Having studied the plans it soon became clear that the rudder lower bracket is too long or the gap in the hull moulding too short (or both). So as you can see in the pictures below I have had to shorten the bracket by a substantial amount.
This casting is a pig. It is bent, not symmetrical, it is too long, too wide and even the countersunk hole is not in the middle. To be honest by the time I had finally made it fit to my satisfaction (lots of filing and sanding) I would have been better off making a complete replacement. Anyhow, I wanted to make this part removable in order to service the rudder should the need arise. So I drilled a 6mm hole in the bottom of the hull and inserted a rawlplug as shown below.
Using a 3mm brass countersunk bolt the bracket is held securely in place (however I will be using some epoxy resin as I shall describe later).
The final two photos show the rudder in place with the bracket screwed in to position. When I have completed the final assembly of the rudder and props the bracket will be “smoothed” in using filler as with the other parts ready for painting.
May 10th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Looking good and like the way it is removable, shame its not the real thing as Tugs are in great demand right now too