Taylor Anderson

Comments

1. 
   On November 17, 2010 Zachary Vazquez says:

   I have a few questions. One what sized scale are you wishing them to be for instance if I create a Model of say Big Sal reconstructed as a flat top with miniature Nancy/’s on the top, which are out of proportion. Would that be considered ill advised and stick to realistic impressions.

2. 
   On November 18, 2010 Taylor says:

   Wow, Big Sal! That might be a challenge, but then again, there is room for some imagination. I don’t see how you could make her smaller than 1-350 or so, but I’ve seen some great miniaturization before. Remember, despite the few “pictures” of Lemurian Homes, there is significant description in the various books. Also remember however, that Homes are built “one at a time” and all are slightly different beyond the basic dimensions of:
   Length: @ 1,000 feet
   Beam: @ 250-300 feet
   Freeboard @ 100 feet
   Tripod mast height @ 300 feet
   Draft: variable, but based on “footprint,” not as great as one might think.
   More details of “Flattop” homes comes in “Rising Tides!”

3. 
   On November 18, 2010 Zachary Vazquez says:

   In that case I might wait on the actual building of Big Sal until I can read up more on her conversion. I was thinking of making the planes from a mold and then painting them because I’d have a tough time making something that small that would be sturdy enough any other way. I do take it that the burning plane on the Rising Tides cover is one of the new construction planes from Distant Thunders?

4. 
   On November 18, 2010 Taylor says:

   Oh, you misunderstand. I meant that 1-350 was as small as I could imagine building her. You can make her any scale you like!
   The “Nancy” in the cover art is taken from the picture I drew and sent–(found in the art gallery on this site.) . . . I don’t know where the wheels came from! It’s no big deal. It’s still a great painting. (I think.)

5. 
   On November 18, 2010 Taylor says:

   hey im building big-sal so far its been hard work. it would be nice if there were any suggestions on how to build her. i have the basic structure built but that’s as far as i am. please help Nate.

   Hey Nate! I have moved this post here, to the “model comments” section. I bet you’ll get more responses. In answer to your plea, it all depends on what version you want to build. Essentially, there are three: Pre-contact, Post contact (with cannons) and as rebuilt and converted. Ample details can be found in text, and more will be available on the conversion in “Rising Tides.”
   Otherwise, I know this is a contest, but I hope y’all will share info as you find it. Much like any other contest, helping each other, regarding technical details, is half the fun. Ultimately, you should be judged–and judge each other–on accuracy and execution.

6. 
   On November 27, 2010 Dimitri says:

   What’s a galley proof?

7. 
   On November 30, 2010 Taylor says:

   A “Galley Proof” is a bound, not for sale, “rough draft,” for all intents and purposes. They are sent out to reviewers. The publisher usually kindly forwards me a couple as keepsakes.

8. 
   On January 17, 2011 Blair Colquhoun says:

   When will these kits be available and where?

9. 
   On January 18, 2011 Wayne says:

   Just learned of the contest. I have been modeling in 1:1200 and this sounds like an interesting project. Suggest you see Langdon Miniatures for other 1:1200 scale kits/parts. I already have an Indiaman in this scale and doing a one-off of Big Sal shouldn’t be too difficult. I too would like some more detail on the “flat-top” but I guess a litle artistic license is allowable. I’m thinking about horizontal stacks a la IJN a/c carriers. And I guess we’ll need to do some P-40s as well as the Nancy’s. Doing Walker will be completely scratch though.

10. 
    On January 21, 2011 Taylor says:

    That sounds cool. There will be more “flat-top description in “Rising Tides,” but there IS a lot of room for artistic license.

11. 
    On January 29, 2011 Wayne says:

    Taylor (et al)

    I sent in the photos of Salissa CV, Walker and related ships. I built these in 1:1200 scale which is a scale I am used to. 1 inch = 100 feet, so DD163 ends up at 3.15 inches.

    In this scale I found a popsicle stick is the approximate beam and two glued together equal the foredeck freeboard.

