battleship replica cruiser...critique?

Scaling down a large ship to a miniature doesn't result in the most functional boat. Keep the elements that work at a small scale and do away with the rest.

 

"If we tie him down to the deck Skipper, maybe we can keep Gulliver . . ."

(some just have way too much time on their hands)

 

the wyoming is an 8 ft beam and 56 ft long bolger design..that would make a nice hull for a destroyer...?

 

No, a long narrow skiff has very low tolerance for top hamper, so unless the superstructure was foam, you'd have stability issues. You will have to cheat the beam/length ratio a bit on a scaled down destroyer. Assuming you'll be interested in a historic class, such as the Fletcher which is about a 10:1 beam/length ratio. A 56' version of this wouldn't be wide enough to hold a healthy fart and would make the Bolger Wyoming seem fat.

For what it's worth, it's an interesting prospect and I've always wanted to design one that could actually function as a real boat. I don't know If I'd want a WW II destroyer or maybe a battle wagon or take advantage of some of the boxy structures on a missile frigate, so she could have some accommodation.

Personally a 50' model isn't what I'd shoot for, but rather a close representation of something, with details selling it and a level of functionality. Anyone can build a scale model, but can you tow a skier with it?

 

I thought the Iowa type BB had a very wide beam .. like about 200' .. probably more. DDs long and narrow to be sure but battlewagons were a wide and stable platform to shoot huge guns from. Hard to hit anything from a narrow rolling DD.
Once I thought I'd make a replica battleship rowboat and call it the Mini Mo. Not much of the hull shape would need to be changed ... I thought. Of course there'd be no superstructure at all. Didn't take the idea very far.

 

Off the top of my head...

Think Panama Canal- maybe 106' beam.
Believe they also held huge ballast gyros to stablize during firing.
I'm sure wiki has it all but not going there and getting sucked in...

 

The Iowa class had a 9:1 beam/length ratio, so not as wide as you might have thought. No. they're not impressively stable, but enough to use their guns accurately, which may have been more a function of the on board targeting computers. The Fletcher class destroyer was 9.5:1 beam/length ratio. The destroyer the Fletcher class replaced was about 10.5:1.

There's no real advantage to using a BB or DD hull shape on a rowing craft. We have much better shapes now.