dieselpunk explorations between the covers of one book rather than multiple 7" x 7" 80 page volumes with tiny pictures. When I discovered that Amazon's Create Space book printing service offered 8.5" x 11" book printing at much lower prices than Blurb without sacrificing quality, I knew it was time to remake the book. In fact, last time I checked pricing at Create Space, the price for an 8.5" x 11" 300 page full-color book wouldn't cost much more than Volume 1 is currently selling for. So I've been working on revamping the book off and on since February of this year and am currently at almost 280 pages of steampunk and dieselpunk goodness including the new guns and masks I've made recently. Also, once I get it written up, I plan to include an article on how to customize toy guns to look steampunk or dieselpunk (at least how I do it) either in the front of the book or as an Appendix somewhere in the back. I might post it on here as well, but I haven't decided yet. I'll be sure to post new updates on the book as the project progresses.

Until then, it's an idea...

**Update**
Since the Peacemaker, NTX-1745GH, and MAS-42 sold successfully, I've listed the the Kraken's Tongue, ZX-25 Pocket Blaster, and P2 Quantum Assault Ray for sale on eBay. I still need to check to make sure the motor works correctly in the Castile Nebulizing Generator before I list it for sale. If you're interested in owning any of these, the auction listings are as follows:
The Kraken's Tongue
The ZX-25 Pocket Blaster
The P2 Quantum Assault Ray

**Update #2**
It looks like all 7 guns are sold now. I did have to re-list two of them because I accidentally chose a weird time to end the auction the first time through (who shops for steampunk guns at 10am EST on I think it was a Monday?). Since they're all gone and I've still got a decent sized pile of base guns to work with, I guess it high time I got to work. Look for "Part 11" of the continuing saga when I've got a few more ready to go. 

Read More

Steampunk Mask No. 3: The Zelinky M-1897 Aether Hood

As promised in the write-up for the Steampunk Mask No. 2, here's the story behind my third attempt at creating a Steampunk leather mask.

Once I realized how good of a job my old Imperial De Luxe sewing machine did stitching the reused 3-4 oz. leather from a horribly designed old jacket I got from the thrift store, I decided to push the boundaries of what it could do a little more. Rather than make the mask entirely using the thinner jacket leather, I dug out an old 5 oz. leather welding apron I bought at the flea market a few years ago to give the leather mask a little bit more contrast and rigidity. Now I just needed a design to work from.

I scratched my head for a little while until I found an old cast brass urn I picked up years ago sitting in a pile of fabric and other sewing supplies near my sewing machine. The bottom plate had come loose awhile back so it wasn't usable to hold things anymore, but it got the gears in my head turning. The shape was almost perfect for making a pseudo-filtration cannister. It just needed a bit of reshaping with my Dremel loaded with a cutting disk to make it work.

So why not make a Victorian inspired leather and brass mask that actually looks more like a gas mask that could have been made some time in the 1890s? Drawing extra inspiration from the Russian SMS Gas Masks from the cold war era, I set about stitching together my own leather version.

The resulting design would be called the Zelinky M-1897 Aether Hood. For the majority of the gas mask, I used the thinner jacket leather, but I was able to work in patches of the thicker welding apron leather throughout the design. To add more interest to the design and help shape the leather, I applied a top stitch to a number of the seams throughout the mask. I also worked "footballs" into the design to allow more room for the ears and jaw inside the mask.

When it came time to figure out how to close the mask up, I realized that I still had a couple of brass buckles I got from Tandy Leather when I ordered parts for the first Steampunk mask I made a few years ago. To attach the buckles to the mask, I cut strips of the welding apron leather, added some decorative stitching along the edges, stitched a couple of loops to hold the free strap a little better, and riveted them onto the mask.

To attach the reshaped urn to the mask, I drilled a series of holes around the perimeter and riveted it onto the opening I left around the mouth. For the eyepieces, I decided to use some of the 15 gauge brass plate I had left over from the first mask. To be honest, I went through a few variations in the design for the cutouts in the eyepieces and a bit of extra scrap to take to the local metal recycling center before I settled on the slits. Once these were shaped and riveted in place, I cut a strip of brass plate and riveted it between the eyepieces to add some extra rigidity to the mask and help hold the weight of the cast brass urn.

