The Death Rays the Victorians Used to Conquer the Moon

A great article from IO9 (here) that I've reproduced here so it doesn't end up as another dead link in the fullness of time.  Enjoy.

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Do you remember when the Moon was conquered in 1889 and, to cement their victory, a number of giant dishes were erected? 

As promised, this is another image from the British Library’s flickr account, loaded with public domain images. This image is taken from The Conquest of the Moon: a story of the Bayouda, and you can either read the book here or just make up your own story based on this illustration:

Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon

Second in this series of period machineries of death...

A step up from the Gatling Gun (see here), which fired small arms ammunition, this Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon fired 37mm projectiles from its 5 barrels.  This version is mounted for field work, but it was frequently used on naval platforms, especially lighter craft and gunboats.  With the gun shield discarded, it could also be packed onto two mules.

Manufactured in France, 1880

Capable of around between 45 and 70 rounds per minute, it was accurate out to around 2,000 yards.  Shrapnel and canister ammunition was available but these appear to have been restricted to defensive mounts in fortifications and bursting ammunition was more standard.

 Detail of the business end

Here is an example of a Naval Deck mounting (not my pic)

The Hotchkiss also came in larger calibre - 40, 47 and 53mm with increasing weight and reduced portability.

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Additional detail from Old British Guns website, here: http://oldbritishguns.com/the-37mm-hotchkiss-revolving-cannon

The Hotchkiss revolving cannon was a 37mm hand operated machine gun that was considered light enough to travel with cavalry, although not for the British Army. A light (well sort of, around 1000 pounds) , mobile and fast firing artillery piece, it could fire up to 40 explosive or steel shot rounds per minute. With a range of 2000 yards (practical range, max was 4000 yards but wind and other things could upset accuracy), it could easily outrange rifle fire. The British Navy also adopted it around 1875 for use against the ever present torpedo boat threat, but the caliber was considered too small to be effective. It was felt to be comparable to the Nordenfelt and as in that gun larger calibers were later adopted.

It was developed by an American, Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss, living in France. He was approached by French officers looking for a fast firing gun, and it was soon adopted by all the major Powers, including the U.S., which went for it in a big way.

The mechanism differed from the Gatling Gun in that there were multiple barrels but only one striker, bolt and extractor. A center cam wheel is turned by the hand crank, which both rotates the barrels and holds them in place during different phases. Each rotation of the crank loads one shell, fires one shell and extracts one shell. The cam gear is cleverly shaped to turn another gear in the left side of the breech block which is pinned to 2 toothed shafts. The upper toothed shaft strips off a shell from the magazine and loads it in the chamber, while the bottom toothed shaft extracts a shell and dumps it out the bottom. The firing pin strikes the shell when the barrel is at the bottom of it's rotation.

The ammunition for the gun is a self contained cartridge, made up of brass wrapped into a cylinder with a solid center primed head, as in early British rifle bullets. An explosive shell and a canister shell were available, Canister consisted of steel shot, not unlike a giant shotgun shell, and was murderous against groups of the enemy. The shells weighed around a pound, were 5 inches long, and the tin or zinc magazine held 10. To unload the gun after firing consisted of removing the firing pin, rotating the barrels backwards with the handcrank and prying out the shells with a screwdriver, or pushing them out with a ramrod. Standing downstream from the gun had to give the gunner a moment of pause, as with unloading the Gatlings.

Some Hotchkiss guns were mounted on British ships, although they really preferred the Nordenfelt gun. Some guns were used in the Boer War, and at least one was present at the seige of Mafeking.

Mr Gatling's Patented Revolving Battery Gun and other fun

In recent months I've visited more than a few places in which historical artefacts are stored, so I have taken the opportunity to take pictographic records all sorts of inventions. I shall present them here for your edification but let me start with a bit of trivia: Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of John Carter of Mars and Tarzan, started life as a Gatling gun instructor while serving as a soldier in the 7th US Cavalry Regiment.

In the foreground we have a Colt Bulldog Model 1877 Gatling Gun, and in the background is the US Navy variant of the Colt Gatling Gun (1884), both are .45-70 calibre.  Note the robust pedestal mounting and different barrel and magazine arrangements on the Naval variant.

Detail of the rear of the US Navy model

Naval variant in profile

 Rear view of the Model 1877:

Manufacturer's stamp detail

Authentic packing crate for the Model 1887 - clearly it took a little time to bring into action off the march

“It occurred to me that if I could invent a machine — a gun — which could, by rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, that it would, to a great extent, supersede the necessity of large armies.”