    You can obtain 1:1200 scale sailing ship model kits from Langton Miniatures in England (Rod Langton is great to work with). He has in stock Large East Indiaman, British 40 gun transport (which is a good size for small Grik indiaman), as well as American Civil War steamers. Kits may (or may not) include masts, rigging, etc. He also sells flags and rigging information.

    I scratch-built Salissa CV using a 1″ X 4″ X 10″ pine board as a starting point and cut, sanded, carved and glued from there. I am still in the process of making the aircraft but they are pretty small in this scale. Assuming a 40 foot wingspan this means the model wingspan is about 3/8 inch.

    Hope this source is helpful to y’all.

12. 
    On February 04, 2011 Joseph P. Hayes jr. says:

    For anyone building Salissa or CV-1, I have just finished reading Rising Tides and I have got a general idea of what she looks like. According to the book, Lexington CV-2 would be the best bridge base. Just to anyone who wants to know.

13. 
    On February 11, 2011 Lincoln says:

    If anyone goes on Secondlife, that might be a great place to build some virtual models. That way they are 3 dimensional and actually explorable. I am considering building a 1:1 model of Big Sal with interiors, gardens, etc.

    Seriously, Secondlife is a bit geeky if you try to “role play” but for the sheer enjoyment of virtual modeling and creating appropriate textures and texture maps, it is fantastic.

14. 
    On February 12, 2011 Tom Schampers says:

    Mr. Anderson,
    I just finished reading “Into The Storm” and am I glad I discovered your books. When I discovered your books were about destroyers I orderd the first four books without having read them. Now I can’t put the books down, as they seem to be attached to me wherever I go.
    I am a retired history teacher and have always enjoyed reading historical fiction like the “Bolitho” series by Alexander Kent,”The Lost Regiment”and the Civil War, and the Harry Turtledove books. Actually any historical works, especially the Civil War, WWI and WWII.
    I enjoyed reading about the old “four stackers” and have been given a wooden model of the USS Groome by a member of her crew from WWII. I haven’t been able to find time to build it and now that I discovered your books, I have less time.I am also a member of Tin Can Sailors and in my younger days built one of those Revell models you mentioned.
    I look forward to reading more of your works.
    Thanks,
    Tom Schampers

15. 
    On March 06, 2011 David Fidler says:

    FYI, Mirage Hobby out of Poland make a 1/400 scale model of the USS Ward DD-139. This would make a good stating point for a model of the Walker or Mahan as all 3 are Wickes class destroyers. Both Walker and Mahan were built at the Bethlehem Steel Fore River facility at Quincy, Massachusetts. You can find the model at Squadron.com.

    David Fidler

16. 
    On March 11, 2011 Neb says:

    Second Life could definitely use a “destroyermen” area! There are plenty of places to get WW2-era clothes and uniforms, and it would be cool to see Lemurians and Grik. I’m surprised nobody’s doing that yet. If anybody here is in SL and wants to talk to me about it, I’m “Nabila Nadir” in-world. I normally do 19th century stuff in SL, but I’ve been known to do sci-fi things, too…

    Cheers,

    Neb

17. 
    On April 09, 2011 Richard Melillo says:

    I have enjoyed your site. I am a 4-stack history lover!

    USS Reuban James-first US Ship sunk in WWII
    USS Ward- First shot of WWII

    Check out my Website for fun photos.

18. 
    On April 19, 2011 Blair Colquhoun says:

    I’m not good at building models.

19. 
    On April 29, 2011 Dylan says:

    Hi I was thinking about building a model out of legos and was wondering when the stuff has to be in by like an end date to the contest.

    Thanks.

20. 
    On June 11, 2011 Daniel Sundquist says:

    I am building a boat for the contest and I was wondering if anyone has any good superstructure photos that I could use for referencing?

21. 
    On June 14, 2011 Daniel Sundquist says:

    Would it be okay if i made my model RC?

