simulating rivets

[captain doogal]

I'm wondering if anyone has any idea of a rivet technique I've seen used (with excellent results) on a styrene plastic model. The builder took a 1mm (or something like that) brass tube, and ground the edges all around the opening to sharpen it, then lightly twisted the tube into the suface, making a light circular cut into the surface. These he used all over the fuse where the rivets would be, when painted it made a great simulation of the rivets. My concern with a scale fuse (a .50 Funkey Airwolf to be exact) is that this technique might weaken the fuse :? . Any thoughts? Many thanks guys.

[vapochilled]

weaken the fuse? how deep do you think rivit heads go,lol
There as many ways of doing scale rivits as there are rivits, all have their merits and place. Take a look over at FSM ( http://cs.finescale.com/forums/ ) have a nose around, you'll find dozens of ways, pick one which you are comfortable with and practice, it takes a little learning and dedication :wink:

[captain doogal]

Thanks for the reply and the link mate. I like the look of the Vario glue in rivets, but they seem out of scale. I'll keep checking before commiting.

[marc28]

Hirobo makes rivit sheets part # 0414-261 the rivets come on a 8x11 clear sheet with 2 sizes of rivets.I now do all my rivits this way

[maxime]

wow, nice heli!

got more pics of it?

[Heli_jack]

Starwood Models sells a kit that uses essentially glue to make dots that become rivets. Fastest, safest way to do them......starwoodmodels.com Tell Al I sent ya.

[wolfdad]

Jack, et al,
I also have had most excellent results with the Starwood rivet kit. Makes for an authentic job and very easy to use. Flush rivets would be a tough one on a flying scale model.....not impossible....just difficult and, I also would recommend you take a peek at Fine Scale Magazine. They have an almost endless bag of "tricks of the trade."
Doc

[captain doogal]

Hirobo makes rivit sheets part # 0414-261 the rivets come on a 8x11 clear sheet with 2 sizes of rivets.I now do all my rivits this way


That looks awesome! I only recently had a chance to check this yesterday. I was at work, and signing on would have been a BADidea, could you give me any heads up as to where to get these things. I did a search and came up with nothing. All the best mate.

[Christopher J]

I like the glue rivets myself.

Most aircraft we look at have raised rivets and the glue rivets when sized right can be made to look pretty good. I found that depending on the scale of the ship determined which needle I used for rivets. On small ships a very small needle may need to be aquired. (Get a new one) Cut the tip square and you're set.

The trick to applying the glue rivets is spacing and pressure on the plunger to the get the right amount of glue. When placing the rivets let the drop of glue touch the fuse, not the needle. This way you get a nice shaped rivet.

I did some of the drill/glue in type rivets....something about perferating the body didn't sit well with me so I went to the glue method.

[captain doogal]

The rivets that have my attention currently are the Vario self adhesive rivets, to do the whole Airwolf would cost about a C-note (chicken s*** money to quote Paul Williams in Smokey and the Bandit) and looks like it would be fun. The drill in type look a bit too prominent and out of scale to me, yeah the bird looks impressive with all those rivets, but it aint the way a real chopper looks. And I get to see a lot at work. My current bestest buddy is a Bell 430.

[D.MO]

best and cheapest imo is to use a syringe filled with elmers glue. if you can get access to a needle syringe, grind the bevel off the tip of the needle to achieve a nice "ball" of glue. similar to the starwood kit.

[Christopher J]

I like the R56 canopy glue, it holds it shape well, I used Elmers on my Jet Ranger and R56 on my Wolf. The rivets on the Wolf didn't collapse as much.