Freaky Gothic, designed by Calum Alexander Watt and sculpted by David Richardson is now available for preorder! This 1/8 scale figure kit contains 24 resin pieces, detailed instructions, and concept art. This visitor from another world, lost in time has a head-height (not including the hat) of approximately 24cm and would be a great piece for any Steampunk or Historical Miniatures fan with a taste for the unique.

Preorder Freaky Gothic Here »

Price: $130 USD + Shipping
Estimated Shipping Date: 5.15.2013

Preorder Freaky Gothic Here »

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Time for a steamy edition of iMech news! In this episode, we update you on Friday’s Steampunk preorders, show off Christophe Desse’s L’Estafette roadster, and finally show the Orb Ship I’ve been working on as well as put the 2nd Edition up for Preorders!

Fish-Fry Friday »

First up, the new fish sub, Prof. FichtenFoo’s Implausible Long-Nose Submersible goes up for preorder on Friday March 1, 2013 along with Christophe Desse’s Submariners and the Skipper. All three of these Steampunk-styled kits are in 1/35 scale. All three will be shipping in Early April at the latest. The Skipper is the long awaited pilot for the original Fantastical Fish-Shaped Submersible (which is in stock now) and comes with a new seat and control sticks. Will be great for ships, balloons, etc!

Prof. FichtenFoo’s Implausible Long-Nose Submersible » $99 + Shipping

Christophe Desse’s Submariners » $35 + Shipping

Christophe Desse’s Skipper » $18 + Shipping

L’Estafette Renders »

Christophe Desse has posted some fantastic renders of his upcoming 1/35 scale L’Estafette. I love these because they look like finished plastic figures. Cool stuff coming in May 2013!

FichtenFoo’s Orb Ship Build-up »

I finished up my Orb Ship build-up last week after putting it aside for several months while working on other masters and product launches. It’s a really fun build and if you haven’t had a chance to get one, you can preorder the next edition on Friday. Here’s the pics of my build-up and more detailed info/tutorials on the build can be found on my blog at FichtenFoo.com.

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Scott Robertson’s Orb Ship 2nd Ed Preorder »

The Scott Robertson 1/48 scale Orb Ship‘s 2nd Edition will be available for PREorder on Friday 3.1.2013 as well. This very large ship is $155 + Shipping.

Back in 2011 when I first announced that I was starting Industria Mechanika, one of my first collaborator announcements was for Adrian Smith. We wanted to do something slightly different from his normal artwork… something that we thought you guys would love and I had an idea in my head I’d been toying with. I gave him a few rough ideas in text form and what he came back with was more amazing that I ever dreamed up. We initially teamed up with a clay sculptor, but the result was… not good, suffered many many delays, and we missed out on this being one of our first releases. But after Adrian introduced me to the uber-talented 3D artist Rishi Nandlaskar, the modeler for our Frankenstein (email me if you want a potential 2nd Frankie edition!) and Deckhands releases, we finally can bring this release to reality and to you!

Announcing Adrian Smith’s Chrononaut!

This steampunk inspired time-traveling hunter will be released as a 1/8 scale resin/multimedia kit early this summer. In fact if all goes well, it might even be done in time for Wonderfest 2013 in Louisville.

What you see above in 3D is about 95% complete. Rishi is adding and refining the textures and should be done with the 3D by this weekend. Below I’ve added some of the original concept sketches as well as the final concept art. The price is TBD of course and due to the large (and awesome!) T-Rex head base will be a little more expensive than what I intend our 1/8 scale line-up to be as the base will make up almost 1/2 of the kit bulk in printing and casting costs. He’ll also have some photoetch, chain, wire, etc in the box to complete the kit.

And of course he’ll look awesome alongside of our upcoming Freaky Gothic figure by Calum Watt/David Richardson!

I’ll add him to the shop for notifications in a day or two.

