What if don't have much woodworking experience?
I was actually considering making a control out of thick paper mache...
Do you think that might work?
And do you have any other ideas for the control?

I don't think paper mache' is going to work for a control. You really don't need a lot of wood working experience for an airplane control. At it's simplest it is just two pieces of wood in a cross formation glued then nailed.