Whilst the hull paint is drying fully, time to sort the rudder system out. The kit supplies some silicone tube which is noted to be cut to 10mm [1cm], this then sits on top of the rudder pivot inside the hull, acting as a water seal I presume. BUT if you cut to this size, the rudder arm will only sit halfway on to of the shaft. So cut to 5mm, still acts as a seal but allows the rudder arm to fully seat on the pivot shaft.
I have fitted a metal geared rudder servo, not wanting to skimp on something so inaccessible once built, better to fit good now than struggle to replace later in use. The servo system was tested using a servo tester to ensure as much rudder turn angle as possible and the optimum fulcrum point on the servo arm too. this turns out to be 2nd hole out from the centre, due to the shortness of the supplied rudder arms.
I did notice some slight movement in the rudder servo mount, so have made a support strut out of some of the scrap plastic sheet, thus linking the servo plate with the hull to reduce movement and reduce risk of fractures in the plastic later too....hopefully.
Pics taken to show rudder movement both inside and out....dropping the rudder tubes to 5mm instead of instructions 1mm has improved rudder swing angle , plenty in fact , but better to have a bit of turn in hand for emergencies !