The Ugly Truth About Conducting Coils

I have found out the hard way that there can be way too much tension created by conductor coils.  I made two different sized coils out of beading wire and attached them to various parts on my goggles.  Later I found that these had twisted around enough to break off at least one of the parts they had been attatched to.  I still like the idea of using these on some of my projects but I think it may be best to add them onto things that are either an original permanent part or to find a better way of securing the ends.  Sorry for the screw up but I guess that is what all of this experimentation is all about.

Home Made Conductor Coils

One of the things that may be missing from your steampunk project is a healthy set of highly conductive electric coils.  These would be handy for carrying large amounts of power from the radiant matter accelerator cells over to the parabolic aether wave form nets on your hand held powered weapon.  To that end, you can create your very own coils simply and to your own specific lengths.  Just buy some basic metal beading wire which can be found at a craft store in the jewelery section.  This wire is general designed for making various forms of jewelery such as necklaces but it's tensile strength and flexibility are perfect for electronic parts. 

The wire can be wrapped around a small round form which will help to give it the desired coil shape and can then be attatched to some component on your project to help give more detail and realism.  I chose a smaller coil so the form I used was the plastic straw out of a spray bottle.

I was able to make a coil about 3 or 4 inches long that fits well over the top of my goggles and helps promote the look of some of the other electrical components I am using.

Foam Dart Guns Are Alright By Me

So, this is proof that my partner, James, is just amazing. After lunch today he brings me his find from the local Dollar General store, a brand new Ultra Shot Extreme Foam Dart Blaster. I guess the operative question here would be "why care about a foam dart gun?" The reason is because it can be a great starting point for creating a unique steampunk weapon. Maybe something that hurls bolt of energetic plasma at targets or maybe emits deadly beams of Radiant Matter. Either way, the gun was only three dollars so very little initial investment there.

The next step for this project will be to disassemble the gun for painting and start changing the overall color to copper for a distinct look. I already have some various pieces that I can add for different effects like gauges or piping. I'll keep track of the steps so I can show the entire process and maybe even work out some ideas that I haven't tried before as far as painting techniques go. I'll update again on this as soon as I have some of the steps down.