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Updated File! I made a copy of the gift drawing, making subtle changes to the design of the car, chiefly stretching the nose a bit, and chroming the windshield frame. I added the grey tone as an afterthought.
I just finished this last night as a Birthday gift to a very close friend named Steven. (That's him, getting into his brand new English sportscar!)
The Hirondel was a mythical make of British sportscar drive by The Saint. There never was such a car, of course, and the only things I know about the original is that Wikipedia says it "is an opulent, eight-cylinder, cream and red vehicle weighing more than 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg)". On TV, Roger Moore drove a Volvo P1800, which is the iconic Hirondel in the eyes of most modern viewers. But for an older generation of *readers* the Hirondel was a late 1920's car similar to a Bentley (which, incidentally 007 drove in *his* first adventure). It would have been a large, tub-like body, with separate fenders and running boards, a long boxy hood, external radiator, and narrow spoked or wire wheels.
A few years ago I was commissioned to draw Roger Moore next to a Hirondel updated to be what it might have been had the marque survived to the 1990s. I have a version of it posted on FA way back in my Gallery -- not with Roger Moore, but with a cat-girl in a space cadet uniform.
This even more modern update is a lightweight sports car, commonly called "spiders" or "spyders" in Europe, even when the model has its own name.
Hirondel means "swallow" in French, I believe, and the emblem is three black swallows on a field of white, with a red chevron. The other ring is blue and reads "Hirondel Motor Company, Coventry."
I've never actually seen Steven in a motor cap or Hawaain shirt, by the way, but it seemed fitting.
The odd appliance just in front of the rear wheel cut-out is a sheet of chrome metal, dimpled sort of like diamond plate, raming the air intakes. Many old sportscars (and some modern ones) have a patch like this in that position. I'll be buggered if I know what its for, but I'm guessing it may protect a vulnerable patch of paint from stones kicked up from the road. But why *there* I wonder? I substituted chrome for the usual matte black.
McClaw has fortunately saved me all the work of finding the relevant files in my Gallery. I add them here:
"Espions" -- http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739868/
The Hirondel sketchs -- http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739828/
and http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739827/
The original Saint and updated car -- http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739837/
I just finished this last night as a Birthday gift to a very close friend named Steven. (That's him, getting into his brand new English sportscar!)
The Hirondel was a mythical make of British sportscar drive by The Saint. There never was such a car, of course, and the only things I know about the original is that Wikipedia says it "is an opulent, eight-cylinder, cream and red vehicle weighing more than 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg)". On TV, Roger Moore drove a Volvo P1800, which is the iconic Hirondel in the eyes of most modern viewers. But for an older generation of *readers* the Hirondel was a late 1920's car similar to a Bentley (which, incidentally 007 drove in *his* first adventure). It would have been a large, tub-like body, with separate fenders and running boards, a long boxy hood, external radiator, and narrow spoked or wire wheels.
A few years ago I was commissioned to draw Roger Moore next to a Hirondel updated to be what it might have been had the marque survived to the 1990s. I have a version of it posted on FA way back in my Gallery -- not with Roger Moore, but with a cat-girl in a space cadet uniform.
This even more modern update is a lightweight sports car, commonly called "spiders" or "spyders" in Europe, even when the model has its own name.
Hirondel means "swallow" in French, I believe, and the emblem is three black swallows on a field of white, with a red chevron. The other ring is blue and reads "Hirondel Motor Company, Coventry."
I've never actually seen Steven in a motor cap or Hawaain shirt, by the way, but it seemed fitting.
The odd appliance just in front of the rear wheel cut-out is a sheet of chrome metal, dimpled sort of like diamond plate, raming the air intakes. Many old sportscars (and some modern ones) have a patch like this in that position. I'll be buggered if I know what its for, but I'm guessing it may protect a vulnerable patch of paint from stones kicked up from the road. But why *there* I wonder? I substituted chrome for the usual matte black.
