Our Gallery: Alternative Military Style

Looks can kill. They can also ignite a discussion.

Last year, one Anarchist lady accused our fellow dieselpunks (those who sport military style outfits) of pro-Nazi aspirations and proposed to adopt the Spanish Republicans / WWII Resistance as a source of inspiration. Indeed, the irregulars’ looks have a lot in common with the “punk” component of the movement but we cannot ignore the desire to reflect the “orderly” aspect of the Diesel Era.

Speaking for this Encyclopedia’s staff, we must say that no one of us sees WWII German uniform as “cool” or “sexy”. It will be always associated with the crimes against humanity and any attempt to revive it inside dieselpunk crowd should be condemned (WWII reenactment is another story). On the other hand, it is simply stupid to label a guy who modeled his outfit on the New Jersey State Police uniform as a “Nazi sympathizer”.

It is true that some elements of the German militaria are widely imitated and commercialized, especially in the Far East. One of the reasons for this is the lack of information on other uniforms. The common knowledge is limited to the looks of the US, British, German and post-1943 Soviet servicemen. This limits our imagination. To broaden the horizons, we decided to publish a few examples of late 1930s – early 1940s uniforms.

1941 Mar., Syria, Private, 7th Division
1941 May, Tobruk, Private, 9th Division

 

Our Gallery: The Future That Never Was

Let us begin with a few quotes from donaguirre‘s gallery @ Deviantart:

Eldorado, a former colony of the Kingdom of Albion, became an independent monarchy in 1776 (“No Eldoradian King – no eldoradian taxes !”), when the King of Albion addressed the elected King of Eldorado as “mon frère” for the first time in the “Dépêche fraternelle”, which is nowadays exhibited in the N.H.City National Museum. Monarchy became constitutional with the end of the Eldoradian civil war (1861-65), when the confederate states abolished absolutism. The Kings name is Jacob ever since (the royal coat of arms reads “Iacobus Rex”), but most Eldoradians use to refer to his majesty as “Jack”.

Two Elekktra-II support airships maneuvering in the docking perimeter of Atlantis station. Elekktrae docked the MPRP on a regular base to keep both, technical installations and crew, operational. A common air force nickname for HE-II standard support vessels was “Milk Cow”, abbreviated as “MC” in radio code.

An early Elekktra class (HE-I) rigid airship entering the landing perimeter of the Westworld Testing Facility “WTF”, (sometimes called “Where The F***), also known as “the dry castle” or “napkinworx”, as the area was situated in the Western Territories’ vast desert regions and due to Citizen Hugges’ often documented habit to scribble ideas onto napkins while in a restaurant to “save them for mankind”, expecting his technical staff to bring them to fruition exactly as seen on his 30 second blueprint.

The Future That Never Was by donaguirre (2010)

…in short, a whole brave new world with its own history, folklore and humor. Sometimes dark, sometimes full of sunlight, always streamlined and uncompromisingly dieselpunk. Welcome to the Future That Never Was!

 

Our Gallery: Postcards from Shanghai

This gallery is inspired by a discussion @ Dieselpunks.org. Just a few quotes:

Atterton: One place that seems iconic for the 30s and 40s is Shanghai. It seems to have been an interesting blend of east and west, as well as popularizing the look of women in red qipaos.

Cap’n Tony: Certainly All Things Chinese (in Western eyes), be it Shanghai or Chinatown, Mandarin Dresses and silk sport coats, Ming vases and Chinese architecture, Opium Dens and Tea Houses, or (unfortunately) Yellow Peril & Dragon Lady stereotypes, are intrinsically linked to the Diesel aestetic.

lord_k: In my eyes, 1920s-1930s Shanghai is the Dieselpunk capital of Asia – with its Deco architecture, rapid development and everything Western mixed with everything Oriental.

Komissar Hass: Personally having lived in Shanghai for some years in childhood, and having visited it last spring once more, I can say that now it gives a feel of some morbid, yet fascinating “oriental-capitalist-revolutianary-communist-mafia” dieselpunk mix simultaneously with classic cyberpunk images.

Matthew Seibel: I’d love to read a Dieselpunk story set in Shanghai… that’d rock! And we’ve got a perfect setting for the story.

 

Our Gallery: From a Parallel Universe

José García aka Cutangus is a former tank commander, Spanish Army. From early 2000s he’s building an alternative universe of his own – with hordes of scary vehicles, aircraft and, recently, mechanical soldiers. Here’s a quote from his Flickr profile:

Tired of the tyranny of the flesh, I became involved in secret experiments related to the translation of human conscience to bioelectric devices. The result is that I’m currently enclosed in Fugaco-class mechanical bodies, actually under development.

We are happy to present a selection of Cutangus’ artwork, in chronological order. Every image is linked to its Flickr page.

AVT-260-N. An imaginary war machine belonging to the German Imperial Army, has the Great War lasted four or five years more.

AERODYNE-Y II. Invented design of a three-fuselage destroyer aircraft of 1945 vintage.

 

Our Gallery: Before It All Began

OK, now we know when the Diesel Era starts – on November 12, 1918, right after the Armistice. The date is agreed, so let us prepare for the International Dieselpunk Day!

But the date doesn’t mean we cannot look into earlier period for inspiration and information. Here is a gallery – the first in a row of three or four, – inspired by various discussions on dieselpunks.org. With (almost) no weapons, automobiles and aircraft. Just some useful devices and a touch of style.

If 1900s and 1910s are claimed by Steampunk, Dieselpunk can also lay a claim. Actually, it is possible to build a 100 per cent dieselpunk setting from technologies and artifacts available before 1920 or even 1914. First of all, diesel engine is here since 1897.

A perfect example of the stationary diesel engine built in 1915 in Graz, Austria-Hungary. We have to wait until 1923 when a diesel will be put in a truck but the first diesel motor vessels were commissioned in 1903 in Russia and France, and only a year later the French Navy had its first diesel submarine. By the way, do you know what was the first ocean-going surface ship fitted with a diesel?