Tom Dougherty wrote:
Hi Robert,
To your specific question: the problem with a conversion is that the Ethan Allens were shorter (410 feet) than Lafayette & Franklins (425 ft.). Thus you would have to shorten the hulls back in the machinery spaces; not easy due to the taper.
Dear all,
I just had the pleasure to construct the recent 1:350 MikroMir Lafayette, along with the George Washington of the same manufacturer. It struck me that the missile tube section of the Washington was much shorter (12.5mm or half an inch) than that of the Lafayette. Well, I figured: isn't this almost exactly the length difference between the Ethan Allans and the Lafayettes?
And then checking the references: as the Poseidon missiles were 6'2"in diameter versus the Polaris 4'6", this differences could very well be accountable for the length difference between the Allan and Lafayette boats, and also the explanation why the Allans couldn't be upgraded to carry the Polaris missiles. Here's the math: there are eight missiles lengthwise, each Poseidon missile adds 22", so that makes 176" in total. The difference between the Allans and the Lafayettes is 180", so only 4 inches not accounted for, or less than .3mm on 350 scale...
It seems the Lafayettes (and Madisons and Franklins) had been designed from the outset to take the larger Poseidon missiles, and needed an adapter tube to carry the smaller Polaris missiles. This picture tells it all:
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The Allans only had the smaller tubes, similar to the Washington, and no room (lengthwise) to allow for the larger Poseidon tubes.
So: am I right to conclude that for building an Ethan Allen from the Lafayette kit, I need only reduce the length of the missile compartment by 13 mm (scale 15 ft), and make a new deck with smaller tube covers, similar to the Washington's, but with the width of the Lafayette deck? Anyway, the length reduction isn't in the tapered area as Tom Dougherty suggested.
Of course the rudders need also be somewhat reduced in size. Btw: I found slight errors in the MikroMir kits: the lower rudders need to be reduced in height as the shouldn't protrude below the keel line. The draft marks on the upper rudder tell the story, how high the upper rudder rises above the keel line.