This is a great thread, but unless it gets posted to daily, it falls back and gets lost in the " OLD Threads Home"
Anyway, How To Make Rivets.
There are a lot of methods for doing rivets, From glue drops to Punching them out of pop cans and glueing them on. I haven't seen anyone use this method, so here goes.
To simulate a riveted wing tank, I made a die and pressed "rivets" into .005 soft Aluminum, and then used contact cement to laminate it to the plywood sheeting. The material is very light (3.2 grams for a 28sq.inch piece) and easy to work with.
I made the die from 5/32" brass rod and 3/64 music wire. Take a peice of rod 1" long and drill a 3/64 hole about 1/2" into the center. Take a piece of 3/64 Music wire and round over one end( I used a dremel cutoff wheel). Mark and cut the wire so that ii fits into the brass rod with only the rounded part sticking out.
The second half of the die is made by cutting a peice of the rod about 1/4" long. Inset this peice into a wood base so that it sticks out about 1/32". Use a 1/16" dril to make a shallow indent in the center of the rod.
The rest is easy . Chuck the 1" peice in your drill press, and clamp the base peice to line up with it. Use the drill press like an arbor press(Don"t Turn It On!!) Just place your material between the two peices and press.
Using a two pard die makes crisp, clean" rivets " without bending the metal around them.Make different size dies for different size rivets.
I draw out the rivet pattern, and tape it to the aluminum. Just press through the paper