WOULD YOU CLASS THESE CREATIONS AS MODELS? OR ART? OR SCULPTURES? OR PERHAPS ALL THREE...

SMN took in a fascinating exhibition yesterday, at the Oxford Museum of the History of Science (OMHS), in the famed UK university city. The show’s all about ‘Steampunk’, a genre of science fiction that combines Victorian-era technology and materials in a ‘what-if’ scenario of how things might appear with a hint of today’s science in the mix.

It’s a very appealing look that features brass, copper, iron, and rich woodwork in a sort of Jules Verne sci-fi style - if you liked the Walt Disney movie 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, then you’ll enjoy steampunk. The OMHS features a bunch of artists and their creations, with a corner devoted to SMN’s favourite steampunker, Stephane Halleux, with work that’s unique in the field for its gently humorous flavour (top two pictures above).

All the pieces are notable for the model-making skills that went into making them, and that’s why we’ve included them today. Halleux’s work features stitched leather that wouldn’t look out of place in a World War I biplane model. Another piece looks almost like a mad rat’s nest of assemblage from a billion bits of old Airfix kit. Yet another combines a church with a tank, with a gun ready to fire out of the tower.

Overall, the exhibition is really worth a visit - it’s not huge, but the rest of the OHMS is fascinating as well, so there’s plenty to see for an hour or three. The exhibition is free and runs until February 21, 2010.

Visit the Oxford Museum of the History of Science here.

JULES VERNE’S NAUTILUS SUBMARINE TO 1:72 SCALE

We had a nautiloid moment here at SMN, when we realised that good models of Jules Verne’s fictional Nautilus are far easier to get hold of than the US Navy vessel. And of the Verne subs, few are better than this one, from Oregon-based Total Immersion.

Total Immersion’s 1:72 scale Nautilus is based on the dramatic design that featured in the 1954 Walt Disney 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and a very handsome model it is too, measuring some 813 mm (32 in) long. Just for once, we’re not complaining about oversize rivets on a model, as Victorian-era machines had ’em in spades! Mind you, the Disney sub isn’t a bit like Verne’s original book description, which detailed it as an elongated cigar shape, powered by sodium-mercury batteries. But SMN’s thumbs-up goes to the fabulous ‘Disney-Gothic’ styling, working by means of a proto-nuclear power plant!

In TI’s words, the kit is: “...based on the Harper Goff visualization built by Tom Scherman Hollywood set designer and Lee Seiler hydrodynamic model ship builder at the Department of Naval Architecture University of California Berkeley model ship towing tank”.

As you can see from the pictures, a LOT of work has gone into this product, which is available in kit form or fully-built to special order. Extra items include various figure sets, and a radio-control kit for underwater operation in the nearest lake.

Incidentally, Lee Seiler (the man behind the kit) is a long-time model builder, who has picked up a TV Emmy and whose dinosaur sculptures grace museums worldwide. He has some tasty future items planned for us, including another 1:72 scale ship, the American Civil War Monitor. Sounds good, Lee: we’re looking forward to it.

Visit Total Immersion here.