As the weather's still cold enough to get away with layering, it's a great time in Brisbane to get out to a morning tea/ picnic in the Roma Street parklands. ROSEA and FAUST will be there, and we want to meet as many other individuals and groups with Steampunk aficionado-ness to socialise and talk shop. If I can scrounge a boules set there'll be that plus a few card games if it's not breezy and people are in the mood. There's a Facebook Event for those on Facebook, otherwise the details are:
Again the group ran through the darkened alleyways of London. This time they were blessed with an interruption free journey, the unearthly glow of the Professor's detection device lit the concentration in his features to a degree that even the faithless, forgotten masses crossed themselves fervently as they passed. However, the Baron soon noticed they were being avoided by a better class of underprivileged and called a halt to the headlong chase. Then grabbed Adventure by the collar to actually stop him.
Ignorning the casino's glitzy and glamourous (according to their flyers) exterior, the Cerulean led the way into the first of many darkened and seedy alleyways that nested behind the safe, shiny front. People looked up at the group as they ran past, the scream not having any to do with them some complained about the intrusion, others quickly put away items of negotiable legality. ROSEA paid no attention, soon ammassing as a group on the grass of a forgotten garden, highwalled tenemants surrounding it having been built with scant regard for the greenery. With the others acclimatising to the sudden re-amergence of light, the Cerulean stood waiting by a hedge-rimmed bed. When finally the others came over she walked off to continue the investigation while the Professor retuned his device to examine what was most likely a corpse.
With regrettable haste1 ROSEA left the suare of the Duke and Duchess of Kent in order to investigate the objects Captain Adventure and the Cerulean had manage to bring down using the Centurian Eagle's starboard arsenal. Part of this haste was due to the strange metal spheres' downward trajectory, Professor von Explaino having theorised their landing in an unfortunately populated area outside Kent's main entertainment district. Given the likely-hood of other guests from the Kentish political soirée would have made the sojourn to the gambling establishment earlier in the evening — immediately after the strange lights and ominous sounds from the heavens (followed by the rain of metal fire) had made the ballroom less than convivial — there was no time to be lost.
It occurred to me that I was doing this demonstration a bit backwards, showing the individual components of the laboratory without showing the laboratory as a whole. To make up for that, here's a few shots of the 'completed' laboratory before I dive back into showing the laboratory sections in detail.
There cannot be a laboratory without a workbench for the Professor to plan his science. Placing this desk in the corner means there's two walls to work with as well as blocking off a lot of the desk making it easier to fit in with the rest of the laboratory.
So, in the new house we've established there's a large, concrete floored room with three walls (2 sides brick, one side fibrous cement) and panelled ceiling under the house. What's the first thing that should be done in such an area?
I'm a child of the late 80's and early 90's. Inspirations for the Prof are drawn from the media that was prevalent at the time, yes we had inspiration before the wide-spread installation of cable modems.
When my wife and I were going house hunting, I had a simple requirement for any house we were looking at. There had to be a room that could be come my 'laboratory'. Or, rather, the laboratory of Professor von Explaino. We looked at a number of houses that had spare rooms where I could have a combined study/ laboratory but we eventually found one place that was great. It was a raised 1960's house. Fibro on the top, but bricked in underneath. One side held the garage and laundry, the other had a bathroom but a large, concrete floored area that was below legal height so couldn't be classified as a room. Brick walls, concrete floor, exposed beam ceiling. Enough room that we could split it between my wife and myself so we both have some areas to indulge our hobbies.
