Steampunk Aether rifle new stock

It's interesting how sometimes, there's a single detail that makes a design really take on life. I had always intended to add extension to the tips of the butt stock like some of the marvelously decorated moorish flintlocks of the 1800's. I translated the whippet-like extensions into brass hardware and just added them to the design today. I am very excited about the effect it's had on the whole design and gesture. Now it is finding it's steampunk unique identity.
There's still more to go so keep checking back and I'll keep posting as it develops.
Enjoy and cheers, Kevin

Aether rifle side view new stock

Aether rifle gear detail

Aether rifle three quarter view

Aether rifle new stock close up

Aether rifle stock extensions

Aether rifle stock closeup

Steampunk Aether Rifle Video

I thought I'd add a flyby video of Lacette's Aether Assassin rifle. It's fun to get a sense of just how outrageous a six foot long rifle that can harvest a man's life force from over two miles away is. This is definitely not a handlheld killing tool. It has to be used with either the monopod or the tripod (that is being developed next).
The rounds themselves are fun because once the prongs pierce the skin, the lifeforce of the victim is rapidly drawn off into the round. Then when Lycette arrives, she transfers it into an Aether containment vial for transport and gathers up the round leaving little more than four small holes and a bruise on her victim,
As I had covered in the earlier post showing the development illustration, there is no gunpowder being used here. Once she has sighted you in on the glowing scope, she has your aether signature and pulls the first locking lever near the trigger. Once the trigger is pulled the targets own lifeforce shoots a carrier bolt of energy to the gun and the round rides it to the victim. Just before the round hits the target often swoons and feels dizzy as they are supplying the force of the hit.
Hope you enjoy.  Cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Aether Rifle in 3D!

Hello all my friends.
I've been updating this post with new images and details of the Aether rifle. I've been down a rabbit hole lately with several projects. Even so, I've been able to work on bringing Lacette's Aether Rifle design to life as a 3D rendering. It's been so much fun doing this because once you can move around something and really see it, ideas and opportunities to evolve the design and add to the idea just start exploding. Now it's a proper assassin's rifle!

It isn't done yet but its far enough along to share with you. There's more details to come yet on the gun itself as well as the ammunition and its box for storing the life force of the victims. I'm also designing a tripod for those really long distance shots where the fold out monopod just isn't enough. There's more adjustments to come on the Aether scope but for now, I can show it both turned on and off.

In modeling this, I didn't want to take the approach of just making lots of gears and bits and then free form placing them about to "kit bash" a design together. That's a valid way to work but for the designs in Frahnknshtyne, I wanted everything to have that strongly grounded sense of visually being "purpose made." There's an industrial integrity liberally mixed with a sense of victorian exquisite handcraft that is important to me. Every knob, hold down, ferule and finding is custom designed on this rifle. I'm even considering doing a rapid prototype of it to see what it would look like as a nice 24 inch long model.

Anybody out there up for making a full sized rifle? :-)

Hope you enjoy a bit of gear from the world of Frahnknshtyne. Always good to feed ones own addiction to Steampunk tasties and share with others who like the same.
Cheers, Kevin

Aether Rifle full view

Aether rifle 3/4 view

Aether rifle scope mount

Aether bullet

aether rifle loading chamber

Aether rifle bullet prongs

Aether rifle view down the barrel

Aether rifle declination mechanism

Aether rifle fittings

Aether rifle strap fittings

Aether rifle brass housing

Aether rifle barrel view

Aether rifle scope skull

Steampunk Skull Muscles

Whew! The final image of the Making of Frahnknshtyne's face is finally done.  It is now a completed Triptych. This middle image shows the crafting of the leather straps and support structure that will drive the final skin to move. Like all things Vyctor does, he is obsessive in the detail and art of it even though it will not be seen. I've been enjoying the ironic nature of these images in the sense that they are a form of "still life" and chronicle one brilliant man's attempt at making a new receptacle for life.
More to come in the book.  Cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Skull Muscles

Steampunk skull triptych

And a fun video so you can see how the face builds up layer by layer.

Steampunk Frankenstein's face

Finally, I've gotten to a face for Frahnknshtyne's creation that is delivering the narrative I was striving for. The mechanical man in my story is not about gore or re-animating dead flesh. It is the result of an obsessive labor to create an artful receptacle worthy of holding the minds of the immortals.

