Invisible Themepark

Category: Illustrators

  • Atomic Pile Cutaway Drawing, 1950

    Atomic Pile Cutaway Drawing, 1950

    A gorgeous noir-like cutaway of an atomic pile by Alexander Leydenfrost.  But why does the drawing look so vague and devoid of details?

    Partially, that was the Leydenfrost style.  His Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel cutaway drawing shows that he emphasized moody shadows and light over the cool and the technical.

    But mainly, at the time of this illustration, atomic production was still a closely guarded secret.  So Leydenfront had to imagine what a pile must look like based on scant information from The Smyth Report.

    Published in July 1945, the Smyth Report, officially known as The Official Report on the Development of the Atomic Bomb Under the Auspices of the United States Government, provided a technical, though generalized, overview of the production of nuclear weapons.

    Click to Enlarge to 1609 x 766 px:

    Atomic Pile Cutaway 1950
    Atomic Pile Cutaway 1950

    Source:  LIFE February 27, 1950

  • Ship-Based Anti Submarine Defense Cutaway, 1950

    Ship-Based Anti Submarine Defense Cutaway, 1950

    Illustration by Ray Quigley shows an anti-sub device from 1950 termed “the hedgehog.”

    It lobbed multiple depth charges all at once at the presumed submarine location.  Charges were slightly angled so that they would land in a spreadout, scattershot pattern, covering a wider range.

     Click to Enlarge to 695 x 768 px:

    Ship-Based Anti Submarine Defense Cutaway, 1950
    Ship-Based Anti Submarine Defense Cutaway, 1950

    Source:  Popular Science March 1950

  • Deep Diver “Ferry” Submarine Cutaway, 1967

    Deep Diver “Ferry” Submarine Cutaway, 1967

    A gorgeous late 1960s cutaway from Pierre Mion for the “Deep Diver,” a ferry submarine designed by Edwin A. Link and built by Perry Submarine Builders, Riviera Beach, FL.

    This 22-foot, 4-man craft was meant for work, not play–underwater construction or research.

    Interestingly, Perry Submarines is still around and making submersibles, one of which is going for $695,000!

    Click to Enlarge to 1108 x 761 px:

    Deep Diver Ferry Submarine Cutaway 1967
    Deep Diver Ferry Submarine Cutaway 1967

    Source:  Popular Mechanics July 1967

  • Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Cutaway, 1950

    Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Cutaway, 1950

    The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel was new in 1950, when Alexander Leydenfrost drew this cutaway.  At 9,117 feet, it is the longest continuous underwater tunnel in North America, according to Wikipedia.

    Click to Enlarge to 818 x 771 px:

    Brooklyn Battery Tunnel 1950
    Brooklyn Battery Tunnel 1950

    Source:  Popular Mechanics May 1950

  • Pierre Mion: Illustrator of Many Talents

    Pierre Mion: Illustrator of Many Talents

    In writing about the technical/cutaway illustrators of the 20th century, I am accustomed to seeing dates of death in the 1950s and 1960s.

    Some, like the great Rolf Kelp, managed to live into the 1980s.

    Imagine my delight at seeing that Pierre Mion is still alive and quite kicking.

    Mion’s biography indicates that his magazine work was related to the topics of “historical, oceanographic, architectural, geological, mining, forestry, environmental and transportation.”

    Mion is a hands-on illustrator.  For our featured Deep Diver (1967), Mion’s bio states that he took test dives in the Bahamas to get a feel for the craft.

    A graduate of Montgomery College, Rockville, MD and George Washington University, Washington, DC, Mion also produces western landscapes, waterscapes, pictures of people and animals, and a myriad of other fine artworks.

    Mion now lives in Cornville, AZ.

    Pierre Mion