Thomas Dean Willeford V (born October 29, 1964) is a steampunk writer, artist and maker. He is known for his work appearing on television and for his book Steampunk Gear, Gadgets, and Gizmos. [1] He lives and works in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, doing business as Brute Force Studios. [1] [2] [3] His steampunk subculture persona is Lord Archibald "Feathers" Featherstone. [3] [4]
Brought up in a Victorian house with a "mad scientist" grandfather who worked for DuPont, [5] [6] Willeford was educated at University of Maryland, College Park, Shenandoah University, University of Delaware and the University of Oxford.
In 1988, Willeford became interested in steampunk and began working on pieces that combined his love of engineering and art. [7] He created the steampunk arm worn by Nathan Fillion in episode 3.4 of the television series Castle . [6] [8] His work has been displayed at the University of Oxford's Museum of the History of Science, [9] at the Steampunk Bizarre Experiment, [10] the Penn State Berks Freyberger Gallery, [11] at Nemo's Steampunk Art & Invention Gallery [2] and at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation, [4] [12] and has been featured in Popular Mechanics. [13] He is a contributor to Bruce Boxleitner's Lantern City [4] and was a judge on Game Show Network's Steampunk'd . [14]
Willeford was a guest curator for the Steampunk U exhibit at the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania. [15]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Castle | Props | Steampunk Arm | |
2010 | Oddities | Himself | [18] | |
2013 | Old Folks Home | Himself | Episode "Blow Off Some Steampunk" | [19] |
2015 | Steampunk'd | Himself | As a judge | [20] |
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or the American "Wild West", where steam power remains in mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power.
A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character. It is sometimes found in comic books, and may possess superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.
Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, and a broader use of the term "cosplay" applies to any costumed role-playing in venues apart from the stage. Any entity that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Favorite sources include anime, cartoons, comic books, manga, television series, rock music performances, video games and in some cases, original characters. The term is composed of the two aforementioned counterparts – costume and role play.
William Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series Elementals and Fables.
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Super Solvers: Gizmos & Gadgets is an educational science video game designed by The Learning Company. It is intended to teach children between the ages of 7 and 12 introductory mechanics, namely simple machines, magnets, basic electronics, and forms of energy. The original game is compatible with computers running DOS 3.3 or higher and a later CD release added Windows 95 and Macintosh compatibility. A popular game through 1997, The Learning Company, then incorporated with Broderbund, discontinued Gizmos & Gadgets in 1998. Riverdeep eventually obtained the rights and re-released it in some of the "Adventure Workshop" collections.
Steampunk fashion is a subgenre of the steampunk movement in science fiction. It is a mixture of the Victorian era's romantic view of science in literature and elements from the Industrial Revolution in Europe during the 1800s. Steampunk fashion consists of clothing, hairstyling, jewellery, body modification and make-up. More modern ideals of steampunk can include t-shirts with a variety of designs or the humble jeans being accessorised with belts and gun holsters.
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Steampunk HQ is an art collaboration and gallery in the historic Victorian precinct of Oamaru, New Zealand. Opened in November 2011, it celebrates its own industrial take on steampunk via an array of contraptions and sculptures, complemented by audiovisual installations. A yard also contains a collection of other industrial parts and projects in various stages of completion.
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