Months ago I posted the highly detailed metallic skull (I've reposted it in this post so you can see the finished product on the same bench and in the same position).

The completed head is made from finely tooled soft leather. Each hair has been stitched into place by hand and the leather face is connected to an intricate series of tiny pulleys and leather straps that act like muscles to drive expression and movement. My next painting is the middle image in this Steampunk Tryptych. It will be the image showing the muscles and controls being built on the face. Can't wait to get to it.

For this painting I wanted a mad and complicated sense of Vyctor, bringing all his artisan skills and victorian technology to bear on making this creation of great and subtle intricacy.

I can't tell you any more as I'd like you to read it in the book (which is coming along very nicely).  I hope you enjoy these ongoing glimpses into the world of Frahnknshtyne.

Be sure to see the just completed middle stage of the making of the Frahnknshtyne head. It's the crafting of the muscle structure you can find here.
cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Frahnknshtyne leather face

Steampunk Frahnknshtyne's metal skull

New Steampunk Motorcycle

I've been gone far too long from posting new work on the site.  I guess that's what happens when you are launching a brand new company and getting the first apps to market.
I've also been up to my eyebrows in writing the story and working through all the challenges that entails.
Anyway, since so many of you visit the site to see the art I've done a new illustration. One of the things I truly love is vintage motorcycles. I've already worked on a preliminary design for the Gyrostator that appears in the story and that gets the most hits on the site.  I wanted to envision another bike that would fit in the world I'm writing but would represent a much more refined design.
I want this bike. It would be handy in heavy traffic.  Nothing says "respect me" like fender mounted pistols.
I really enjoy painting rusted, rough and weathered surfaces and really got into the colors and textures on the huge, iron skull buttress and the large hanging pulley beneath it.
I hope you enjoy.  I've posted the whole image and some close ups of parts of the painting as well.

Cheers, Kevin

PS - If enough of you are interested I'll assemble and post the making of video for this as well.
PSS - I've also got an older post with a much more fantasy bike sketch with a locomotive drive.
PSSS - I've also modeled the high fantasy bike in 3d!

Steampunk Motorcycle Frahnknshtyne

Pistol mounts on front end

Steampunk skull buttress

New Blog about Steampunk Inspirations

Hello Friends and followers.
While writing and drawing Frahnknshtyne I frequently come across other artists, ideas and thinking that help me in the work I'm doing or are just plain inspiring in a steam punk kind of way. I'm establishing a new blog to share those with everyone else. I invite you to visit and sign up if you like. Hope you enjoy and cheers for now, Kevin

Steampunk Inspirations

Viper Wolf before steampunking

From time to time I go back into older illustrations and add to or rethink them.  This is an image for the skull of a mythical creature called a viper wolf that I never fully completed from several years ago.  The Jaw is articulated like that of a rattlesnake and it hunts using a pit viper's ability to sense heat (since it has no eyes and is completely unsighted).

I'm going to be going back into this older illustration and adding mechanism and detail to it just for fun. I love the idea of an animal experimented on to make it more dangerous for nefarious purposes.  This isn't for Frahnknshtyne but is something I thought I'd share with you as I go just for fun.

I have additional images for Frahnknshtyne but many of them are being held back now as the book gets closer to being completed. I'll still be posting some of those soon (but I gotta surprise you with story and art in the completed book).

Cheers, Kevin

Viper Wolf Skull soon to be Steampunked

The Pinkerton and the Princess: Final

Well, here's the completed image. I had a lot of fun with this painting as it brought out a number of interesting ideas.  One such fun detail is that the rifle is actually a rocket launcher using traditional oriental black powder rockets.
I've included a few detail images so you can see the sculpted face of her sky-train as well as some of the fun detail of the rifle.
Cheers:

The Pinkerton and the Princess

Sky Train

Rocket launcher

The Pinkerton and the Princess

sometimes when I'm developing a story, other stories come to mind that would work in the same world.  I'm doing a quick illustration to capture one of those stories that will happen in the world of Frahnknshtyne called "The Pinkerton and the Princess." Here's a sneak peek of part of the image underway.