Yeah, the method of the brass tube sharpened and rotated works great.
I will suggest you make a guide, in order to keep your rivest spaced equaly. Draw a line on a piece of evergreen plastic, mesure space you want between rivets, drill( I have template for 30 rivets on a line) cut the sheet in the middle of the holes, back on the line you traced. Apply this to your lines on the model, and go...
Equal and constant pressure is the key here to have even rivets
after painting, just rub a little pencil dust on the rivets, and then wipe the excess with a damp cloth..yu will be amazed.
By the way, consult your documentation, All the rivets of the Cessna are not flush!
Al