Time to build a rudder for the boat. I made the rudder out of some brass sheet I got at the hardware store. To start I took my brass sheet and I drew on it the dimensions of the rudder. I made the rudder 1-1/4″ wide at the top and 1″ at the bottom. The rudder was 3″ in length. I cut out the rudder with some tin snips and then sanded it smooth. I then took a piece of the 3/16″ brass tubing I had and cut a slit in the end. The rudder was then slid into this slit and soldered. I filed the solder smooth so it wouldn’t cause too much turbulence in the water. (It probably wouldn’t cause much of a problem if I didn’t file the solder smooth because it’s just a small toy boat that won’t go too fast, but I thought I’d do it anyway) At this point the rudder itself is done, but now it’s time to mount it to the boat.

 

Before I made any marks on the boat’s hull, I put some painters tape on the boat. This way I could mark all I wanted and when I was done with the project I could peel up the tape and no one will see my marks. I think it looks a lot nicer in the end when I do this. So, after putting some tape on the boat, I marked where I wanted the rudder to go. I put the rudder about an inch away from the rear of the boat because I plan on having the prop somewhere around 1-1/5″ from the back of the boat. To mount the rudder I drilled a hole in the boat the same diameter of the shaft that is attached to the rudder. I then took a piece of brass tubing, and using a generous amount of hotglue, I glued it right over the hole I just drilled. (The size of tubing I glued to the boat was the next size up from 3/16″ – It was the size that the 3″/16″ tube slid into perfectly). I then glued a small piece of wire to the tube that is mounted to the boat as a brace.

 

When I stuck the rudder shaft through the tube mounted to the boat, it was kinda rough to turn when the rudder was pulled against the boats hull. I didn’t like this and I didn’t want to put any strain on the servo that will run the rudder so I cut a little bushing. I cut the bushing from a larger sized brass tube using my mini pipe cutter. The bushing is only like 1/8″ long but it keeps the rudder off of the boat’s hull just enough for it to move smoothly.

 

For the control part of the rudder I made a control horn out of a piece of the same brass stock that I made the rudder out of. It is very simple – just a ‘triangle’ piece of brass with a few holes drilled in it and then sanded smooth. I drill a large hole in the end of this control horn, stuck a piece of tubing in it, and soldered it. This tubing that is soldered to the control horn will slip over the rudder shaft. To keep the control horn connected to the rudder shaft I used a pin. To do this I slid the control horn onto the shaft and drilled a small hole through the control horn tube and through the rudder shaft at the same time. I then stuck the rudder through the tube that is glued to the hull, slid on the control horn, then stuck a pin through the small hole I just drilled.

 

I hot glued to the boat a large Futaba servo near the rudder. I then hooked a control rod from the servo horn to the control horn on the rudder. After hooking up the servo to the receiver, I got the rudder trimmed out straight. I now have a steering control made for my soon-to-be boat.

 

Sorry, but I guess I forgot to take more pictures during the rudder build. Here are the pics I did take though . . .