Regardless of how you feel about the whole steampunk trend in general, it would be hard to deny that the above modded XBox 360 controller from MorbidStix is way impressive. The plastic cover and components have been replaced with an antique burl wood finish and awesome bronze buttons. Real leather and wood accents add to the antique look. A skeleton key continues the theme and kind of adds a bit of mystique to the design.

The triggers and bumper buttons are wood, too, and probably give the controller a nice firm feel in the hand. But don’t get your hopes up that you’ll be able to own this masterpiece anytime soon – it’s up for auction but the asking price is an insane $999.99. Unless you’re an independently wealthy XBox enthusiast who happens to be a steampunk collector as well, you might just have to settle for admiring this awesome mod from afar.

The post Button Mashing Gets Stylish: Slick Steampunk Controller first appeared on Gajitz.

Being shot at with a NERF gun isn’t usually an entirely intimidating experience, but this particular NERF gun might just have you wetting your pants if you saw it bearing down on you. Underneath its cool steampunk suit, it’s a NERF N-Strike Barricade – but when “Model and Prop Guy” Neil Taylor (AKA Faustus70) got hold of it, he turned it into one of the coolest retro weapons ever.

Taylor covered the gun with planks cut from an antique chair that he estimates was over 75 years old. The well-worn appearance of the wood gives the gun a high level of credibility as a faux-antique. The aluminum strapping was all hand-cut and hand-riveted onto the gun assembly, making it look hard-wearing and pretty badass.

The scope on top of the gun gives the shooter up to 3X magnification, and the gun still shoots NERF darts perfectly. Unfortunately this particular one has already been sold, but according to Neil Taylor’s Etsy page he can make just about anything you can imagine…so if you’ve got your heart set on a crazy steampunk weapon he’s the guy to talk to.

The post Grandaddy of All NERF Guns: Cool DIY Steampunk Weapon first appeared on Gajitz.

We hear you complaining: these modern cell phones are just too easy to use, too modern, too packed with features. And you wish you could find one that was too bulky to put into a pocket and so baffling to use that you almost can’t figure it out. Polish inventor J. Redmer heard you too, and that’s why he created this totally rad Steampunk cell phone that kind of looks like it could easily bludgeon someone to death (don’t try that at home).

The guts of the phone used to be a Sagem X-5M, but once Redmer got hold of it he built it into a custom wooden case with beautiful brass buttons. The one-of-a-kind phone is for sale on Etsy, but this kind of creativity doesn’t come cheap: it’ll run you $350. Unfortunately, the phone will only work in Europe – sorry, rest of the world.

As the creator of this gorgeous gadget says, it’s not a high-tech toy with tons of functions. But it will easily show up any of the new-fangled shiny phones people are all carrying around these days.

The post Calling History: Totally Gorgeous Steampunk Cell Phone Mod first appeared on Gajitz.

Living beings are often thought of as nature’s machines: perfectly sculpted functional works of art that contain all kinds of intricate mysteries. Mike Libby puts a literal spin on that comparison in his “Insect Lab” creations. He turns real insect specimens into tiny works of art which meld nature and technology in incredible ways.

Starting with non-endangered insect specimens from all over the world, Libby combines them with bits and pieces of mechanical and electrical components to make strange cyborg bugs that look like they could get up and scurry off at any moment.

Libby was inspired by countless sci-fi depictions of insects as robotic creatures. He draws inspiration from nature as well, noting that beetles and bumblebees often look like they contain their own unique type of mechanical system.

But even more than nature or science fiction, Libby takes his cues from technology. Every day, scientists and engineers work on machines that mimic nature: tiny robots that swarm like roaches, personal protection-bots that double as tents, and even small flying machines that act like seeds.

The artist doesn’t suggest that his creations could move or take on a life of their own…he simply hybridizes nature and technology to explore the parallels between the two in a strangely beautiful fashion.

The post In(sect)vention: Steampunk Bugs Blend Nature + Machine first appeared on Gajitz.

As if playing chess wasn’t geeky enough already, evil genius Paul Fryer has gone and paired it up with vacuum tubes that actually light up as you move them around the board. This gorgeous example of geekery is appropriately titled Chess Set for Tesla.

The top of each tube is emblazoned with a small character that tells which chess piece it represents. As you move each piece to a new spot on the board, you plug it into the electrified slot on the bottom of the square, lighting it up.

There are only seven of these bad boys in existence, and we expect you’d have to be super careful while playing to avoid any heartbreaking, unfixable accidents – but this is easily one of the coolest chess sets ever created.

The post Glowing Endorsement: Retrofuturistic Tesla Chess Set first appeared on Gajitz.