Featured Teapot Racer: Tankpot

We had three tank based teapot racers at Renninger's Steampunk and Industrial Show on October 20th.



Tankpot was built and driven by Lord Theodore Puddleton and sponsored by Aethertopia.

There was plenty of time to practice before the races.

Introducing our esteemed judges, John Sprocket of the band, The Cog is Dead, Heidi Icenogle of the Cowford Steampunk Society, and time keeper, Clete Rooney. 

Tankpot was the first contestant of the day and was a first time racer. Lord Puddleton had to help his racer out a bit towards the end of the course, but did it with such panache that he received a full 10 points for showmanship and a medal for being the "Most Dastardly Driver". 

Tea Dueling at SWFL SteamCon

The first duel:





















The final match:

Featured Teapot Racer: Snitzer Friz Von Tea

Baron Von Spear created and drove this robotic rodent at SWFL SteamCon in Fort Myers, Florida on October 13, 2018.

The judges awarded extra points for showmanship and the quality of the bribe, which was beautiful rosewood boxes, filled with chocolate coins.



He finished the race in 1-minute, 15-seconds and won the coveted, "Most Splendid Design" ribbon.



The slide whistle accompaniment to this race was really perfect!

Featured Splendid Teapot Racer: Earl Grey 2nd

Earl Grey 2nd is a work of engineering genius!

I'm constantly telling people to keep their racers light, so that the weak remote control car engines can move them. That was not an issue for this racer. It was very heavy, but it didn't matter, since it had powerful duel engines.

Steering was accomplished by slowing down one engine, while speeding up the other.



David Aldridge had traveled all the way from California to race Earl Grey 2nd at the Big River Steampunk Festival in Hannibal, Missouri. I asked him if the TSA had questioned what the teapot racer was and he said, "No, but they insisted on making sure there was nothing in the pot."

David raced both Saturday and Sunday of the Festival.





He received the Most Splendid Course Completion ribbon for this race.


Earl Grey 2nd returned on Sunday with a new addition, flickering "flames" in the coals under the teapot.





David earned the Most Splendid Speed ribbon on Sunday.

Sunday's drag race:

FeaturedTeapot Racer: The Itty Bitty Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Teakini

Rachel Benson's cute little racer had children squealing with laughter at Big River Steampunk Festival on Sept. 1, 2018. As the "Penguin", Rachel entertained the audience, but her uncontrollable teapot racer really stole the show.






It's hard for evil villains to find reliable minions. Penguin's little racer had no desire to follow directions, but she managed to take home the ribbon for "Most Dastardly Driver," which is awarded to the most entertaining cheat.

This video includes the presenting of the the judges' bribes:


The camera overheated and shut down at that point, but she finish the course in 2-minutes, 45-seconds, thanks to the aforementioned cheating.

Featured Teapot Racer: Sir Squeakers

We had three racers this year at Big River Steampunk Festival that were not built on a store-bought remote control car/truck base. The quality of engineering that went into these was amazing! Sir Squeakers was one of these.



Caz Budzinski was the creator of this adorable masterpiece, that included a little mouse driver, who turned his head as he drove.



Bribing the judges with little crocheted Cthulhu toys:



This vehicle had perfect control. Sir Squeaker was only a single point away from winning the Grand Champion ribbon and did win the ribbon for fastest racer.

Growing Up Steampunk

This post was originally published at 7:49 a.m. on Aug. 15, 2013.

I realized yesterday, after taking pictures of Blaze in his latest steampunk costume, that this was the 5th year that we had done an autumn photo shoot of Blaze in a new steampunk costume.

It was early September of 2009, when Blaze was 8 years old, that he heard the song "Airship Pirate" by Abney Park for the first time and asked me if he could be an airship pirate for Halloween. That request resulted in these pictures being taken shortly before Halloween that year.







By the following year, he had discovered the movie Steamboy and he wanted to be Ray Steam for Halloween.







When he was 10, he asked if he could be a steampunk cowboy. As far as I know, he had never seen anything like that, he just thought it would be cool. We watched Wild Wild West and looked at the artwork of Cheyenne Wright, then came up with the Tesla Ranger costume. We also followed Robert Brown's video directions for painting stripes onto solid colored pants.







Last year's photo shoot had nothing to do with a Halloween costume, since he had decided he wanted to be a red ninja for Halloween, but was instead prompted by a story that his oldest sister had written about the airship pirates. The idea of the pirates throwing a garden party, in an attempt to fit in with their respectable neighbors, seemed like a fun idea. Also, Blaze had a new vest with matching tie from the vintage store in St. Augustine. Blaze (the story character) really enjoys things that go "boom!" and can't help showing off for the guests.









This year, we took our pictures earlier than usual, because I thought it would be nice if Blaze had one new costume to wear to Dragon*Con (Labor Day weekend). This is the inventor's costume:









Update, Thursday, September 20, 2018

There was more than one new look in 2014.

There was summer beachwear and the Steam PUNK costume.





At the Georgia Aquarium during DragonCon:










In 2015, there were no new steampunk costumes, because the ones from previous years still fit. He did, however, discover a new steampunk sport, Splendid Teapot Racing.



His Halloween costume that year was Scrooloose from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

In 2016, the Tesla Ranger costume got an update, with a new hat, new leather coat, and bolo tie.



A warm weather look:


A sudden growth spirt in 2017 meant all of his pants needed replacing.

Updated beachwear:




The Updated Tesla Ranger:


Christmas:






This year, he sewed his first article of clothing, a tan vest, to be worn as part of his Florida Tea Scouts uniform.