Rogue Sub Works Presents

DIY CONTROL SURFACES

 Foreword:

Being able to make your own symmetrical appendages is a very useful

technic. If you have broken a part, you can make a new one. If you have a project
that has no available or substandard parts, you can make better ones. It is a very
useful tool to have in your arsenal.

It is very easy to get yourself a piece of plastic, stick it to a belt sander, and
make a control surface for your boat. The problem is you will likely have an
unsymmetrical inaccurate piece of plastic. Luckily, there are a few tricks to getting
a better quality part without the use of a CNC machine, which most people do not
have.

In this article I plan to show you the method I learned for making control
surfaces from David Meriman. Although I am not include all the different tricks
learned for making part this should be enough to get you the basics. It is pretty
straightforward and easy to follow and I hope that it is as useful to you as it has been
to me.

If you have and questions about what has been covered here, please feel free
to ask questions on one of the forums or email me at:

mailto:Kevin@roguesubworks.com
The Goal:

Produce a symmetrical control plane by hand

and prepare it for molding using the simplest most  
cost effective methods.

The Procedure:

There are a few things you will need for

this project.

ü Glue
ü CA (Super Glue)
ü MDF, Plastic, or Renshape
ü Blue or Red Paint
ü Scissors
ü Blue Prints for the Part
ü Belt Sander
ü Sand Paper 60-220 grit
ü Bondo or Metal Glaze Putty
ü ¼” Brass Tube
ü Exacto Knife
ü Razor Knife
ü Dremel with Cut Off Wheel
ü Pen
ü Band Saw
ü Filling Primer Paint

Once you have all the materials, you need a

subject matter and a set of blueprint scaled to the
proper size. For the purpose of this article I will
be using pictures from two different appendage Alfa  rudder  drawn  using  Cad  by  Tim  Fisher  
sets I made, one for the Russian Alfa and the
other an X tail for the Akula.  

Once you have your drawings, you need to print

them out so you may cut them out.

Now that you have your drawing you will need something to glue it to. I like to use MDF
because it is cheap and easy to sand. The draw back is that it is very porous and you will
need to seal it properly. For the best results, you can use Renshape. It sands easy and CA
bonds with it really well. The problem is that it is expensive. Additionally, you can use
sheets of pvc. It makes a durable part or master but it does not sand very easy and will
melt if you get it hot. Bondo does not stick to it very well either.

For this article, I used MDF for the Alfa and rapid prototyping foam for the Akula.
The first thing you will want to do is cut it to the size of the part you are making and leave a
little extra so that it is easier to handle while cutting. Next paint the surface near the edges
of the part using paint. This will give you a dead center reference line on the part no matter
how much you sand the part. This is essential to help you maintain symmetry on the part.
Of all the things learned in this tutorial, this step is one of the most important.

Letting  the  paint  dry.    Note  the  extra  piece  I  left  for  
easy  of  handling  

Once the paint has dried glue the two halves

together using wood glue for MDF or CA for pvc and
Renshape. Give the piece as much time as
necessary to dry before proceeding. Having a part
delaminate while working it will suck pretty badly.

Once the part is dry, attach the cut out of your

appendage to the part using glue. Do not forget to
profile view to the other sides. These will guide you
on the shape and make sure you do not sand off too
much later.

This is also a good time to consider drilling your This part was not dry and delaminated while
hole for the control rods. Since the part is still in a cutting. It was a big pain to glue it back
block shape it is much easier to chuck up in a drill together and have the two pieces index
properly
vice. You also do not want to go through all the
work to make the part just to miss drill the control
rod hole in the end and start all over. At this point,
your time investment is low and starting over wont
be a big deal.
Here  is  the  Alfa  rudder  demonstrating  the  proper  drilling  for  the  
control  rod  

Here  is  a  good  cradle  to  the  grave  photo  showing  the  
steps  
Once you have the control rod hole
drilled and are satisfied it is straight
(make sure it enters on one painted
line and exits on the other) you can
cut the part out. I like to use a band
saw to cut out my parts but you could
accomplish this using a number of
different saws. The extra material
you left on the part will make cutting
this on the band saw a lot safer as it
will allow you to keep you hands
away from the blade for most of the A  picture  of  the  Alfa  rudder  after  it  was  cut  
cutting. Once you cut your part out out  using  a  band  saw.  
you should have something like this.

