gorby
Most of my scratch builds are in 1/48 and I make raised rivets by using a rivet wheel or pointed object on 0.2mm plastic sheet and then use that as a 'skin' for the model. This is the effect: 100% Scratch-Built Angry Slug – A7V in 1/48! | Album by gorby (1:48)

Alternately, Green Stuff World sell a rivet mould. Go to photos 73 & 74 of this album: Gorby's wondrously weird whatsit – The Fowler Steeplechaser | Album by gorby (1:48)

shadowlight Author
On photo 19 of the second album did you used the rivet wheel on a very thin sheet so you could "bend" the back side of the sheet around the round surface? It seems so - is it what you mean by "skin"? For 1/48 and the Green Stuff World only the smallest ones might be useable?

gorby
Yes that is what I mean by 'skin'. I found the best way to attach the skin to the model is by double using sided tape, or super glue on curved sections. The usual plastic glues melt the rivets.
The GSW mould - the smallest ones are good for largish rivets in 1/48.

shadowlight Author
Has no one experiences with rivet decals or other methods then rivet wheels?

Tony May
Interesting technique gorby, I never thought to use a tracing wheel on card stock & flip it to make raised rivets. Wouldn't the extra sheet of card stock put whatever was in 1/48 slightly out of scale though? Hmm.

shadowlight, I've never personally tried the 3D printed rivets on decals but I've seen some fantastic results. I'm obsessed with detail but even for me that's a bridge too far. I like the rivet wheel for 1/72 well enough because it allows you to bring them out with a good preshading treatment or an oil wash. Even as I say this it nags at me that I cannot apply a wash to the base of rivets & then dry brush highlights to the tops of them! This is becoming a dangerous topic for both my wallet & my modeling future. 😉

Steven Van Dyck
I use a rivet punch to put individual rivets. It has about 20 different widths, but can only make sunken rivets. [img1]
[img2]

shadowlight Author
Thank you for your thoughts!

Tony May
Sorry to have reactivated a nearly 6 month old topic, shadowlight, but I thought I'd just share my own personal thoughts on the matter.

That's actually a pretty nifty tool there, Steven. I like how it provides more than just an indent for where the rivet is supposed to be. In 1/32, 1/35 & maybe even 1/48 it'd be a huge advantage over a rivet wheel. However, it looks like it's kind of difficult to keep a fixed distance been the rivets & create an even punch? As much as I would love to be able to reproduce that in my scale for added detail, at 1/72, just placing that depression there with the rivet wheel gives the clear impression of rivets. After all, that scale was originally meant to be seen from arm's length or at least that's what I read somewhere along the way...

Perhaps that tool could be improved though? I don't know anyone in the market of manufacturing tooling like this so I can't even pitch the idea. Maybe someone else will pick up on this & run with it? Dunno. Anyway ...

My idea was to have 40 pieces plus an adjustable armature that connects two of them - A punch & an unsharpened punch that would just saddle into a previously punched rivet. Therefore, 20 pieces would be punches while twenty of them would be these other things. The armature I imagine would be adjustable, kind of like a drawing compass but instead of being at an angle it would splay the two pieces a good fixed distance apart from one another for even spacing. Once you punch a rivet you move the fixed unsharpened piece into the depression around the rivet thereby allowing you to line up & form the next consecutive rivet. There would have to be a little "play" in the connection to the armature, specifically on the side of the punch, so it could be depressed without doing it at an angle. (Doing it at an angle could be bad with the other part of my idea.)

The tip of the punch would have to be redesigned for my concept. Instead of a straightforward sharpened edge you press into the plastic to create a circular shape, instead, make one to where the punch is wider & the sharpened edges taper down to be more narrow. It can only be pushed down so far though as inside of the tapering edges it has a terminating semicircular "chamber." The tapered edges would slightly displace the plastic upward so that it presses into that semicircular "chamber" thereby forming a rivet head that slightly rises from the surface of the plastic.

The only concern I have is that not all polystyrene is alike. I've worked with some nasty, brittle stuff & I've worked with some that is painfully soft too. (I swear some of the early Minicraft 1/72 B-17s & B-24s could flap their wings without reinforcement!) Both can be problems. Therefore there's the risk is that when you pull away the punch you come out with a plug of plastic that WAS going to be a nifty raised rivet with an indent all the way around it as well.

However if it works right you'd be able to use a wash around the base of the rivet & lighter shading on the surface to make them pop out more from the surrounding features. Do you think it'd work or is it too much of a liability in the case of damage or perhaps it's too fiddly to be worthwhile?

shadowlight Author
No worries Tony - every thought is appreciated! You've already mentioned some problems: Gorbys way is excellent for new scratchbuilds but if you just want to replace some rivets in an sanded or puttied area another level of plastic sheet is visible and problematic. That's why I have asked for decals or similar ideas. But I couldn't find reviews with different manufacturers compared (or Google didn't like me) and I am worried about the longlivity of this method - at least an additional clear coat might be necessary and that adds to the visibility question. Also as you said different plastic consistancy is a question. And it's also a very small step between a raised rivet with your idea and a ripped-off rivet.