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The fair use thing is true. If you make an image but don't publish it or seek to exploit it commercially in any way, the copyright holder would have a hard time sueing you. Drawing your own version of an original drawing is a murky area. If you make a very nearly exact copy of someone else's drawing you may be sailing dangerously close to the wind, copyright-wise. But if your new drawing isn't the same as the original - maybe you filled in some details that weren't there or whatever, you're probably going to be okay. It depends on how different your new drawing is. For example, imagine a book full of precise drawings of real-life Porsche cars, exact in every dimension. I cannot believe Porsche would stand idly by and not go after the artist for breach of copyright. A book full of 'super-deformed' style Porsche cars, on the other hand, would probably be okay (but I wouldn't put it past Porsche to try something anyway!).

I already covered the 'buying things out of public domain and filing for new copyright protection' further up. If you scan an out of copyright image (the concept of 'public domain' does not exist in UK law) - you create a new (weak) copyright for yourself.

EDIT: Making your own version is only a murky area if you then seek to exploit your drawing commercially. Just making a copy for yourself, keeping it to yourself and making no attempt to pass it off as an original is completely fine.