Next is the messy part. Time to san the part to shape using the profiles you glued to the
sides of the piece. The fastest way to do this is using a belt sander. Make sure to take
many breaks to check your progress. It is a lot easier to take material off then to put it back
on but it can be done. Once you have the shape close to what you want you can finish off
the shape using sand paper.

This  is  a  photo  of  one  of  the  stern  planes  for  
the  Alfa.    Here  I  am  using  a  piece  of  rolled  up  
sand  paper  to  sand  the  transitions  in  the  
curves  I  made  using  filer.  
With the part made to shape you will need to seal it and smooth it out. I like to first coat the
entire piece using thin CA. If you are using MDF it will likely soak most of this right up and
you wont see a difference. Once the CA has dried, apply a thin coat of Filler (Bondo or
metal glaze) to the part and allow it to dry, Next sand the part back down to shape and
spray it with filling primer.

After the paint has dried look for portions of the part hat did not seal. You will be able to tell
which parts are not sealed, as they will look porous. If there are some repeat the last step
until you have sealed it completely and then sand it smooth with 220 grit.

This  is  how  the  part  should  look  at  this  point.  It  has  been  completely  
sealed  to  prevent  deformation  from  moisture.  

Next, you will need to prep the part to be molded. If you are making a one off part then you
should not have been using MDF in the first place for a part you expect to be submerged in
water. Either way the part is now going to be polished. Applying a coat of primer and then
buffing it to a finish using a paper towel can easily accomplish this. Paper towels are great
for this as they are similar to using 1000 + grit sand paper. You should be able to
accomplish a very smooth part from this, which will help in the molding process.
 Here  is  a  test  fit  of  the  new  Alfa  rudder  after  polishing  o n  the  model.    This  part  requires  
no  further  refinement  and  can  be  cast  up  as  a  finished  product.  

Now that the part is ready for molding it is

important to make your intermediate mold.
This is like saving your place in a video game.
From this point on any mistakes, won’t result
in a complete redo. In addition, once casted
the part will be once complete piece. For
more information on casting please visit:

http://roguesubworks.com/downloads/diy-
molds.pdf

Intermediate  mold  being  prepped  

Now that you have a cast your part, you
can begin to make the moving part of
the appendage.

Freshly  cast  X  tail  piece  for  the  Akula  

The  next  step  for  the  Akula  X  tail  was  

X  tail  after  cut   to  cut  the  base  out  of  the  part.    This  
took  several  attempts  to  get  the  right  
angle  and  ensure  it  was  a  level  cut.    
Again,  this  is  why  we  make  an  
intermediate  mold.    After  this  part  was  
split  properly,  I  made  a  final  mold  for  
both  halves  and  was  finished  with  the  
part.    
 
Completing  parts  that  don’t  have  full  
swinging  appendages  is  a  bit  more  
complicated.  
 

The  stern  planes  and  upper  rudder  for  the  Alfa  was  a  bit  more  complex  to  make.    Once  the  part  
has  been  pulled  from  the  mold  you  will  need  to  mark  where  the  control  surface  needs  to  be  on  
the  part  using  a  ruler  and  a  pencil.    Use  your  drawing  and  another  printout  if  necessary  to  
figure  out  where  it  is  supposed  to  be.    You  could  also  have  scribed  the  lines  into  the  part  before  
casting.    This  will  save  you  time  redoing  this  part  if  you  screw  up.  
 
Once  you  know  where  the  control  surface  is  supposed  to  be  use  you  razor  saw  and  cut  out  the  
sides  of  the  part.    A  Dremel  will  be  required  to  cut  the  rest  of  the  control  surface  out.    Using  the  
thinnest  cutting  disc  possible  is  a  good  idea.  
Once done you should have a control surface that is too square. To fix this so some  
light sanding to round down the control surface and add some filler to get the final
rounded front face. After doing this you will notice that the control surface no longer
fits into the main part.

Take the ¼”brass tube and bend the last ½” to a right angle. Use the exacto knife
carve the inside of the brass to form a sharp edge. This tool will be used to cut a
channel in the main part so that the stern plane will move freely within it. This may
take some time as getting it right is important to free motion of the part later. If you
remove to much you can always use filler to remake the difference or create a tighter
fit. I like to make the parts tight enough so that only two layers of painter tape will fit
between the two.

Once you have the part where you need it, cast it up and you should be good to go.