I use the brass tube trick as part of my detailing as well, but have noticed it is nearly impossible to get tubing in the correct size for true rivit representation, and i work almost exclusively in 6th scale! in most cases you will find that the tubejob rivits are grossly oversized. that being said, Ive found some of the smallest tubes are the tips of basketball/football inflators. and for the tiniest, you might pull the atomizors from a higher quality cigarette lighter.

Once you have your "rivitizer" ready, go to a vector graphic prgram like corel draw or adobe illustrator and draw a row of rivits, print out on tranparency and burn holes thru the rivit markings. this will be a template and will save you serious time and eyestrain measuring an remeasuring. lay the template down and spray with a different color primer than the one which is your base coat.
Now you have marks. go to work and remember you dont have to, or even WANT to represent every rivit on the jet. for a more convincing appearance, try fading the intended effect along a line in and back out again, from full representation to half, to none. this variation is in effect, due to the skill of the sheet metal guy who did the rivits, the layers of paint, g-stress and location.

Most importantly, avoid doing all full round circles. rivits dont pull thru symmetrically half the time. so try paterns... full moon, half moon, quarter moon, invisible for 5 rivits.. mix it up.

Last and most important step. post some pics and share your success.

Hopes this helps.


Bela