As promised before my vacation last week, here’s some almost done renders of the upcoming Calum Watt “Freaky Gothic” modeled by the amazing David Richardson. Originally slated for 1/12 scale we’ve decided to increase that and do 1/8 scale instead. Seems that most of you want the figures to be larger and that’s fine. 1/8 scale should be a nice balance between size and costs making them more affordable than our 1/6 scale figures were. Price details to come. David is currently tightening up details and textures since we increased the scale. I’ll show close-up views of this when they’re available.

The winner and undisputed champion is…

To be announced in a bit… first let’s play the reality TV game and not get right to the point shall we? Sorry for not getting these results up sooner. I’ve been pretty much inundated here at iMech central and haven’t had a chance. I had also given the Collaborator judges until July 5th to submit their results. I did the tallies yesterday based on the three divisions: Public Poll, Select Collaborators, and Contestant Votes.

Public Tally: This was based on the poll seen here.
Collaborators Tally: I asked about 10  trusted collaborators/staff to vote based on what would make for the best kit. Point values were: 1st 3pts, 2nd 2pts, and 3rd choice 1 pt. Thanks to Ian McQue, Rishi Nandlaskar, Derek Stenning, and Brent Curtis! All of whom have opinions I value.
Contestant Tally: Each contestant got to vote for 3 entrants worth 1 point each.

Actual Scores:

Click to enlarge ^

Congrats to our winner: Chris Lee!

Chris got the top score in each caregory making him the hands-down winner. Chris will get his likeness made into a 1/35 scale figure kit. (2in. / 50mm tall) Chris wins his likeness in costume made into a 1/35 scale (50mm) figure kit. Two copies of your kit with the option to have one pre-painted by a figure modeler. Also one copy of the upcoming Squid-Shaped Submersible model kit.

Character Name: Dr. Mortimer J. Torque, Inventor, Tinkerer, and Steamologist of the Apparition Abolishers
Information: SOFT: Soft pieces similar to gentleman of the day include boots, pants, fancy button up shirt w/ sleeve holders, vest and top hat.
GEAR: Gear is all found and repurposed objects. The Portable Power Pack is designed to generate steam on demand for The Device (an energy field detector). The pack derives its power from a vertically-mounted Emeraldic Energy Extrapolator which provides the wattage to heat the water in the small boiler at the bottom of the rig. The steam can then be safely dispensed as needed to the other team members’s weapons and gear through the removable high-pressure injectors, shown hanging on the left of each pack in the photos.
OTHER: Signature pieces include brass duck head cane and goggles, gun and holster belt, plus skeleton keys for accessing various areas of his secret laboratory. Famous for several mechanical inventions such as Scrappington Hauley (mechanical mule), H.A.R.O.L.D.E. (Heavy Ambulatory Rider Operated Load Dispatching Equipment, steam powered exosuit), and A.T.T. (Automatic Torque Telegrapher, communication device). (If chosen, can send photos of each of these as a larger accessory reference.)

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Runners Up »

As stated a few will be chosen, not based on the voting, but on what we think our customers would like as a kit. These choices are still TBD (although I have at least 2 in mind already, pending contact with contetants) and will be based on what looks best, can get the most use in a variety of scenes, etc… and will be determined by Industria Mechanika. It is not based on the voting scores as iMech did not participate in the actual voting.  Those entrants will receive: Their own runner-up’s likeness in costume made into a 1/35 scale (2in. / 50mm) figure kit. Two copies of the runner-up kit.

Thanks!

Thanks to all of the entrants for showing off their amazing costumes. We’ll certainly do this again in the future as we like to promote artists, modelers, sculptors, and their original works.

Really big update today ladies and gents! Three new designs and one announced a while ago seemingly risen from the dead. And of course the usual preorder/restock updates.