22. 
    On June 14, 2011 Taylor says:

    Sure

23. 
    On June 17, 2011 Daniel Sundquist says:

    Thanks I guess Walker will look even better in the water.

24. 
    On June 20, 2011 Peter Kjoss says:

    Hello modelers,

    The contest seems to have developed some interest and I am glad to see that there appears to be a helpful trend amongst the participants – or, at least those who bother to write.
    For those of you looking for a model to start from, as Mr. Fidler pointed out, Mirage of Poland makes a model of the USS Ward (DD-139) in it’s 1941 Pearl Harbor version. At 1:400 it is fairly small, however the detail is good. I am building it myself.
    Mirage also makes a model of the HNoMS St. Albans, also 1:400, a four-stacker with a very interesting history. The destroyer started out as USS Thomas (DD-182), also a Wilkes-class destroyer. She was built in 1918 in Newport News. A few years later she was put in reserve, but then in 1940 she was re-activated and transferred to Great Britain. She was given the name HMS St. Albans. She served the British for a year and then in 1941 was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy in exile as HNoMS St. Albans – the No standing for Norwegian as I am sure most of you knew. She served until January 1944 and was laid up until July. She was then transferred to the Russian Navy who renamed her Dostoyny (Worthy). She was returned to the British in 1949 and subsequently broken up for scrap. Not bad for an obsolete four-stacker – 30 years of service with four different countries. I take my hat off to the old girl. She must have been as tough as USS Walker is…..
    Sorry for the digression and now back to models.
    Although only Walker and Mahan can be kit built for the contest (if I understood the rules correctly) some of you may be interested in kit-bashing, which is basically taking a standard model kit and modifying it to some extent to make a model different from what the model company had in mind for their kit. I don’t know if that would count toward the scratch-built or not, but you might be interested in doing it just for the pleasure of it.
    As far as the Amagi goes, I haven’t found anything, but there is a starting point of sorts. Hasegawa makes a model of the aircraft carrier Akagi. She was Amagi’s sistership and the hull configuration should have stayed the same as when she was going to be a battlecruiser. The model is in 1:700. The Amagi class predecessor was the Kongo class and there are several models of that class. Hasegawa makes a 1:700 version of the Haruna, for example and Trumpeter makes a 1:350 version of the Kongo. The model companies sometimes refer to the Kongo as a battleship, but she was a battlecruiser The Kongo class was updated in 1932 and was very close to the Amagi class.
    Kongo Amagi
    length 728 ft. 826 ft.
    width 101 ft 101 ft.
    disp. 36,600 tons 41,217 tons
    With a little conversion and kit-bashing, a decent Amagi could probably be made from one of these models.
    As for East Indiamen, I don’t know of any actual Honorable East India Company models out there, but Revell makes a model of the Dutch East Indiaman Batavia in 1:150 scale. The Batavia was built in 1628, so is not quite right, but might be a good place to start. Also Revell makes a model of the USS Bon Homme Richard, which was a French East Indiaman before it was given to the American Navy. She was built in 1775. The model is 1:132. Finally, also from Revell, they make a 1:72 Caribbean Pirate Ship that possibly could be modified.
    I am sure there are more models out there and if you are really interested, just Google in “ship models” and drool. If you are building a diorama, or want to put some finished models together for picture purposes, working with different scales makes things difficult. For pictures, at least, try putting the bigger model a ways in the background so it doesn’t overshadow the smaller scale model. An alternate is to put the smaller one just a bit in the background to make it look as if it is in the distance – Walker steaming to the rescue, for instance.
    Happy building to all of you and, Mr. Anderson, keep those books coming. They are delightful.

25. 
    On July 27, 2011 Bob says:

    Revell just re-released their 1/240th scale HMS Campbelltown, which was the former USS Buchanan DD-131. This is beautiful nicely scaled model of a 4 stack destroyer. It is highly detailed and easily modified for changes made in the book.

