"How do I make small rivets in 15mm?" Topic

I did look through the other rivet topics on TMP. Haven't looked elsewhere yet.

I tried gluing on poppy seeds with tweezers – too big, to ball-like, they look like baseballs in 15mm.

I tried gluing on individual grains of sand with tweezers – yes I did – and they're too irregular.

Sure, you could just say the rivets are too small too see, and you'd be right. But rivets are evocative, and they break up big flat areas. They're a must-have.

Any ideas?

Andrew

I use PVA glue mixed with wall filler for this kind of detailing work (for rivets, dot the surface with the mixture using a toothpick or needle). The glue makes it sticky, while the wall filler keeps it from shrinking too much as it dries. Paint can also be mixed in.

Might still not be fine enough for 15mm, though.

Maybe just paint on rivets?

When scratch building and I need rivets for small scales I use a needle with a blunted tip to push rivets into thin styrene sheet. You can make them very small using this technique and they won't ever come loose they way glued or putty rivets sometimes do. Not sure if that will help you with your project or not.

Archer Fine Transfers make some that might suit you if you go that route.

I make mine using a pointed pin/centre punch on plasticard then slicing them off with a sharp hobby knife.
I also use a .008" to .020" punch and die if you have the set up for that.

If you want the "look", then reverse the way you do it. Use a small drill bit, make shallow indents with the bit and then paint dark into the indents, then dry brush the surface.

The dark indents will stand out as marks.

Dan

In the past, I've cut the ends off plastic rod: link

But I am intrigued by Paintbeast's method – Eric, are they subject to being pushed back into the styrene sheet by handling?

I must also try Dan's method to see how I like it.

I have a long standing project that I will eventually get back to – making the Polish armoured train, Danuta and there's lots of rivets. I actually purchased, from a model railway company, Tichy, plastic rivets:

tichytraingroup.com

The rivets I bought were from here: link
--
Tim

I once drilled holes with a pin vise, and then inserted the heads of small pins. Tedious, to say the least.

You could also use drops of thick superglue. A friend of mine used superglue to make the weld bead on a 1/35 Sherman model he was making.

@Ditto Bird – Not that I have noticed. I expect if you pressed the riveted area down hard enough on a flat hard surface you might distort the rivets. It has worked well for me so far, and I never loose a rivet the way I do on larger pieces.

I know one person writing for a Brit mag mentioned spot heating the surface of styrene. Say, a near-red hot pin, touched to the plastic and pulled back left a lump.

The mention of a drill brought it back as the author said he discovered the idea when using a too-fast drill, he'd be making small holes only to have the plastic melt, leaving little mounds when he removed the bit.

I'm thinking just a brief touch with the point of the pin, in rhythmic motion down the side of a model, stopping occasionally to reheat, might work in 15mm, assuming a styrene model.

If you've seen this elsewhere in a 'rivet topic', and it got either yeas or nays, let me know, please?

Doug

I hadn't seen hot pin mentioned.

Andrew

Generally I make up some thin plastuc sprue using the time honoured method of heating it over a candle, sretching it to the required thickness, then chopping it up into bits and sticking them on. Very thin glue helps with this.

If you have a LOT of rivets to do, it is much easier to make indentations instead and do the reverse shading thing mentioned above. Hot pin, or ideally a pyrogravure (a sort of plastic modeling soldering iron) makes this easier.

Perhaps this helps:

picture

@Andrew The mag I saw the 'hot point' method mentioned was Sci Fi and Fantasy Modeler; parts were brilliant. I think it was in what was supposed to have been a three parter on a scratchbuilt Vicky flyer, only I don't think the third part was ever published.

Pity, that, but we must struggle on…

@Minimaker Still sounds like a lot of effort, but does seem a definite way to go if you want Really Large Rivets, and what good are they if they don't 'scream' at you. ;->=

Doug

It's slower than punch and dye but when you have the hang of it speed is ok. These were done in under an hour + some rework:
picture

As to size, how big do you need them? Smallest I've done is about 0.3 mm (smallest drill I have). Largest would be the hex nuts with a keysize of about 2mm. They are on this model where most as about 0.5mm diameter.
picture

Both models at 28mm size.

@Minimaker You got me; .3 mm is damn impressively small I must say. I must share this with the local artificers!

Doug

That rivet maker is very clever.

Andrew

Thanks

Minute dobs of Chemical Metal AKA Plastic Padding

I use thin styrene sheets, a needle and some 'granny grating' (plastic canvas). Punch through each (or each second) hole in granny grating with a needle (you may want to do this on a cutting mat or similar surface) – and voila, evenly spaced and very small rivets.

This could be of help but you'll have to use the tool on the reverse side of the surface showing the rivet detail. There are four sizes and I use two or three mainly for 1/72 armor models.

link

I put a little roll of fresh kneadatite on the spot, leave it a bit so it grabs hold of the surface, then stab a well oiled retractable pencil nib onto the tube- once close to cured, I scrape off the remainder with a scalpel leaving the rivet. It helps to pierce the spot to give the kneadatite something to hold on to.

Strange to me that no one yet (that I've seen) has used model railroad NBW castings for making rivets. They are made in HO scale and the smallest are 1" in scale, that works out to maybe 1 1/2" in 15 mm scale. These are in plastic and come in a fair number on a sprue and have a 'handle' that can be glued into holes or the handle can be cut off and the casting clewed on in place. Oh, and just what does NBW stand for (for those who don't already know, of course)? Nut, Bolt, Washer. Paint them on the sprue, weather them on the sprue, and dry blend them into the surface you use them on. I'd love to see what you do with them if you give it a try. They aren't prohibitively expensive.