Calum Watt’s Freaky Gothic »

I started talking with Calum Watt a few months ago about collaborating on some of his cool mechanical designs. (see his sites here and here) He’s working on fleshing those plans out for us, but meanwhile he updated a very old sketch I was very interested in using as the Squid Sub pilot/captain.  This cool steampunk-esque figure will be available with the Squid without the coat as the pilot. A separate coated figure will also be available in 1/35 aka 50mm scale. But not only that… the figure is so cool that I’m really considering doing a 1/6 scale (300mm, 12″) version as well. The figure will be 3D sculpted by David Richardson. David’s been collaborating with us on a number of unannounced projects already and does amazing work. (don’t ask… I can’t tell!) You can view David’s site here. No release date yet on the individual figures, but the seated pilot will come with the Squid. Fill out the Notify Me to get info when a preorder is available.

Pre-Sculpting Plans^

Original sketch circa 2005^

Alb-Lab’s T-Zero »

This one has been in the works for a while from Alb-Lab, makers of the Markov Racer. The long sleek T-Zero designed and fabricated by Alberto Longo & Daniele Cattarin is their latest anti-gravity racing endeavor. Featuring resin body and a vacuform canopy. No word yet on decals or PE parts. Expect this one to be available in Fall 2012. Fill out the Notify Me to get info when a preorder is available.

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FichtenFoo’s Fish Sub II »

Since the Squid Sub is delayed, I still wanted to have a new FichtenFoo steampunk vehicle available for 2012. A while back I saw some cool fish X-rays and one caught my eye. I finally sat down and started the master last week for a new Fish-Shaped Submersible based on the Longnose Butterflyfish. It’s a cool-shaped fish and depending on how squared back I make the fins, (do a Google image search to see how the actual fish looks) will look very sleek and fast. The eyes are set low on the body so this craft will be piloted by someone seated in a prone racing motorcycle position in order to see out the windows. I’ve just gotten the basic body shape done so far so expect more images as I detail it up. It’s slightly smaller than the original Fish Sub I did a few years ago. I do know this kit will use LOTS of photoetch, a potential white metal (pewter?) propeller, clear glass eyes like the Hornethopter, and of course resin and wire. Watch for a preorder later this year. Fill out the Notify Me to get info when a preorder is available.

Mike Jensen’s Drone »

A loooong time ago I announced we would be kitting Mike Jensen’s “Drone” figure. He sent me the 3D files a few weeks ago, but I didn’t have any renders until now. This will be a 1/6 scale resin figure kit. Approximately 300mm/12in. tall, but no base. No info on the release date yet, but I’ll keep you updated of course when I know more and you can also fill out the Notify Me to get info when a preorder is available.

Final Preproduction Render ^

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Steampunk Contest Voting »

Voting continues for the Steampunk Costume Contest. Click here to submit your vote by June 30th.

Preordered Item Updates! »

First up is the preorder info. I have several casters working diligently on getting these done so that I can get them out the door and into your hands.
Sasha 1/35: All 1/35 Sashas are shipping Monday UNLESS they’re paired with a 1/35 Deckhands set and need shipped together.
Sasha 1/32: Replacement casts shipping by 6.20.2012 to those of you that filled out the replacement form.
Deckhands 1/35: Different caster from Sasha, the 1/35′s and some of the 1/24th’s I believe are shipping on Monday 6.18.2012 to me from the caster. Once I receive them I’ll box and ship immediately as usual.
Deckhands 1/24: Same caster as 1/35′s, I might have a few next week to start shipping out… not 100% clear there. However I need to wait for the labels to get back from the printer. Wasn’t expecting the resin so soon!

Upcoming Preorders »

Remora 3rd Edition: At caster who will start next edition production next week. I should be able to start a preorder in Early July.
Frankenstein 1st Edition: At caster who will start molding next week. I should be able to start a preorder in Early July.
Chompbot #5 & Chomp Troopers: Both are at different casters and are in production. I should be able to start a preorder in Mid July.
Other upcoming preorder items: Sasha 1/24, Barrio Guy 1/35, Barrio Guy 1/24, Orbship, and Dustbuster.

