Customer Reviews

The 24-Gun Frigate Pandora (Anatomy of the Ship)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I currently own eight books of the Anatomy of the Ship series and have looked at several others. John McKay's HMS Pandora is the best of the lot. The drawings are beautifully drawn and reproduced and the book is composed in a very intellegent manner. The same comments con be made for Mckay's The Armed Transport Bounty but the Bounty in a less interesting ship.

I found the HMS Pandora an interesting subject because much is known about her and she represents the most minimal ship that could be an at all effective frigate in her era.

Of the seven books in the Anatomy of the Ship that I own I think the 24-Gun Frigate Pandora is the best. The drawings seem more complete and are of a higher quality than the draughts in the other books I have. Especially nice were the cross section drawings in 1/144 scale and the isometric drawings of the hull (no scale). A real plus for the model builder is the 8 pages of rigging schedule that give cable/rope dimensions along with the size and number of blocks/hearts/deadeyes etc. associated with them for both the standing and running rigging. Very nice! I only wish all of the books in this series were as well done as this one.

I currently own 18 books in Conway's "Anatomy of the Ship" series, and the books by John McKay are among my favorites. I agree with the previous reviewers who stated this book is a must-have for ship modelers and maritime enthusiasts. The amount of detail is simply incredible: from the detailed plans of structural arrangements, cross-sections of the pumps and steering arrangements, to the eight-page "rigging schedule," this is one of the most "complete" studies of an 18th century warship I've ever seen.

Unfortunately, the print quality of the 2010 edition (which I managed to acquire from a seller here) is all over the place. About 15% of the plans and drawings, including intricately detailed ones depicting rigging arrangements, are sloppily reproduced with excessive line thickness. A good chunk of the others are faded and washed out. It's a shame that the work of a draftsman of McKay's caliber has to be presented like this, but the same fate befalls many oft-reprinted naval references. What a shame.

Exellent book. I'm writing a fanciful story set in the Eighteenth Century, and this book gives me a good sense of how it was to move around such a vessel. I've been on a few and this help me (a landlubber) understand what I was able to see - and not see.

S. E. Hunt

Dream City

This a great book, so why the 2 stars? The book states on the cover that it is a revised edition complete with 1/96 scale fold-out plan. Well when they revised the book I guess they took the fold-out plan "OUT". I couldn't find it. I bough 4 books in this series and they all say the same thing but NO PLANS. If it wasn't that the other information in the book is great I would have returned all 4. Still a disappointment.

In the AOTS series, "The 24 Gun Frigate Pandora" is a standout. Historical information gives a good feel for the ship and the times she operated in. For modelmakers, the drawings and hard historical information about fittings, masts,spars and paint schemes get you as close to one-stop shopping as it gets.

This volume has consistent and outstanding plan reproduction. Some of the volumes in the series feature lines that bleed into each other-especially in respect to the body plan where precise accuracy is the key ingredient to an accurate hull replica. "Pandora" does not dissappoint in this respect. All drawings are crisp, finely rendered and useful for the model maker.

I give it a double thumbs up, both hands, baby! Now go out and build a nice model.

Modately interesting and informative. Many diagrams of the structure and rigging of the ship of the line. Good for any serious model builders.