Okay then, new theory. Already determined it's not the keel depth, which left the normal waterline as the next logical reference point. It ain't that either. Had battleships that were too easy to sink so I increased the critical depth, then found the large modern tanker (NOL_Nippon) and set that for the same depth as a BB - same draft, right? Except it promptly sank. Increased from 5 to 15 before it stopped sinking in moderate waves.
So. Model makers start with 3DCanvas or whatever with a reference plane and build the model around that, if several modelers were involved it's possible Larry starts with the keel, Moe starts with the main deck, Curly starts with the centerline between the main deck and the keel. Or something. Then Shep, who was in charge of the crash depth project, defected to England to make realistic birds crapping on windshields for a train simulator. So they scrapped the project and jacked the crash depth up to 300 feet so it wouldn't be used in the game. While testing the tanker the Yamato sank, so I had to increase the depth on that too.
I know this is not a dream, if it was a dream there would be rum.
