Many times people ask me where I got a particular picture of a rare vehicle, or of a radio set in such good condition?
At times some refuse to believe that these are drawings using small clips of distorted photographs of grills, wheels, etc., made to look like the real thing. By the construction of the radios I have collected over a thousand pictures of various radios and equipment from for sale ads, Ham magazines and internet, and then seek out knobs and meters, etc. at the right angle or as near as I can find and using the “distort tool” in photoshop and/or redrawing say outer meter frames for roundness, or missing sections, get what I want. If the paint-work if damaged, I retouch these or completely redraw using the original then only as a template and the part taken into use. In the examples of Larkspur drawings below, the meter for example is set into a green frame with highlights and shadows added for the needed depth, then when placed onto the radio in the appropriate place, cut to be behind the handle, and then the meter top section retouched with the “burn tool” to add an unsharp shadow along the top face to show where the shadow of the handle would fall. The same is done for the Scale windows of the C13, C42 and C45 radios as they too would have the same shadows from the handles.
For those interested here is a rundown of how they are drawn... The case drawing basics are then used for several almost identical looking radios including the C11 which in reality has a completely different case form, but seeing as the C11 is covered on the top by the ATU and R210, it really is not worth drawing the top of the case any differently.
(1). First a blank Case is drawn, and for the Larkspur series with ribs (if possible with an eye on later use for multiple radios as described above)
(2). Next the protective frame to the front with curves and knock-outs is drawn with the characteristic dips for the fixing screws which then later double up as mounting plate screws.
(3). Next the carrying handles and some front-face depth (raised areas for meters and dial scales) are added The basic positions for the dial scales and perspective distorted (semi-eliptical) round areas for the meters are drawn on to help with putting them on at an optically pleasing angle. Note: It is not always the best to work something in is a technically correct when it artistically looks wrong, then humans have certain expectations, so in such cases “artistic licence” precedes. An example of this can be seen in the C13 handle which in real life has a bent upwards twist in the middle over the meter to make reading the higher set meter easier, but can be left straight as in the drawing the meter can be set a few millimetres lower than in reality. I also leave out unnecessary raised or depressed areas and casting-marks or service bung holes that only add to optical complexity and make the layout to cluttered.
(4). Meters and switches, etc, are copied in and adjusted for right angle, also trimmed if behind handles and some shadow added. Here I also put in a few extra examples of the meter and shading, etc., (just for fun) Also as mentioned on the C45 the meter is turned on its head, then it worked in pendle mode. The meter of the C13 is in a not-completly cut-out window. so that the bottom edge is straight. This is because of the proximity of the M/Cs Switch knob and its intrusion into the raised area where the meter and scales fit.
(5). Scales added, (also added shadows then added along the top of the scales) Some knobs, toggle switches, Lamp housings and recesses for Connectors and/or Cables added, (in the picture these knobs are at first placed on top or in front of top extruded frame) Below in drawing number “6” the lamps and knobs are then moved to be behind the frame.
(6). Almost finished. However unhappy with the PSU side of the dog’s bone connector mounting, so decided (in Drawing “7”) to change out left dog’s bone connector on the PSU side of the bridge to have a similar recessed connector mounting and match the others I am using. Needs some cables to the two downward facing connectors. But these need to be “fast fading out” cables to ensure they do not interfere with the readability of the legend (Text area) I also tried adding the spare fuse carriers into the side frame corners of the PSUs but found they looked odd and as not part of the active function of the circuits, decided to leave them out again.
(7) The “fast vanishing” cables for the two downward facing connectors now added. Case fixing screws, Desiccant charges, Makers ID and Modification Record tags also added and the first of the series (a C-42) is almost ready for use. I decided to leave off the top trays, mounting pans, Junction boxes, etc., as then the result looks too cluttered and would make the radios need to be smaller to fit in, and besides, I could simply put a photograph in there instead.
(8). Background “flag” (my standard Royal Signals colours) added and text can then be finished for the particular radio type and frequency, in this case the C-42 BUT by moving the bits around on the unit and replacing or redrawing parts that are unit specific, from this basic drawing, I can now complete the rest in that series, such as the C-45, the C-13, and with some additional work (due to major differences) also the C-11 and R-210 which normally would use a different housing and basic layout.
See the Finished drawings below to compare! In particular note the similarities and differences in the Power Supply Units (the box on the left), such as number of fuses, position of lamps, switches, etc. I also added to them a short piece of “vanishing” coaxial cable
The C-42 PSU (above) has more fuses than on the C-45 version (below)
The right hand Dial of the C-45 has a different marking method than the C-42, and without that it would be very difficult at a distance to tell them apart, then they are virtually identical. In the C-45 the meter stands on its head so that the indicator needle is pendulous.
The C-13 is a completely different beast, The PSU has a different layout to the preceding two sets, and the radio layout front face has some easy to spot major differences. The top has four instead of three knobs. The scale windows are wider to contain more information and indicators, The smaller knob between the bigger tuning dials is higher and has a different function than on the C-42 or C-45. and below it is a paddle switch for “Normal” or “Phase” operation
After a day or so I decided I did not like the proportions of the R-210 in the drawing above and decided to redraw it and so set about making a separate drawing to not be distracted by the C11 and ATU, Which then led to drawing the related R-216 and older R.209 and after finishing them as a stand alone drawings, also (as originally planed) copied the R-210 back into the C11 drawing (see below).
When that was ready it was copied into the C-11/R-210 drawing to replace the first attempt...
The Radio Rx (R-210) has been improved as also the detail of the dial scale on the Tx. (C-11)
The last one is a really rare set, the HF-49 “J4F” (which means “Just for fun”) and is just a quick example of how easy it is to make any radio, including one that does not exist, from the method described above...
I hope to be redrawing all the radios here that need better detailing, uniform viewing angles, and “like new” paint-work, so keep looking in...
Incidentally I have always done drawings and many years ago with pencil and ink such as these old “non-Computer aided” drawings....
Example of a Hand Drawn Illustration (1982).
A 3D house and Garage as part of a Product description for Cordless and wired Burglar Alarm component installations. Then different coloured clear foil overlays show the parts, the direct and indirect signal routing and alternative wiring by conventional means.
Example of an ISOMETRIC drawing (1980)
(Isometric is like 3d, except being a technical drawing, there is no vanishing point and so no realistic perspective unlike the above House)
This Isometric drawing is one I made for a Test Set that I helped develop during my time with a UK defence manufacturer, this illustration I made of my own desire, for my presentations to the Admiralty and MOD, and also used in the service handbook.
Other Drawings
The first showing a love of drawing vehicles beyond the set of Royal Signals ones, from a series of truck drawings originally made quite big and in colour, but these from the B/W copy I recently found...
This is a copy of an Original Isometric Drawing I made in 1985 for my (then proposed) design for the new Television Studio Communications “Belt Pack” series. They were based on an extrusion I had used in the Defence industry, and were virtually indestructible.
Below the above Isometric drawing is being “Rendered” and made to look like a real item, (the original drawing is as said from 1985, and the Rework below from 2009, made just for fun...) I deliberately leave it unfinished to show how I do my drawings.
A larger view of the above partially rendered illustration...
Above the BP112 (Twin Circuit) Belt Pack as an Isometric Drawing and below the BP111 (Single Circuit) as a normal (more realistic) perspective drawing.
The Above and Headset shown in the next two drawings, are some products I developed (during my time as a development engineer for a studio equipment and tele-communications manufacturer) and even though my “then” employer went bust in the 1980s, the drawings (and products, now made by other companies) are interestingly still in use today.
Hope you enjoy looking at these and maybe saw something you liked?