Steampunk Sculpture : Rhinoceros Beetle

Steampunk Rhinoceros Beetle

I Made it from Tinned copper wire that i twist , bend and coil mostly by hand and pliers . I also use some silver tone clock parts in the front and the back of the beetle's body . I plan to make a wide variety of these bugs .

Now available on ETSY

The rhinoceros beetles or rhino beetle are a subfamily (Dynastinae) of beetles in the family of scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae). They are among the largest of beetles, and their common name refers to the characteristic horns borne by the males of most species in the group. The male beetles use their horns in mating battles against other males.

Their larval stage is long, several years in some species. The larvae feed on rotten wood while the adults feed on nectar, plant sap and fruit. Rhinoceros beetle larvae are sometimes fried and eaten as a bush delicacy. However, their greatest economic importance is as pests: Oryctes rhinoceros especially can de-foliate and sometimes kill coconut and oil palms in the SE Asian and Pacific regions. Biological controls heve been developed, based on entomopathogen viruses and the fungus Metarhizium majus.

Rhinoceros beetles are popular pets in Asia. They are clean, easy to maintain, and safe to handle. In Asian countries, male beetles are also used for gambling fights since they naturally compete for female beetles with the winner knocking the other off a log. Rhinoceros beetles are also the strongest animals on the planet in relation to their own size. They can lift up to 850 times their own weight. Well-known species of rhino beetles include the Atlas Beetle (Chalcosoma atlas), Elephant Beetle (Megasoma elephas), European Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes nasicornis), Japanese rhinoceros beetle (Trypoxylus dichotomus), Hercules Beetle (Dynastes hercules), Ox Beetle (Strategus aloeus), the Unicorn Beetle (Dynastes tityus) and the Common Rhinoceros Beetle (Xylotrupes ulysses)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_beetle

The Purple Bee - Steampunk ring

Name : Apis Mellifera Purpurea Annulus ( The Purple Bee Ring )

Collection : OOAK RELIC STEAMED

Material :

Artistic wire Gun metal color copper

Antiqued metal bead

clock part

antique vintage brass bee on purple glass button

Size : 7 ONLY

Steampunk Time Travel bug is almost complete

Oh Yes ! I haven't finished the ciccada yet . I don't know how many hours i have worked on this bug . I have added the frame of the back wings, the inside of the front wings and gave the finish touch to the legs .

New Genuine Baltic Amber

I'm always on the look for some uncommon materials . When i don't make rings , i take a break and search the web. I have spent hours looking for Genuine Baltic amber in the right size and shape . I bought some that the seller claimed was genuine Baltic amber but was not convinced it was the real thing .

Originally i had bought beads on Etsy which were expensive and i believe it was the real deal .
Then i got others that I'm still not sure of . I called it Mysterious Amber and explain in the detail of the ring that i didn't know for sure . Recently while i was making a ring i drilled one of the mysterious bead and to my surprise it smelled very sweet , which is good because it is one of the characteristic of real Amber . Although I'm skeptic , it convinced me that it is not plastic but did not convince me that it was amber .

Here's a picture of the Mysterious Amber Ring :

It really has many of the visual characteristic of real amber and is a perfect match for this style of rings . I always associated amber as being the most steampunk precious stone of all but that's only my opinion. I think that amber has the ability to freeze time , even sometimes specimen of fossilized insect can be found inside ,frozen in time !

For example :

Finally i have found a supplier in Lithuania who sell 100% guaranteed genuine Baltic amber and has been in the Amber business for over 20 years . So i bought the only strand in the right size that they had in stock .

I really like the natural look of these beads .I cant wait to received them so i played with photoshop to see what it will look like .

I will get them in a few weeks and post the real picture here when i get them :

Cicada insect Steampunk brass wire sculpture

I always wanted to make a cicada with brass and copper wire , like a skeleton ,then incorporate part of antique watch to it . Now i only made the skeleton and i will also add two more pair of legs + a small pair of retractable back wings . So here's the preview .

I will continue to work on it later today . Now its almost 3 am here so time to sleep .

A few hours later , 5 october 18:00 pm

I have decided to add the gears first . I may have to put that project aside for a few days .
Meanwhile here's what it looks like .

6 October 22:00 pm

I started the head , It was missing life . Now its looking at me already spying on my every moves. I'm slowly thinking about the story of this bug ,wondering what purpose the inventor had in mind . Perhaps it was able to time travel either in the past or in the future . Maybe it was a device to spy on what had happened and resolve present mysteries . What were the other abilities of this bug .Was it able to sing in silence like a cicada and emit frequencies that travels throught time and allow the owner to see the future from it's eye , of course that after the signal has been decoded by the proper receptor. Perhaps the best way to solve this mystery would be simply to use the bug and verify (spy on) what the inventor was intending to do with it .

7 October 22:45 pm

It's amazing how just adding one part to the item , i can see the whole dynamic change . For instance now i have just added the 2 missing pair of legs and it is already walking everywhere .