Defender: Mask is Dyed

Back to the Defender mask, I have now sewn on the trim for all four openings, and dyed it violet, prior to antiquing it black. One eyepiece is shown. I'm still figuring out what the respirators will look like.

Defender: Helm with Plate

Today I attached the plate onto the front of the steampunk Defender helm. Not a lot left to do now. Mostly things that don't show.

Defender: How I Make an Eyepiece

I thought it might be interesting for some of you to see what goes into creating one of my resin parts. For the Defender mask I decided to make one of the eyepieces similar to a camera lens, with a stepped conical inside. I built the prototype in layers of 1/16" (1.5 mm) thick clear acrylic sheeet. The drawing below shows part of the file I created in CorelDraw.



As you can see, the outside dimension of each piece stays the same, while the inside hole decreases in size as we move down the page. Some of the outsides are zig-zag while others are smooth. The red lines are the cut lines, while the blue lines are just for planning. The tiny red circles are for alignment pins.



Here are the pieces after being cut out with the laser. The parts on the left were extras I didn't use; the ones on the right were put together with three pins, and sprayed white to seal the cracks.



I then molded the prototype with blue silicone rubber and let it cure overnight. The next day I cast it in a charcoal urethane resin. I drilled holes around the perimeter (that had already been marked with the laser) and inserted twelve rivets to make it a bit steamier. I then remolded it and cast it in black.



Here is the finished part with pewter Rub N Buff™ added to the surface to keep with my black and silver color scheme. I'm not sure yet if I will use this one or recast it in a cold cast aluminum.



The small ½" (12.5 mm) diameter hole at the bottom of the lens sits fairly close to the wearer's eye, allowing him or her to see out, while keeping others from looking in.

Defender: Attaching the Aether Collectors

The Defender steampunk helm is getting ever so much closer to completion. Today I added the ten luminiferous aether collection devices.



After riveting the devices to the neckguard trim I stitched and riveted the trim to the neckguard itself.



I then antiqued it to match the rest of the helmet. No more bright colors!



Here is a detail photo of the rear of the helm, showing the crest and the aether devices. Next I will finish and mount the front plate.

Defender: The Aether Collector

Here is the working part of the Defender helmet: The luminiferous aether collection device. The neckguard will have a bank of ten of these little beauties.



Luminiferous aether is the substance which fills the upper regions of space beyond the clouds. It is the medium which allows light to travel. The luminiferous aether collection device was designed to gather the energy from the aether and convert it for personal use.

Defender: Adding Piping

To finish off the two eye openings on the mask, as well as the respirator openings I am stitching on leather piping. The mask parts are 4-5 oz leather, while the piping is only 2-3 oz, so it will more easily fold.



The pattern for the piping is a rectangle. Here you can see the piping piece at the bottom, and on one of the eye openings the piping has been attached. In addition to looking better, it makes attaching the resin eyepieces easier.

Defender: Starting the Mask

With the helmet nearing completion, I have begun on the mask. These two parts—the helmet and mask—could be worn alone, but they are designed to be worn together.



This is a variation of the gas mask, with two respirators on the sides of the snout replacing the single central one, which gives it an eerie alien look.



Each of the two eyepieces will be different. One of them will resemble a camera lens, and the other a porthole.



Here is a photo of the mask after the major leather pieces have all been stitched together.

Defender: The Helmet Plate

Ninetenth century helmets, both military and firefighting, typically had a front plate that identified the group that the wearer belonged to. It was usually made of stamped metal, although sometimes was of molded leather. The Defender helmet, to be steampunk, should have both functional and decorative elements, and so I have designed the helmet plate to be both. It has a headlamp in the middle for functionality, surrounded by a traditional plate, with Gryphon Interplanetary Aeroship Expedition running around the lamp, and with a pair of gryphons standing guard on either side.



I have no way to stamp brass sheeting, and I've made molded leather plates before for other helmets, so I've decided to make this one out of cold cast metal. Since my color scheme is black and silver, I have chosed aluminum for the metal, which will resemble pewter.



Once my sketch is turned into a finished drawing, the next step is to create the model. Here I've cut and engraved white acrylic sheeting, which I've stained tan to better see the details. To make the body of the gryphons 3-D I've added brown plasticene.



Next I made a rubber mold from the model, by building a wall around it and filling it with liquid silicone rubber, which cured and turned into a solid overnight.



I then cast the finished part in a urethane resin with atomized aluminum mixed into it. I demolded it while it was still warm, and shaped it into a curve so that it would fit the front of the helm. Once it was good and set I sanded it and buffed it to make the aluminum shine, then antiqued it in black to make the design really stand out.

Defender: Antiquing the Helm

I went ahead and riveted the crest to the helm, and then antiqued it all black. The purple and red now remain only as highlights, just the look I was after.



I've been building the luminiferous aether collection devices that fit into the neckguard trim, and I can't assemble that until they are all cast.