— Richard Gatling, inventor of “the first reliable machinegun,” 1877 (as quoted in The Economist, June 14)

Foreground: not a Gatling gun but a 2 barrelled Gardner Gun, .45 calibre, used from 1874

Background: Colt Gatling Gun Navy Model 1900, .30-40 calibre, mounted on a modified M1895 Naval Landing Party carriage

Gatling Battery Gun Model 1866, .50-70 calibre, on an original carriage mount:

This is a Model 1883 Gatling, used in the movie Gunga Din

This one is one with the barrel casing removed but is unmarked for design or patent date.  It was used in the movies War Wagon and The Outlaw Josey Wales

Hope you find this of interest, I certainly did!  More period weaponry pics to come

"Whatever happens we have got,
the Gatling gun and they have not."

- Hillaire Belloc

Vampire Killing Kit

I've posted things like this before, being impressive fan made movie prop type items. This is not such a thing - in fact it resides in a Museum!  The Mercer Museum in Doylestown Pennsylvania hosts this intriguing item, which has the following entry in the catalogue:

Object Title	Vampire Killing Kit
Accession Number	89.06.001.01-.11
Object Description	Leather covered wooden case, hinged and divided into a top and bottom section. Sections are divided into compartments and lined with felt. Top section has latching leather cover enclosing contents. Case includes (top section): flowers of garlic, two vials of 'serum', glass syringe, silver needle, magnifying glass. Bottom section of case includes: powder flask, bullet mold, crucifix/wooden stake, pistol, two silver bullets with crosses cut into them, and two lead balls. A paper label describing kit and contents is affixed to inside of leather cover enclosing top section.
Materials	wood; leather; Steel; Brass; ivory; glass; silver; Iron; mother-of-pearl; felt
Label/Mark/Inscription	Vampire Killing Kit/This box contains the items considered necessary, for the protection of persons who/travel into little known countries of Eastern Europe, where the populace are/plagued with a particular manifestation of evil known as VAMPIRES. Professor Ernst Blomberg respectfully requests that the purchaser of this kit, carefully studies his book/in order, should evil manifestations become apparent, he is equipped to deal with them/efficiently. Professor Blomberg wishes to announce his grateful thanks to that well-known/gunmaker of Liege, Nicholas Plomdeur whose help in the compiling of the special items, the silver bullets etc. has been most efficient. (LABEL)
History of Use	The kit was examined by Dr. Jeffrey A. Baylor while he was working on his PhD disertation on Vampirism in Literature (Lehigh University). Dr. Baylor said that both the contents of the case and the label include elements of vampiric lore that existed at many different times in the 19th and 20th centuries, and he considered it unlikely that these elements would have been combined this way in the mid-19th century. Based on a literary analysis, he did not believe the kit was authentic
Measurements	Height: 3.500 in Width: 11.000 in Depth: 7.000 in

This item has also been incorporated into the RPG Space 1889 - the online article here is what tipped me to it in the first place.

http://starweb.mercermuseum.org/starweb/MercerCollections/servlet.starweb#?

1891: A Space Odyssey

Imperial Steam Walker

Brilliant!

Babbage Analytical Engine reborn!

Well Huzzah and Hoorah - Babbage's ingenious locomotive sized wonder may be constructed once again, breathing new steam into innovation!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11530905

Bravo and thanks to DC for the heads-up!

Scientific Adventure Violence for Young Men and Literate Women

The year's foremost journal of progressive armaments and weaponry! Behold the latest line of defense captured in action!

The second book to emerge from the printshop at Grordbort Industries, Victory follows in the footsteps of the trans-galactically successful Dr Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory that was released last year.

Filled to the brim with first hand tales of exploration and progress from the great heroes of our time, picture strips of unimaginable escapades on the frontier, never-seen-before portraits of dazzling damsels and monstrous villains, and laudable accounts of man and robot pitted against our greatest enemy (the uncivilized world), Victory is an onslaught of action-packed scientific adventure in full-spectrum color - containing facts that every boy and literate girl should know.

Written and illustrated by Weta Workshop Conceptual Designer Greg Broadmore, this book sumptuously details a science-fiction history that never was. Hearkening back to the classic sci-fi serials of yesteryear, it reveals the backstories and mythos of Weta Limited's highly limited ray gun collectible line.

This gorgeous 64 page full-color hardcover will be available mid-November.

You can pre-order now (I already have!) directly from Weta here:
http://www.wetanz.com/victory/

Build your own Ray-gun

For those us who have looked longingly at various ray-guns around the place but dont know where to begin, this article is a great start:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Raygun/

Alhazared's Victorian Landships!

