My method was to go to the metal bar in the shop, start with the shaft material of choice, and pick tubing that telescope fitted as required.
I just used ordinary superglue for fitting the bearings- if the metal is cleaned and abraided this works very well. The soldering is needed if you want to fit an oiling tube.
The general method is very similar to tat shown above, but I used relatively thick wall tube for the bearings.
For smaller scale models, I have gone over to brass rod for the shaft and short lengths of cotton bud tube for bearings epoxied into small diameter drinking straw for an outer.
I usually either use the kit props or make my props the same way as towboatjoe and solder or epoxy them on the end of the shaft as appropriate, or solder a brass nut of the size required for a moe conventional fitting.