Restocks! »

We’ve sold out of a LOT of items this past month and will be casting new editions of some of your favorites.
Remora: We’re still aiming for a July restock of these. Fifty of the 3rd Edition kits will be available for preorder next month.
Sasha 1/35: We’ve not got the first 100 out the door, but there’s been a lot of interest in her. As soon as I can get the first ones done I’ll start a preorder for the next batch.
Hornethopter: Lots of interest in this little beastie after we sold the last 10 at Wonderfest. I’ll attempt to restock these in August or September…. need to get some of our new scheduled releases out the door first.
FichtenFoo’s Fish-Shaped Submersible: Gave the master back to the caster to start molding for a 6th run! Planning to restock this one early Fall 2012.
Kastor: Same as the Hornethopter… planning to restock this one early Fall 2012.

Fill out the Notify Me to get info when a preorder is available.

All of the entries are in and now it’s time to vote!We have 20 really fantastic (extraordinary even!) entries. Click below to view all of the entries, read the voting guidelines, and then vote for your favorite. Remember, the winner gets a kit made from their entry to choose what/who you want to build and paint!

View Entries and Vote »

Polls end June 30th 2012. While no more entries are being accepted, you can still click here to see the contest rules and guidelines.

We’ve decided to add some Steampunk figures to our 1/35 scale line to go with our Steampunk model kit releases. Vehicles such as the Fish Shaped Submersible, Hornethopter, and the upcoming Steam Car and Squid-Shaped Submersible. We have many figure ideas but thought “wouldn’t it be cool if we got the community involved?”. And that’s how this contest idea came about.

You can now have the chance to become immortalized in your best Steampunk attire as a scale model kit!

Dress for Success!

Many in the Steampunk community create some fantastic outfits which they wear to shows, cons, etc… Email us some photos (see rules) of you in your favorite Steampunk era outfit and you might be chosen to become a figure model kit. The outfit can include accessories such as rayguns, packs, etc., but even a cool simplified Steampunk/Victorian outfit could make for a great figure.

The Rules »

Here’s a few rules and guidelines for this contest.

1. Contestant should submit photo of themselves only. Group-shots wouldn’t work well for the modeler. You cannot submit photos of someone else so some wort of proof will be required. (proof type TBD)
2. Must submit no more than 4 photos and no less than 2 photos. Must have a front and rear shot. A close-up head-shot would be great as well, but not necessary unless you are chosen. More photos of detail areas may be requested of the winner(s)
3. Total photo submission should be less than 4mb. That’s more for my drive-space benefit than anything else. If we need higher res, we’ll definitely ask for it.
4. Blurry photos are frowned upon. Since this is a photo contest, we need to be able to see details. Take the best shots you can!
5. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: We will stop accepting photo submissions on June 1st, 2012 at midnight EST. Any submissions after that will be discarded.
6. One grand prize winner will be chosen by a combination of public votes and judge votes. (details to come) Other unofficial “runners-up” winners may be chosen by Industria Mechanika to be made into figures as well based on costume and how well we think it will translate into a marketable figure kit. It’d be silly to just do one if there’s several kit-worthy submissions!
7. Winner(s) will be required to sign consent forms allowing us to use their likeness as a figure kit.
8. If Grand Prize winner cannot prove costumed likeness is theirs, sign consent form, or meet requirements for contest, Grand prize will be forfeited and move to the 2nd place winner.
9. Any prior-copyrighted materials in costume may need to be changed prior to model sculpting to avoid copyright infringement.

How To Enter »

You’ve read the rules and submission guidelines right? Great! Now that that’s done, you can email your submission to the following email address. Please include the following information: Real name, character name, email address, and a brief description of your costume.

The Prizes »

Here are the prizes so far. If anyone wishes to donate a prize, please contact us.

Grand Prize: Winner’s likeness in costume made into a 1/35 scale (50mm) figure kit. Two copies of your kit with the option to have one pre-painted by a figure modeler. One copy of the upcoming Squid-Shaped Submersible model kit.

Runner-Up Prizes: In the event we chose more submissions to be sculpted into kits, those entrants will receive: Their own runner-Up’s likeness in costume made into a 1/35 scale (50mm) figure kit. Two copies of the runner-up kit.

