Steampunk Underground Explorer Helmet

I have a love/hate relationship with "steampunk".

I love the idea of retro-futuristic props based on the scientific romances of the Victorian era and the pulps of the early 20th century. The ornate elegance of the genre's mechanisms and devices are a nostalgic rebuttal of the smooth, consciously minimalist tropes of modern design. Done well, the emphasis on craftsmanship using basic metals and materials produces objects that revel in the details of their manufacture and evoke a fusion of art and functionality.

Unfortunately, I hate that most of what gets passed off as "steampunk" these days is hackery of the most embarrassing sort. Rayguns slapped together from candlesticks and lamp parts and mad science devices made from plasma balls glued to crappy old jewelry boxes just make my flesh crawl. I'm a huge proponent of the DIY part of the punk ethos, but there's more to crafting a good prop than grabbing some old brass bits at a yard sale and willy-nilly sticking them together with epoxy putty.

I very rarely post any steampunk props I come across exactly because the vast majority of them are pure crap, but then I come across something like this underground explorer's helmet from Tom Banwell that once again gives me hope.





The world would be a much better place if the craftsmanship and attention to detail embodied in projects like this replaced the "Colonel Crapmartin's Expeditious Aetheric Exciter Blunderbuss" crafted from a 2 x 4 and some plumbing pipe that currently epitomizes "steampunk".