At this point, the only thing left to do was figure out how to close up the opening in the bottom of the urn to give it the look of a functional filtration unit. I must admit I was stumped for a few days trying to figure out the best way to close up the opening, until I went to Meijer to get groceries and decided to look in their plumbing repair section.

Sitting among the replacement sink traps was a thin stainless steel sink strainer that looked to be pretty close to the right diameter to fit in the end of the urn. Of course modern stainless steel didn't exist in the time period I wanted this mask to look like it came from, but there are corrosion resistant iron alloys that trace all the way back to about 400 AD and a number of stainless steel alloys were developed between the late 1890s and the mid 1910s. So it isn't entirely implausible that a gas mask from the Victorian era could have stainless steel somewhere in it. When I got back to the studio, I pulled the strainer out of its packaging and held it up to the mask and it looked like it belonged there. After a bit of trimming and shaping, I was able to get the strainer to fit neatly in the recess in the casting where the original base used to sit and tacked it around the edges with some cyanoacrylate glue to help hold it in place.

I have to say that, of the three Steampunk masks I've made so far, I am happiest with how this one turned out. It has its quirks and I ran into a few hurdles along the way involving my sewing machine deciding to spool the upholstery thread into birds' nests under the leather rather than running a smooth stitch, but I think the end result came out better than I originally planned.

Like the Aegis ARS-84 Granel Mask, I'll be listing the Zelinky M-1897 Aether Hood for sale on eBay some time in the next few weeks if you would like to be the pround new owner. They will also both be included along with all the other Steampunk and Dieselpunk art and weaponry I've developed over the years in a nearly 300-page book I plan to publish later this year.

Until then, it's an idea...

Update: The Zelinky M-1897 Aether Hood is currently listed for sale on eBay.

Read More

Steampunk Mask No. 2: The Aegis ARS-84 Grapnel Mask

Over Spring Quarter at school, I enrolled in the Graduating Student Exhibit class where we would each display a small portfolio of work we had created. Since most of the sculptural work I had on hand was from classes I took as far back as 2004 and I had sold all of the Steampunk work I had completed over the past few years, I didn't feel that what I had showed what I was currently capable of. So I decided to create a bunch of new work to show.

Back in 2010, I picked up an old 1950s-60s Japanese made Imperial De Luxe sewing machine from a flea market in town for about $25. Though effectively a clone of the Singer Model 15-91, it has the ability to stitch leather fairly well with a leather needle. At the time I wanted to make a few more Steampunk masks, so I figured that this would fit the bill rather well without having to fork over a sizable chunk of cash for a professional upholstery machine. Unfortunately, over the years that followed, I never took the time to make any masks and the machine sat in a corner of my studio unloved and unused.

Since I needed new work for the Student Exhibit and still wanted to make some more Steampunk masks, I figured that now would be the perfect time to dust off and lubricate the old sewing machine and put it to use. Because I wasn't certain that the Imperial could punch through the heavier weight leather I used on my first mask, I needed to get some thinner leather to use.

On one of my trips to a local thrift store, I set myself to the task of sifting through the aisle full of outdated and horribly designed leather jackets looking for a good candidate to acquire some leather from. As luck would have it, I managed to find an extremely dated mid 1980s-90s brown jacket in x-large for a few dollars. Once I got it back to the studio and tore it apart, I had enough 3-4 oz. leather to make a few masks with some leather to spare.

After sketching out a few designs, I got to work and about four hours later, I completed my first machine stitched leather mask. Aside from a few false starts due to thread jams in the 60+ year old sewing machine and a bit of trial and error re-learning how to set rivets, eyelets, and grommets, the process went fairly smoothly. The leather lacing on the back of the neck and the face of the mask lend a fair amount of adaptability in sizing for different shapes of heads. For the eyepieces, I used a domed brass plate from an old candlestick for the right eye and a piece of 20 gauge brass plate was cut and shaped for the left eye.

Overall I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out and shortly afterward started working on another mask. I'll post the write-up and pictures for that one soon. Until then, here's one last image of the Aegis ARS-84 Grapnel Mask to look at.

I plan to sell this mask on eBay some time in the coming weeks if anyone would like to be the proud new owner.

Update: The Aegis ARS-84 Grapnel Mask is currently listed for sale on eBay.

Read More