The rudder has been constructed and this segment will start showing the rudder temporarily attached to the fuselage. I am starting with the in-process, finished rudder to illustrate a challenge that this repaint posed. That is, the Black Cross spans the fuselage and the rudder and care has to be taken so the graphics line up properly. The stock kit does not have this feature so I guess that I brought this on myself.
The test fit of the initial graphics showed that the fuselage and the rudder images will not align with each other. I suppose this is due to some lack of skill on my part, but I elected to fix the problem by creating an enlarged rudder graphic in Gimp and print this separately and position the rudder skin appropriately. I am satisfied that the effect is achieved, even if the graphic is off from the original drawings.
I will apply the rudder skin in two half's, rather than a single wraparound as the kit provides, so two separate images, the left and right side are required.
The core of the rudder is a backing made of thicker cardboard stock. The trailing edge is feathered to an edge.
Lets pause to talk about tools. To remove the cardboard to create the feathered edge, I used this sanding board, sourced from the local Dollar Tree store for USD 1.25.
The skin is glued to the backing, which is pre-painted at the edges and the excess will be trimmed away.
This is the completed rudder. The control arms are thin aluminum cut from a beverage can and painted brown. A slit is cut through the rudder and the aluminum control arm is forced through. No glue is used. I chose aluminum as paper most likely would not survive the process of squeezing through a narrow slot. I also cut slots where simulated hinges will be placed. Additional paint is added at the edges to cover the skins paper edges.
The plan is to fabricate the dorsal fin on top of the fuselage and upstream of the rudder and complete the assembly all at once.