I wanted to take this opportunity to show off another few collaborators and their upcoming product. This “Steam Car” with trailer is scheduled to be our September 2012 release. The Steam Car artist, Philippe Bouchet also known as Manchu,(see his Concept Ships stuff too) is an amazing science fiction illustrator. He emailed us asking about collaboration and sent a pile of paintings. As soon as I saw the Steam Car with Trailer I knew it’d be a great fit in our line of products. I connected him with the talented Bruce Lee, a hard-surface 3D artist to collaborate on the production model.

Philippe wanted to make changes from his original painting to improve upon the design. The Steam Car is now sportier and more detailed. Also as the model progresses he is providing Bruce with amazing sketches and details to make this release as realistic/plausible as possible. These latest images provided by Bruce today show the latest progress. They’re already tearing into it to improve the suspension (front suspension cross-bar would hit car nose on a bump in the road at the moment) and grille area. After that they’ll be moving onto other details such as the interior and front fender. The collaboration process to bring this to life is amazing to watch.

1/35 or 1/24 Scale? What Would You Prefer?

We’re not quite 100% as to what the scale will be. I asked on Facebook last week about preferred scale, but didn’t show or say what the kit would be. We do a lot of 1/35 scale steampunk releases, but this might be a nice bigger change of pace in 1/24 scale. It would be roughly 13.5in long at 1/24 and 9.25in long at 1/35. So now that you see it, check out the New Facebook Thread or post on our forum what your preferred scale for this would be.

Scheduled Release: September 2012

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Another month and time for another iMech news update! This time we show off some Ian McQue’s Remora build-ups and the latest for the upcoming  figure, set, a cool new Flyer from Christophe Desse, and the long awaited progress shots of Scott Robertsons Orbship!

Christophe Desse’s Red Star 47

I first saw a photo of this cool Russian looking flyer by Christophe Desse, a 3D artist for Naughtydog, a few years back on the Concept Ships blog. I loved the design, saved it to my HD, but thought I was looking at a photo of a finished model kit so I didn’t attempt to contact Christophe about producing it. Luckily, he contacted us and as it turns out, the image was not a finished model, just a 3D render made to look like a completed toy/model.

Christophe has been hard at work making small design changes to the flyer and designing all new figures to go with the kit. Look for the Red Star 47 flyer to be available for preorder November 2012.

KIT RELEASE DATE: November 2012
KIT SCALE: 1/35

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Scott Robertson’s Orbship

Been a while since we had news of this, but here are some in-progress renders of Scott Robertson’s 1/48 scale Orbship. Scott is still fine-tuning and adding details and 3D artist friend of his is working on a figure to accompany it.

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Adrian Smith’s Frankenstein

Frankie is at the caster slated for an April 2012 release. Meanwhile I’ve been working on gathering materials and doing the print work for the kit. Because it’s really cool, I wanted to show off the chain maille that will come with the kit. It’s hard to see in the renders, but there’s a bit of maille under the belt and shoulder armor. Each kit will come with a 3 inch square sheet of 1/8″ steel ring maille to use to complete the kit.

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Ian McQue Figure Set #1

Here’s a few shots of the 3rd figure in the upcoming Ian McQue figure set. Like the Rigger and Mopper, this waving crewman figure was modeled by Rishi Nandlaskar. Watch for upcoming shots of the final two in the set!

“Ian McQue’s Remora” Build-ups!

Some really great build-ups of the First Edition Remora kits are appearing on our forums. Check them out here and leave the modelers some comments. I (FichtenFoo) finished my two Remora a few weeks ago. (pics here) The blue one is mine and the red was done for Ian based on the box art. He should receive it any day now so I can’t wait to hear what he thinks!

There’s still a few 2nd Edition Remora kits available for preorder. Click here to place a preorder of Ian McQue’s Remora.

Dmitry Parkin’s Vampire Preorder Info

The Dmitry Parkin Vampire is available for preorder right now and will be shipping next week. Watch for an upcoming build-up of the Vampire by the very talented Rick Cantu of Dragonstooth Miniatures!