by Dave Johnson
1/700 Modified Ticonderoga Cruisers (Dragon)
I never liked how high the Tico cruiser profile is in the water and how box-like it is. Much like how car roofs in the 50's used to be 'chopped', I thought what could I do, within reason, to reduce the superstructure? Two versions are shown here with one having a bit larger superstructure and one reduced to what I think would be the bare minimum. I'm sure some naval designer is screaming foul right now, but it's supposed to be a hobby, right?
I removed ~1/8 inch in height on both superstructures to give the ships a lower vertical profile. I removed the mid-section of the superstructures to clear more topside space. The hanger decks were brought down to main-deck level.
I put the VLS modules on the foredeck to give the ship a longer appearance, but did not lengthen the hull. Of course, I'm not sure from a naval architecture standpoint if it's feasible, but it looks good (ala Russian Kirov style). I added a view RAM launchers to compliment the Phalanx CIWS for self defense.