26. 
    On August 09, 2011 Dan Thompson says:

    I may or may not enter a model in the contest but I started planning to build models of ships from the series while I was reading the first book. I’ve collected kits and PE and will continue to do so. I am a third of the way through Crusade but have looked ahead and discovered that a side wheel war ship enters the story in later volumes. I’ve long wanted to build a model of such a ship and this seems to offer the perfect subject. I have a question, how long is HIMS Achilles, either between perpendiculars or on deck?

    I have build a lot of models, including sailing ships, and pictures of many can be seen at my Picasa website.

27. 
    On August 11, 2011 Dan Thompson says:

    I’m still interested to know if there is an “offical” length for the Achilles, but I did some research and found that real Royal Navy paddle frigates averaged around 210 feet overall length and about 180 between perpendiculars. Since I’m considering using a 1/600 kit of CSS Alabama to convert to Achilles and the Alabama was 220 feet in length, that seems to be a good fit.

28. 
    On August 11, 2011 Taylor Amderson says:

    Hi Dan. Sorry for the delay. Alabama would be a good choice for the new-new construction “American” frigates, or “DD’s.” Use more, smaller guns like the fixed broadside armament–NOT the big pivot Blakelys! Those might come in handy for . . . another project.

    Achilles would be about 180 overall with @ 160 between perpendiculars. A little more archaic too–but with a flying bridge between the paddleboxes, ironically, whereas the “American” frigates retain a quarterdeck conn–for now.
    Early “new construction” American sailing frigates such as Donaghey would most resemble the existing USS Constellation with fewer (the numbers vary) 18pdrs. Hey! The interesting thing about “American” smoothbores–after the Battle of Baalkpan–is that they are made of gunmetal, (like bronze) but use a more efficient form that follows the Mordecai pressure curve. In other words, they are lighter and stonger and are probably shaped more like a big Napoleon, or oversized 3″ rifle. I wouldn’t use the terms Dhalgren or Columbiad because those imply monstrous things, and they are not: they remain a manageable size, on a four-wheeled truck–so far.

29. 
    On August 11, 2011 Dan Thompson says:

    Taylor,

    Thanks for the reply. I’m only on your second book so I haven’t encountered the American steam frigates, yet. I saw the picture of the Achilles here on this website and read a little bit about it on wikipedia. I don’t want to get too far ahead of my reading. I’m not super sensitive about spoilers but I do want to save some surprise.

    I found a better source kit than the Alabama. A company makes a nice 1/600 resin kit of the USS Mississippi, which actually was a side wheel paddle frigate. It will require very little modification. The Mississippi was 229 feet long so she won’t do for the Achilles. Unless the American ships are screw frigates, in which case I’ll look for a different source kit. I’ll see if I can find a smaller ship to serve as the base for a conversion to Achilles.

    I believe the same company offers a 1/600 resin kit of the Constellation or similar Civil War era sailing sloops, so that may be another ship to add to the collection. 1/600 is my scale choice for this project because it is small enough to make a collection of several ships practical but mostly because it’s the preferred scale for Civil War naval models and those seem most similar to many of the ships in your stories, plus the Airfix Campbeltown kit is 1/600, so I can have a USS Walker and paddle frigates all in the same scale.

30. 
    On August 20, 2011 Wayne Hawkins says:

    Dan,

    Now that you are considering 1:600 scale you may want to come all the way down to my world; 1:1200.

    There are a number of makers of 1:1200 or 1:1250 scale ships in US Civil war, WWI and WWII. also, as previously mentioned Langton Miniatures in England has a Napoleanic and US Civil war series that can be modified. They even have Indiamen, both large and small, as well as feluccas, frigates, steam frigates (screw and sidewheel).

    Langton also makes dockside, earthworks and many buildings to this scale. 1:1200 equals 100 feet to the inch, so a 200 foot ship is 2″.

    All of my submissions have been in this scale and while it is a bit challenging (especially for the macular degenerates) it allows a lot of ships on a shelf.

