Wave Disrutper Ray Gun Gets Field Tested

[Rocket]

Hi All,

Long time lurker, seldom poster ROCKET here..... a friend of mine field tested a ray gun called the Wave Disrupter, thought you all might get a kick out of reading it... it's a very quick read, but the gun itself if worth clicking on the link just to see it... so here it is:

http://www.gunsandhunting.com/wave%20disrupter.html

Enjoy!

ROCKET -[O_O]-

[Tinplate6]

Rocket,

The article was a hoot! The writer had a great imagination, I myself wondered what it would be like to fire one. I got mine about 4 months ago, it was my favorite of all the steam-punk guns offered by Weta. The most obvious thing is the weight, it's really heavy. I wish I could get the other guns, but the price is too prohibitive. Thanks for the post, it's a good read.

[dratomic]

I've always felt like, of all their guns, this was the least steam punk -- it's more like a tinkered together 40s or 50s device, rather than some neo-Victorian or neo-Edwardian (or whenever steam punk pulls its aesthetics from) kind of thing. Much more appealing to me.

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

What is the origin of the phrase "steam punk"?

I pretty much get what it means but where did it come from?

[Tinplate6]

What is the origin of the phrase "steam punk"?

I pretty much get what it means but where did it come from?

FJW, here's what Wikipedia says about the genre and it's origins...

"Steampunk is a sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date."

"...the term steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue in cheek variant of cyberpunk. It seems to have been coined by the science fiction author K. W. Jeter, who was trying to find a general term for works by Tim Powers (author of The Anubis Gates, 1983), James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986) and himself (Morlock Night, 1979 and Infernal Devices, 1987) which took place in a 19th-century (usually Victorian) setting and imitated conventions of actual Victorian speculative fiction such as H. G. Wells's The Time Machine. In a letter to the science fiction magazine Locus, printed in the April 1987 issue, Jeter wrote:

Dear Locus,

Enclosed is a copy of my 1979 novel Morlock Night; I'd appreciate your being so good as to route it Faren Miller, as it's a prime piece of evidence in the great debate as to who in "the Powers/Blaylock/Jeter fantasy triumvirate" was writing in the "gonzo-historical manner" first. Though of course, I did find her review in the March Locus to be quite flattering. Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like "steampunks", perhaps... —K.W. Jeter[1]"

[dratomic]

Nicely researched, Tinplate.

Personally, I've really grown to hate steampunk. I used to find it fun and aesthetically fascinating, but now it's just boring. Too much junk being produced -- stick a few gears and a piece or two of brass on a ray gun and suddenly it's "Dr. Thadeus Q. Josephus's Sub-Ethonic Morpholithic Moronicizer." Yawn. When done well, I still think there's a lot to be said for the steampunk scene. Weta is a great example of getting it right. But more often then not -- meh.

...I think we've drifted a bit...

[Andyman]

The term "steampunk" seems to carry a lot of latitude lately.

[Tinplate6]

Nicely researched, Tinplate.

Personally, I've really grown to hate steampunk. I used to find it fun and aesthetically fascinating, but now it's just boring. Too much junk being produced -- stick a few gears and a piece or two of brass on a ray gun and suddenly it's "Dr. Thadeus Q. Josephus's Sub-Ethonic Morpholithic Moronicizer." Yawn. When done well, I still think there's a lot to be said for the steampunk scene. Weta is a great example of getting it right. But more often then not -- meh.

...I think we've drifted a bit...

Thanks Doc, I do however agree with you on that point, it is a bit overdone. Although I'm enjoying the fact that society is reviving ray guns via this movement, I still yearn for a plain old, straight forward space gun, without the iron and brass trappings. Hey, why don't we start our own retro Buck Rogers style movement, make retro space adventurers new again! Now, that's a thought...give those "steam punks" a taste of some real hardware!