I don't mean to dominate the conversation with this long post, but I wanted to comment on the creative catharsis of ideas I'm seeing here for a prop weapon with a heavy mythos. I was just introduced to Dr. Grordbort's "suppository off scientific splendour" not even a week ago for the first time, and I've been swept up in this whole genre' as it works in the SteamPunk 'verse. Steampunk (SP) is such a great idea, because it gives freedom to fans to make whatever they wish, within the parameters of the late 1800's and early 1900s. It's the anti-Trek, and anti-commercialized SF genre' that is based on adventure from classic stories and movie serials. As an old guard Trek fan from 1977, SP is liberating, and at every turn, there is something fantastic, and unique. Trek was Trek, but props and costumes were limited to what was on the screen--through "obsessive reproduction". SP is also a reaction to our over-gizmo'd real world of iPads, Smartphones, Readers, etc.. It's a radical return to a time when life was simpler, where art, mythos and science all worked together and the social network was the local ice cream parlor.
Greg Broadmore's work is outstanding. This little catalog that Dark Horse publishes is packed with imagination, and probability--more so for those of us that know the history of that period. I'm into Railroad history of 1890-1900, Pullman Palace cars and locomotives of that era. It was a naive time, but one where technology moving quickly. The general public actually feared the technology of the day, as it produced so many whacky, false contraptions for medical and well-being purposes.
The Righteous Bison is a cool prop, and well-designed. It has balance and just looks cool in your hand. It's a classic Buck Rogers prop on steroids! What you don't understand on the prop, you can make up as you go along. Attention to detail is so good, that by historical design, it looks very "real"-- which is what fans and collectors want. Something that looks like it could have really existed back in 1900, and that it had all the naive, primitive science of the time inside of it.
All of these elements--history, science of the day, and fantasy combined has produced a perfect storm of creativity for all of us today. What those that started this competition may not know, is that it triggered (pun intended) a multi-faceted "problem" for fans, modelers, designers and collectors of how to approach this competition. This is not just adding parts to a blaster, it's thinking in Greg Broadmore's world of how these modifications might "really" work. This has become a whole new game, and it might seem intimidating to some (BTW-don't quit, Indy), with others thinking: "I know what I'LL do...". But the more you get into this project, like an artichoke, the more layers you have to consider as you go along. I don't mean to over analyze this, or make it too academic, but the experience of creating the "what-ifs" of a period over 100 years ago is a very intriguing opportunity!!!
Minifig provided us with two drawings, and suddenly it's a game changer? His ideas are great! But I'd like to think that the collective talent here is just as good, and we'll see more drawings and open ideas. As (ad hoc) designers, we need to push harder, and raise the bar, and get into it. I have every intention of winning this competition--but not without also sharing my design thinking and knowledge of the materials and techniques of 1900. Here's an example: I may paint the nose with a "bluing" effect, like heat-treated pipes on a Harley--from the heat of the front projector. But you need to know if that kind of steel existed in 1900. yes? What kind of structure was needed to hold it all together? Cast Iron? Could it crack under pressure? Probably. How do you get the spark to make it blast? Use an automotive spark plug of the day? That was cutting edge technology of 1900. You get the idea....
What Weta is offering is a chance to not just redesign a prop, but to push their creative envelope that they created--to make something really awesome! Whether you win or not, you've been involved in a design process that includes fact and science of the day, with some really plausible-mystery fantasy; that makes this really, really fun to think about. So, from my perspective, I expect everyone here to get it together, and to push harder and have a grand-old-time coming up with the ideas that will produce some designs that the judges wished they'd thought of first!!
With great encouragement...and competition!!
Paul N.
I'm taking inspiration for my design from the Greek myth of Io, who got turned into a cow. Also fitting that Io is the name of one of the planet Jupiter's moons. Going to do a mythological/steampunk twist.