    So far I have submitted Salissa (CV), Amagi, Walker, Achilles. I have recently finished S-19, Catalina and found some scale P-40′s to add to Salissa (CV). I have both a large and small Grik Indiaman in the final stages (working on sails)as well as New construction Donaghey and Simms.

    I found some good drawings of Amagi on-line which gave deck lay-out and the silhouette from the Taylor web site we are on gave me the rest. Once it was scaled out it went well. I was able to find some scale recon A/c on-line to put on the catapults.

    This contest has been a lot of fun and I am looking forward to devising something for the Dominion ships.

31. 
    On August 22, 2011 Dan Thompson says:

    Hi Wayne,

    I agree that 1/1250 is a scale that has a lot of kits available. And it’s true that it lets you fit even more models into a given space. But I already have the Airfix kit to build the Walker and I plan to use the 1/500 Heller 74-gun SOL kit to convert to the large sailing vessels. If I build those and a paddle frigate, I’ll have done enough models from this universe. I’m still working on my series of models based on Robert A. Heinlein’s work, too.

    I am enjoying your larger collection of Destroyermen models and look forward to seeing more pictures of them.

32. 
    On October 12, 2011 Taylor Amderson says:

    Hey guys, I’m still running around the country, but hope to make a quick decision on “the winners” when I get back. Also thinking about re-starting the contest since a lot of folks have told me they couldn’t finish up in time. What do y’all think?

33. 
    On October 13, 2011 Dan Thompson says:

    Taylor,

    I’m a slow builder and have other model projects already in progress, so I haven’t started anything for the contest yet. It seems unfair to those who have met the deadline to extend it for those of us who did not, though. How about judging the entrants you have for this contest and then starting another?

    Dan

34. 
    On October 13, 2011 Dan Thompson says:

    Hmm, re-reading your post I see that you meant to start another contest. My initial read had me thinking you were talking about extending the current contest. So never mind

35. 
    On October 13, 2011 Dan Thompson says:

    Previous posts have mentioned kits that can be built into ships that appear in the Destroyermen series so I thought I’d add a few more to the list.

    1/700 Wickes class destroyer – resin kit produced by Midships Models, includes white metal guns and photo etched details

    1/350 USS Ward (Wickes class destroyer) – resin kit by Iron Shipwright, includes photo etched details

    1/350 USS Ward (Wickes class destroyer) – resin kit by Yankee Modelworks, includes white metal and photo etched details

    1/400 USS Ward (Wickes class destroyer) – injection molded styrene kit by Mirage Hobby (new mold and looks like nice detail)

    1/700 IJN Amagi – injection molded styrene kit by Fujimi (an older kit so lacking in detail compared to more recent plastic kits)Here are photos of a built model (not my build):

    1/350 S-Boat Submarine – resin kit by Blue Water Navy

    1/350 S-Boat Submarine – resin kit by Yankee Model Works, includes white metal and photo etched details

    1/350 Sailing ship models – a number of 1/350 sailing ship models made by Aoshima (repops of old Imai molds, I believe) that could serve as basis for conversions to ships in Destroyermen series. Same kits also sold under Minicraft label.

    1/700 Sailing ship models – a line of Napoleonic War era sailing ships of war from

    1/700 PBY Catalina – plastic injection kit by Skywave (includes two PBYs and four B-17s)

    1/700 WW II Aircraft- plastic injection kit by Pit Road (includes four B-26 Marauders, two B-17 Flying Fortresses, four C-47 Skytrains and one PBY-5a Catalina)

    1/1200 PBY Catalina – cast white metal by ALNAVCO

    1/350 PBY Catalina – plastic injection kit by Aoshima (kit is actually a PT Boat PT-132 but includes a PBY)

    1/350 PBY Catalina – resin kit by L’Arsenal, includes PE details (props, struts and landing gear)

36. 
    On October 13, 2011 Taylor Amderson says:

    Yes! By all means I was talking about starting another! I am currently consulting with un-biased, outside opinions on the current contestants.