Aetherworks – Steampunk Machine Generator for Blender

Aetherworks builds Victorian steam machinery inside Blender: vertical and locomotive boilers, mill engines with big flywheels, vertical column and A-frame engines, traction engines, airships, gauge panels, pipe works, gear works, Tesla coils, armillary spheres, aether reactors, brass telescopes, and single fittings such as pressure gauges, gate and globe valves, whistles, sight glasses and safety valves. Pick one of 51 designs, then change anything and watch it rebuild live.

Every machine runs. Press play and flywheels turn, crankshafts drive connecting rods and pistons, meshing gears spin at the right ratios, propellers whirl, gauge needles tremble, and steam puffs rise from chimneys and whistles. It all runs on plain drivers, with no scripts to allow and no baking, and one Speed slider sets the pace.

Materials

Brass, copper, cast iron, blued steel and enamel paint are photoreal PBR materials with Poly Haven textures on wood, leather, canvas, rope, brick and stone. One Condition slider ages a machine from showroom polish to working, aged or derelict: brass tarnishes, copper grows verdigris in the crevices, soot gathers around fireboxes and chimneys, rust creeps into iron and grime rises from the floor.

Features

• 51 designs in 12 machine kinds and 7 families
• Animated flywheels, pistons, gears, needles, propellers and steam puffs
• Real proportions, bevelled edges and riveted seams
• Six gauge dials: cream enamel, ivory, black, brass, thermometer and clock face
• Nine palettes (brass and iron, copper, Victorian green, oxblood, navy, gunmetal, nickel and walnut, gilded) or your own colors
• Four conditions: polished, working, aged and derelict
• Picture-driven sidebar, Surprise, Variation and Random Finish buttons, Shift+A menu
• Editing one machine never changes another, even Shift+D and Alt+D copies
• Works in Cycles and EEVEE

Requires Blender 4.2 or newer. Tested on Blender 4.2, 4.5 and 5.2 LTS.