Inside the DKM Scharnhorst

Class 5 Battlecruiser 5 Units

Built by Peter Ellison

Peter’s Sharny is a scratch built wood hull. In this photo you can see the 9oz CO tank and regulator. Peter does not use the normal Williams regulator. This one is a lot longer and hard to get on and off the bottle. When this photo was taken he did not have his bow sidemount installed. It now site in A turret on the starboard side. He has shower pan linner for interior armor. The small switches on the radio box at the left and test switches for his trip stern guns.

Here you can see the radio box and battery. The battery is 33 amp hour 6 volt, provies plenty of powr to run around the pond during a battle. Peter uses Deans Altra connectors for his power connections. His super structure is not painted yet, it is made out of wood and sealed with epoxy like the rest of his ship. Very bb proof but also a little heavy. The radio box has a servo for the pump and throttle and team delta boards to fire the guns. Between the battery and radio box is a watt meter Peter uses to see how his battery is holding up. Something that is not needed in a ship but for the super tech guys out there a nice little extra feature.

This photo shows the pump without a screen housing around it. This will lead to sinks caused by a clogged pump. The large brass tube has the incoming air house from the bow and outgoing hoses to the three solenoids. You can see one of the tanks with a check valve to the bottom left of the pump. The hoses are not held on the barbs with clamps. On a hot day these hoses are more likely to blow off. Notice the motor of the pump still has a torque band on it. This provides the motor with less speed and motor torque. Removing this small piece of metal will increase the out put of your pump. The top of the ship show the pump outlet. A very short run of hose makes for the most efficient pump. Peter has his trip stern magazines coming out of a section of super structure. This makes for easy reloading between battles. The deck is now held in place with the secondary turrets. Each one has a brass rod bent at in an L shape that slides into the deck and holds things in place when turned.

Here is a photo of the trip sterns on deck. The black wrap protects the barrels from bb dings. It should cover the entire gun, right now the end of the barrel is exsposed to dings. You can see the dummy shaft coming out of the hull. This is used to install drag disk to slow the ship down. The Sharny is a three shaft ship. Built with either one large prop or the outer shafts running in reverse only.

Here is the stern underside of the stern deck. Peter has installed a water cooling system for his motor. This helps keep the motor cool so it does not burn out. Not needed on most ships it is useful on ships that drive large props like this one. He is using a Traxxas gear box. Under the white protective plastic is a dog bone that connects the gear box and shaft. The magazines of the guns are protected from dings with the same tubing that is used for pump hose. Covering all parts is best, any exposed area will attract bbs. The magazines are bent with a nice down angle right before the T of the gun. The feed end could be bent in a straighter line. The up/down bend may cause feed issues with the bbs. The hoses could be trimmed a little shorter. The rudder box is at the left on the photo. The push rod is a thin brass that should have been a thicker material. It broke at a battle and was replace with a heavier rod.

Here is the location of the props and rudders.

Here is the stern underwater view. Peter has made his own cast plastic props, so far they have held up well.