McClaw has fortunately saved me all the work of finding the relevant files in my Gallery. I add them here:
"Espions" -- http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739868/
The Hirondel sketchs -- http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739828/
and http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739827/
The original Saint and updated car -- http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739837/
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1000 x 718px
File Size 245.6 kB
"A few years ago I was commissioned to draw Roger Moore next to a Hirondel updated to be what it might have been had the marque survived to the 1990s. I have a version of it posted on FA way back in my Gallery -- not with Roger Moore, but with a cat-girl in a space cadet uniform."
So I went digging...
Catgirl? Espions?
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739868/
Of course, there's also the work you did on the following set:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739828/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739827/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739837/
And
eesteban's take:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4446109/
So I went digging...
Catgirl? Espions?
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739868/
Of course, there's also the work you did on the following set:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739828/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739827/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/739837/
And
eesteban's take:http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4446109/
You found them all, saving me a lot of trouble. You won't mind if I paste the addresses into my blurb above?
Iconeesteban's version is pretty conservative -- basically an MG or Triumph. It's also arguable that the original Hirondel was more of a high-powered luxury car than a light-weight sports car. The modern counterpart in the real world might be more like a Jaguar Mk.IV salon car.
Iconeesteban's version is pretty conservative -- basically an MG or Triumph. It's also arguable that the original Hirondel was more of a high-powered luxury car than a light-weight sports car. The modern counterpart in the real world might be more like a Jaguar Mk.IV salon car.
esteban
marmelmm
I generally figure that Simon's Hirondel, back in the old days, was like a Mercedes SSK:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_SSK
And Lupin iii's car is something of a nod to the Saint's:
http://www.hollywood-wheels.com/_MA.....p;amp;_dir=006
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_SSK
And Lupin iii's car is something of a nod to the Saint's:
http://www.hollywood-wheels.com/_MA.....p;amp;_dir=006
The SSK was built until 1932, though some may have been rebodied with a more streamlined shape. The successor to the SSK was the K series (380K, 500K and 540K) which had some really swoopy styling, but were also a lot bigger and heavier.
My personal theory on what the "real' Hirondel is lies in the name. Jaguar started out as Swallow Coachworks, and their prewar cars were called SS (for Swallow Sport, or Standard Swallow, depending who you talk to), switching to the name Jaguar when the the initials "SS" starting getting a more sinister association. Those SS models were beautiful cars, and they certainly looked fast, so that would be my pick.
Apparently, the producers of the Saint TV series originally wanted to equip him with a Jaguar E-type, but Jaguar declined. Volvo, on the other hand, jumped at the chance, and the rest is history.
My personal theory on what the "real' Hirondel is lies in the name. Jaguar started out as Swallow Coachworks, and their prewar cars were called SS (for Swallow Sport, or Standard Swallow, depending who you talk to), switching to the name Jaguar when the the initials "SS" starting getting a more sinister association. Those SS models were beautiful cars, and they certainly looked fast, so that would be my pick.
Apparently, the producers of the Saint TV series originally wanted to equip him with a Jaguar E-type, but Jaguar declined. Volvo, on the other hand, jumped at the chance, and the rest is history.
Early luxury cars were usually custom bodied. You'd buy the frame, the motor and the running gear, but order the bodywork from a coach company. As a result, there are usually a lot of niggling little details that are different between every Duesenberg, Bentley or Mercedes.
I knew that "hirondel" was a French swallow, but the detail about Jagaur's early days as Swallow Coachworks is evidently something I forgot. I remember the story about the Saint series not get an E-type for the show. In a way, I'm glad. The XKE is too modern and everybody knew it. The Volvo P1300 (I think) was esoteric and very European. It made The Saint appear more sophisticated and less British.
Of course, I don't know whether that's right or wrong. I never read any of the books and didn't seen much of the TV show.
I knew that "hirondel" was a French swallow, but the detail about Jagaur's early days as Swallow Coachworks is evidently something I forgot. I remember the story about the Saint series not get an E-type for the show. In a way, I'm glad. The XKE is too modern and everybody knew it. The Volvo P1300 (I think) was esoteric and very European. It made The Saint appear more sophisticated and less British.
Of course, I don't know whether that's right or wrong. I never read any of the books and didn't seen much of the TV show.
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