Meanwhile, I have started on the headlamp. Here is a photo of the lamp as I found it at a yard sale. I will break it apart, and then the lamp will attach to the front of the helm.

Defender: The Neckguard Trim

I will be adding a second layer of leather over the bottom edge of the neckguard, in order to reinforce it and make it lay smoother. If I make the trim the same size as the neckguard, and stitch them together, the resulting piece will want to lay flat, which I don't want. The neckguard should roughly form a half circle. In order to get it to readily make that shape I will make the trim piece longer than the base piece.

If you take two pieces of paper—one slightly shorter than the other—and fasten the ends together, it will bend into a curve. If you wrap tape around a tube, and keep adding it on over itself, the tape will build up in thickness, with the circumference of each turn being slightly larger than the previous one. Drafting a pattern for the neckguard uses the same principle.


I can make the patterns in paper, and bend and measure them to find the right size differential, but that won't be accurate for cutting it in leather because the leather is thicker than paper, and thus needs a larger differential. Add to that the fact that vegetable tanned leather—which I cut and stitch while damp—will shrink while drying, and I can only guess at how long the trim should be.



Here is the neckguard trim piece after cutting and dying.



And here it is tacked into position. The oblong openings will hold luminiferous aether collection devices.

Defender: Coloring the Helm

I reworked the helm pattern by enlarging it all over, plus eliminating the center crown strip. The fit on the form is good, although it could have been a scoutch smaller. I also went with a firmer leather. In general leather is described by what animal it comes from, its thickness, and its stiffness. The latter quality being mellow on one end of the spectrum and firm on the other.

My first undersized helm was made of a rather mellow leather, because in the 5-6 oz thickness I wanted to use, that was all I had. Once I realized I would have to remake the helm I ordered a side of cowhide specifying that it be firm. Consequently the new helm is not so floppy as the first one was.

I will be making the helm and accompanying mask predominantly black, but I want a few highlights of red and violet showing through. The first step is dying those colors, shown above.

Defender: Designing the Crest

I decided before I remade the crown and neck guard of the helm I would work out the crest, as it plays a prominent role in the helmet's appearance, and could affect how I should redesign the other parts.



This sketch shows my original concept. The helmet—once it was made in leather—really had a samurai feel to it, and no longer looked straight out of Star Wars. I feel that the crest simply adds to the Asian flair.

I used the green paper to work out the pattern of the interlocking leather pieces, then cut and riveted them in leather as seen here on the prototype helmet, in approximately the final position.

The Gryphon Interplanetary Aeroship Expedition

One of the more remarkable achievements of the Steampunk Era, the Gryphon Interplanetary Aeroship Expedition was financed by the wealthy eccentric Baron Henry Balzerhaught of Upper Bavaria. The Expedition’s goal was to explore all of the planets of the solar system through direct visitation, made possible through the unique engineering and design of the aeroship itself, based on the discoveries and inventions of Professor H. Tauruscat.



Baron Balzerhaught called his craft an “aeroship”—which was capable of withstanding both pressure and temperature extremes—to distinguish it from the mundane airships that were limited to traversing planet earth.



Whether or not the Expedition actually succeeded in its ambitious goal is unknown. I have been unable to find any daguerreotypical evidence or even schematical plans of the aeroship itself, The Gryphon. All that is known of what it looked like—and even that is questionable— is based on a single sighting by an elderly Chinese cook on a whaling vessel, and his subsequent recording of it as a scrimshawed whale tooth.



The engraving depicts the Gryphon being savagely attacked by a giant squid, and thus some scholars believe that the aeroship met her demise at sea, and never left the earth’s gravitational field. Others feel that while it is probable it did go to other planets, it never returned to earth and its fate will forever be a mystery.



What we do know about the expedition consists entirely of miscellaneous remnants: Several pages from the Baron’s journal, along with sundry equipment that was apparently designed specifically for the trip, including the pilot’s helmet, the firemaster’s helmet, and a couple of “bad air transmutators” which allowed members of the expedition to breathe alien atmosphere.

Defender: Sewing the Helm

I spent many hours both yesterday and today handstitching together the Defender helmet parts with waxed thread. Alas, it turned out to be too small for the plastic form. I cut and sew the leather wet, and when it dries it shrinks, so there is a certain amount of guesswork involved in making the patterns.



For this helmet, the form is important because the leather will be stretched around it to get its smooth shape. Unfortunately I have decided it will be better in the long run to start over again by enlarging the patterns. The other option would be to cut down the form, but that risks destroying it, and rendering all my efforts for naught.

Defender: Leather Helm Parts

I've cut out the four leather helmet pieces, and handstitched together the left crown half with the intriguing spiral seam.



It's looking a bit small to me, so I might have to adjust the size by adding a wider center strip than I'd planned. Will have to do more stitching to find out.