It looks like the ring also allowed them to completely re-profile the blades as well; more paddle and less scimitar.
Attachment:
File comment: Hobby Boss blades on the Left, Riich on the right.
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HobbyBoss to the left and Riich to the right. I don't think either looks right; in fact, the old Dragon prop looks better to me.
Here's the HobbyBoss bow for comparison to my earlier Riich look:
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File comment: HobbyBoss Bow
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I had a harder time making this one "fit." It looks like it's a little too flat at the nose and doesn't flare out enough aft. Really, both look good to me. It's a tube with a rounded bow... not that difficult, and the lines look right to my eye, which admittedly has not spent years looking at the things in drydock... so I'm uncalibrated.
However, using Tom's drawing and my conversions, we can take a wee bit of a look at shapes and other details. The sonar dome aft diameter is 26'6" and "Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines" By Norman Polmar lists the hull diameter as 33'.
That translates to just over 23mm (23.1648mm to be precise) wide at the aft end of the sonar dome and 28.73mm in 1/350th scale.
I get 28.58mm beam and 23.64mm at the end of the sonar dome on the Hobby Boss kit. Seems close enough, but the sonar dome should be about 21.5mm long, and I measured mine at 19.86, which is ~22.6 inches, or just under two feet two short.
Anyone feel like re-scribing a ring on a compound curve for less than two scale feet?
On to the Riich model. 28.74mm on the beam and 23.45 at the end of the sonar dome, which was 22.30mm long, or just under a scale foot too short.
Either way, we can't use the kit sonar domes to really accurately measure shape, and we're only off by a scale foot or two here and there anyway. So now let's compare the bow details a bit:
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File comment: Riich above waterline to the left, HobbyBoss bow to the right.
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I lined up the nose cone break as a convenient reference point. Note the HobbyBoss kit has the retractable bits spaced further apart. I don't have the time to go through the Navy Image gallery to decide who is more correct in this.
_________________
Tracy White -
Researcher@Large"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
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Barbara Tuchman