I've finished my rudder and was happy with how it turned out.  For 
alot of you this might be obvious but this is how I did it and it 
worked for me.

Make sure to put a nice bend at the trailing edge on both skins.  I 
did a great job of this except at the very top.

Clean the trailing edge VA-140 and skins before proceeding

Get the 6 oz tube of the tank sealant and follow the directions.  Use 
nitrile gloves and apply a thin layer to the VA-140 trailing edge.  
Be careful not to apply too much or to start getting it on other 
surfaces.

You do not need two people to install pop rivets on the stiffeners if 
you lay it on the table and hold open the skins with a 1x2 while 
riveting.

Be careful on the orientation of the shear clips to the stiffeners 
and the top ribs

Clecos for every hole in the trailer edge.  Weight is down as 
described in the manual and let it sit for ~ two days.

Clean up was fairly easy - even the clecos.

I used a 2X rivet gun and ~ 35 psi for the trailing edge rivets.  I 
followed the instructions in the manual as was happy with the results.

If you are priming then you might want to mix up a small batch of 
primer for the rolled leading edge and counter weight.  I applied a 
thin amount before riveting these two areas.

The manual describes taping down the leading edge and rolling it with 
a 1 1/4" rod with a vise grip.  This mostly worked, except the tape 
would pull away enough that the leading edge was not uniformly 
rolled.  I ponder this a bit and ended up taking the same rod and 
carefully  match drilling it with the holes on the leading edge.  You 
only have to do this once as the pitch is the same for all the holes 
in the other 5 leading edge skin sections.  By using 1/8" clecos and 
taping the rolling process was much smoother and I was happy with the 
results.

But a little extra in the bend for the overlapping section and 
carefully bring them together for riveting.

For the rudder counter weight be careful with the bends and make sure 
you account for the bend radius.  I rec starting a little forward 
(towards prop) of the bend line made by hand to allow for this.

Watch your toes!  In some of the rudder counter weight steps you are 
removing the weight for misc and if you have the rudder vertical it 
will not hesitiate to come rocketing out....

I rec using some of the generic #8 screws - I was glad I did as I 
went a little bit two far and started to match drill one....  don't 
do this with the final bolts as there are only provided in the kit 
(as far as I know).

Mine was pillowed and I did another rivet for the skins.

Overall came out great.  I am about to prime the front spar for the 
horizontal stab and then I get to try out the cradles....

Eric Panning
Hillsboro, OR
Kit # 150

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