I hope he's a good bot! I'd hate to see all that fine machinery go to waste for evil!

Me too. It always bothered me in a certain, popular, toy related comic and movie franchise that the new anthropomorophisized machines were instantly turned into "Bad Guys."

Luckily, I steer clear of most of that kinda stuff.

Love it. :) GOOD robot.

This pic can only really be appreciated by railfans. I do recognize the crane locos. And yes, a tank loco would be a good choice for that ballast provided by the tanks over the boiler.


Are you working off reference photos for your machinery here? I was looking at hte side rods thinking you're missing a cross and then I see it's behind the main bar itself. You got the counterweights in correctly as well as the inboard brake shoes. Steam chests in place, air pump, Johnson bar, etc.

Got a sand dome but no sanders! :)

As for Buttenshaw's loco mech or really any steam powered mech- I can only hope you keep those boilers horizontal at all times. Don't let the crownsheet get exposed! We wouldn't want any superheated steam explosions should your water levels get low.

Aren't they there behind the tanks? I remember inking them in.

The sanders are nothing more than pipes ending open in the air just ahead of the drivers themselves. Usually in front and behind the driver set on an O-4-0. Brake shoes inboard, sanders outboard. :)

You'll get a kick out of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2yi.....os=btOVtKZu6rQ

Woah! Cool! But what the heck is the train transformer punching out? Now I want to try and build a 3-D model like that.

Dunno. Some random bot the creator made.

Heh heh, I love it.

excellent detail

with how many moving parts those steam locos had they are the first ones I'd expect an Autobot or Decepticon to hide in.

"I am a cop y writ ted ful ly trade marked who lly own ed pro per ty of some soul less cor por a tion."

"Oh... so a bad robot then."

I darn near fell out of my chair laughing after I figured that out.

I'm afraid it likely took me almost as long to get the gist of the joke. Something to do with the Transformers movie I guessed.

(One has to speak the lines into an empty coffee tin for the full effect.)

All I can think of on seeing this this video, the boss at the end... The link is rather low quality, but the train has "C'est Nes Pas" written on the side. Which only adds to the awesome. ^_^

(This "video" has a clearer picture and better sound quality, but it's a still frame rather than a movie.)

Mr. Buttenshaw regularly contributes his art to North American Fur fanzine, but rarely makes comments on the other artist's works. He has explained he's busy, but perhaps it could be NAF is the only place where he's showing his works. I'll have to check and see.

well it's a good robot!
and i know "TITANIC" the name of the ship! do you?
well i well find her some day in 2016!

Say... Look up the work of a fellow named Robert Ballard. He can give you all sorts of info on the lost liner.

well i mite read a books of it and others incloding movie calld: TITANIC
you know and i mite see him soon

This is...scarily well done. I would have linked you to the Transformers engine animation, but it seems I was beaten to the punch.

i've only seen one, supposedly "irl" photo of something like that, but lots of 'gypsy loggers' which were relatively small loco's with a very large winding drum for log yarding on the front of them (and perhaps wenching themselves up impossible grades?)

mounting a stinger above the smoke box makes me wonder about stress distribution, and makes me think the original was a darkroom 'manip' that or the shop forman had truly gone 'round the bend'.

of course in the magical land of the spontoon islands ...

Crane locos with the boom mounted over the smokestack were quite common up until WW II or so. The little example I used for reference supposedly was used by the AT&SF in the mid 1930s, on routes through Texas and Oklahoma. There were also some crane locos used on short routes in the UK.

this reminds me the current holder of the transformer's comic licence is dong a series reboot but making it take place in the 1800's

that MIGHT be interesting. i liked the 'beast' series, of course.
never have cared much for the car and truck one.
if they're going to do railroading (what else in that era)
i hope they don't screw up the whole concept

(one that has a lot of potential, but seems almost inevitable that they will, in these days of most americans having been born since railroading has long ceased to be a very big part of everyday life. and i doubt if one in a hundred ever actually worked for a railroad or understand very much about how either the technology nor the business works, and less about how it did then. so i don't suppose anyone but an old fart like me would even notice, what was wrong, though i'm sure many would get the feeling something was.)

It's like looking at a 100 year old lighograph of a steam locomotive. Your art is amazing.

Well, I was trying for an old "Steel Plate Engraving" look, but I understand what you meant.

Wonder if you've ever heard of it, but...

IDW's 'Hearts of steel' comic book miniseries. a 'What if' series that has the Transformers waking up during the age of North American steam trains and the construction of the railways.

Features Samuel Clemens beating up a clockpunk Ravage.

Oh gracious Goodness Yes I have heard of "Hearts of Steel." I have yet to buy a copy of the comic myself, but from what I have seen on the Internet, some of the artists have NO idea how steam engines ACTUALLY work.

That's probably true, but in their defense, a lot of what they were drawing doesn't really run on steam. They just need a bunch of fiddly bits, something approaching a similar shape, and make the right noises and emit a passable substitute for smoke and steam.. Just enough to pass a casual glance.

These are the same ones where, in modern days, if you popped the hood or trunk of the car, you'd find a pair of giant hands or a head in place of the engine block.

Yeah! I've noticed that about the Transformer toys as well. I often wonder if Bumblebee could look out the front grille while he's in car mode.

Transformers itself did this once, but with the "seekers" turning into Apocryphal Steampunk style biplanes.