Some splendid Landships and a dazzling undersea battle!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/banging1out/tags/victorian/

Steampunk Laptop

Yep, another amazing steampunk retro!

This may look like a Victorian music box, but inside this intricately hand-crafted wooden case lives a Hewlett-Packard ZT1000 laptop that runs both Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux. It features an elaborate display of clockworks under glass, engraved brass accents, claw feet, an antiqued copper keyboard and mouse, leather wrist pads, and customized wireless network card. The machine turns on with an antique clock-winding key by way of a custom-built ratcheting switch made from old clock parts.

http://computers-review.com/steampunk-laptop/

Thanks to Karsten for emailing me this link!

More Ray-Guns and antique weapons

Up there with the Weta range of steampunk zappers are these great gadgets from Kropserkel creations

An online workshop gallery of some of the world'smost elaborate costumes and props.This site demonstrates examples of our creative efforts to enhance, distort, and conceal the human form inand for all media. Our 10 year showcase includes original Kropserkel creations and painstakingly accurate reproductions of objects and characters from popular media.

I would also have to say that the idea and concept of a Captain Nemo light sabre (shown below) was both original and awesome!

http://www.kropserkel.com/propguns.htm

And thanks to the boys at "VSF and 15mm Wargaming" for the heads up and link!

Technology,... saving lives

Philosophical endeavours may still fail us at preventing armed conflict with our neighbours but technological advances may promise a decrease in loss of life as our wake through this century grows ever longer. The most important question is, how many will you order?

http://www.hydraminiatures.com/

They're finally online and active with a shop.

Blazar V4 Pin Pulsar

Introducing the first of its kind, the VanDeco* Blazar V4 Pin Pulsar!

* A subsidiary company of Vanvlak Industries Pty Ltd


The design is a pup-sci-fi design messed up by a meddling time traveller who dumped it in his labs in 1899. His assistant is still baffled by the glass device fitted on one side. It's a bit scuffed and corroded, and what appears to be a sighting device is scratched, but it still appears to be functional.




The Blazar V4 was a spurious name assigned to the gun returned by a time traveller to the VanDeco Institute, the V4 designation intended to confuse spies. The Institute subsequently manufactured a mass-produced version, the Blazar 1900, which WOULD have more brass etc.

But I still have to build that - it's in the future of that past... er.... I think....



Well done Sah! Well Done indeed!

WANTED: Raygun!

Weta Originals "Miniature Manmelter 3600ZX"

I have been a steadfast fan of Weta Originals products for years and they really helped me out during the Martian cylinder incident a few years ago. They have also helped me out of a bit of bother in boarding actions against the Boche and filthy pirates too, but that is another story for telling over a Brandy or five.

Unfortunately, I missed Weta's recent promotion of their Miniature manmelter 3600ZX (to be fair I AM on the other side 0f the world you know...).

http://wetanz.com/holics/index.php?itemid=353&catid=4

It looks like just the thing that every good Officer should have one! I was wondering if there were any spares around that might be available. I am willing to offer in trade my gilted sword which was gifted to me my the London Times for my exploits in Asia, but that is another story for telling over a glass or three of port.

Search your Laborotories!

Search your Armouries!

Let me know!

Seriously, if you have a one spare or available (or know where one is) please let me know and I'd be delighted to make you an offer.

Electrolux Death Ray!

This one is more pulp than steampunk, but its a cracker:

Brotonic Weapons presents:
The Electrolux Death Ray! "Yesterday's future...today!"


See the fantastic advertising trailer here:
http://www.brotron.com/main/main.html

I have a sudden hankering to go searching for an old vacuum cleaner now!

Steampunk Desktop

For the erudite gentleman who takes his decor seriously!


How to...
http://steampunkworkshop.com/lcd.shtml

Dr Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators & other Marvellous Contraptions!

An incredible website, selling all manner of revolutionary equipment including the latest in steam powered rayguns, including the MANMELTER 3600ZX Sub-Atomic Disintegrator Pistol and the GOLIATHON 83 Infinity Beam Projector, shown here by Dr Grordbort's lovely neice Leila.

Even if you arent in the market for the latest in death ray breaththroughs, you must check this site out!

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Also includes a "Bestiary of the Cosmos" section with the latest zoological discoveries, including the Vesuian Double Backed Shrovel and the Mountain Meat Beetle.

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http://www.wetanz.com/holics/index.php?catid=4

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Thanks for the great link Maks!