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Modelling: Rivet basics


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try this. get a drinks can and cut it open (watch fingers this can cut you!) fold edges over with pliers to make safe. then, using the required size of drill bit, drill holes in the can panel, the more the merrier. then, get a piece of plastic frame and heat it until it melts. push this through the holes in your can panel and allow to cool. when cool, cut the rivets off with a knife. then glue to model. larger rivets can be trimmed with a knife to look like bolts. i got this one from a modelling book years ago and never forgot. sorry cant post any pictures, haven't got a way to put them on my machine at the mo.
  • 1 year later...
I don't have steady hands anymore so I have had to find alternatives for a lot of things. I use straight pins. No sanding since they are already rounded. I drill a small hole the size of the pin shaft and glue them in. You can generally find them of different sizes. The added benefit is that once you have snipped off the heads you have pins for pinning. :D I'm actually surprised nobody else has ever discovered or mentioned it. :D

Follow this link to Grandt Line Products. About a third of the way down there are some rivets listed. Just send them an email and let them know what you want, where to send it, and your Credit Card number and it'll show up in a few weeks. I think they're great. Here's an example using the 0.032" dia Round Head rivets on the helmet and the 0.043" dia Round Head rivets on the legs.

 

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/jasperjarvis/029.jpg

 

If you need rivets smaller than these, I suggest green stuff. I'm in the process of adding the final rivets to this model which are smaller than the ones on the head. They're the small size that are on the gauntlet. I know it's a pain, but if done correctly it looks good. I got this method from Gnawer a while back (thanks Gnawer!). He made some great Luna Wolves and had a tutorial which is no longer available online. Here is a quick version of his method:

 

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/jasperjarvis/040.jpg

 

Take a piece of plastic sprue and cut out a straight piece about 3 or 4 inches long. Trim one end of it into a cone shape, just like on a wooden pencil. Trim the very tip flat and take a tiny drill bit and drill out a small hole in the end. This should be the size that you want your rivets.

 

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/jasperjarvis/041-1.jpg

 

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/jasperjarvis/042-1.jpg

 

Mix up a little green stuff and pinch a tiny bit off and place it where you want your rivet. Take your rivet tool and dip the business end in some vegetable oil (or whatever you have handy) and wipe the excess oil off on a tissue. Carefully push the tool into the little blob of green stuff and twist it and remove. You should have a nice little rivet in the middle, and you can remove the excess green stuff from around it carefully.

Whenever you have any excess putty, I tend to roll it into differing sizes of balls.

Once the putty's cured, you can cut these in half and glue them on - the smaller ones are a bit fiddly, but a pair of tweezers should suffice - just use the smallest blob of superglue though, otherwise it can slide out of position and set very quickly :/

  • 2 weeks later...

I was struggling with this problem too, but I solved it by a trip to my local arts and crafts supplier:

Get a paper hole punch which makes circular holes (the ones which punch individual holes...the regular hole punches for stationery are just way too big) and get the smallest one they have -I think the one I have is somewhere between 0.5mm to 2mm, but not sure- then take any piece of cardboard (cereal packets are great for this) and punch to your heart's content.

This size is great for stuff like pots and pans (I'm in the middle of doing an Ogre Butcher's kitchen, complete with oven, etc) as well as vehicles and you can easily get hundreds of rivets out of just half the top of one cereal box.

The added bonus is that they don't seem to warp when you paint them (maybe 'cos they're too dense?) and every rivet is exactly the same shape and size, so it looks like it's been properly manufactured (e.g. Adeptus Mechanicus / Forge World / etc).

 

Alternatively, if you are doing rivets on something like the 'extra armour' plates vehicle upgrade, use thin plasticard as the plates and carefully make indentations on the reverse (i.e. the glued side which will face the tank)...to me, this is more reminiscent of the studded Marine armour (Mark 5?) where you can see that it represents 2 pieces of armour put together, but where it looks like it has been properly made and where you don't want to make it look like an Ork has just nailed it together.

 

For larger rivets (e.g. structures and other bigger pieces of kit), some of the sprues actually have circular spots on them which you can just cut off and use; although they will be exactly circular, it will be harder to get them exactly the same thickness (if you're bothered about stuff like this).

 

I hope that this helps?

I was struggling with this problem too, but I solved it by a trip to my local arts and crafts supplier:

Get a paper hole punch which makes circular holes (the ones which punch individual holes...the regular hole punches for stationery are just way too big) and get the smallest one they have -I think the one I have is somewhere between 0.5mm to 2mm, but not sure- then take any piece of cardboard (cereal packets are great for this) and punch to your heart's content.

This size is great for stuff like pots and pans (I'm in the middle of doing an Ogre Butcher's kitchen, complete with oven, etc) as well as vehicles and you can easily get hundreds of rivets out of just half the top of one cereal box.

The added bonus is that they don't seem to warp when you paint them (maybe 'cos they're too dense?) and every rivet is exactly the same shape and size, so it looks like it's been properly manufactured (e.g. Adeptus Mechanicus / Forge World / etc).

 

Alternatively, if you are doing rivets on something like the 'extra armour' plates vehicle upgrade, use thin plasticard as the plates and carefully make indentations on the reverse (i.e. the glued side which will face the tank)...to me, this is more reminiscent of the studded Marine armour (Mark 5?) where you can see that it represents 2 pieces of armour put together, but where it looks like it has been properly made and where you don't want to make it look like an Ork has just nailed it together.

 

I hope that this helps?

I had an idea on making rivets today, which was inspired when trying to fill knicks in a shoulder pad. So I fill the gap and it just sorta falls out once it dries, so I thought maybe if you drill a hole where you want a rivet, fill with GS and push out however long it might work, if not you still just filled up the hole you made *shrug*

Go to your local art store and look in the scrap book section. You can buy a 1/16-hole punch for about 5 bucks. You can mass-produce rivets like a mad man and with great ease. They will all be the same diameter and height. If you want them to be flat to the tank use a thin sheet of plastic card. If your want it more raised up just use a thicker sheet. I made a stormblade conversion for my banebalde and using these rivets and i think it turned out quite well.

 

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8583/banebladetopnn5.jpg

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