Hey, i have just bought an Aviation Design SU-37, but it has only panel lines and no rivets, i cant live with that, so what is the best way to make some like those on halralds Su27 on picture?

i thought about melting them into the Fiberglas? with a cobber tube?

I think you may be better off melting the rivets into the PRIMER or the basecoat once you apply those, ratehr than into the fibreglass itself. Use a brass tube inserted into the end of a soldering iron.

get a 0.5 fiberglass g10 draw a line and open some holes to the distance you like..

you can use is as a jig.....then find a small brass tube of the same diameter and attach it infrond a weld gun to heat it all the time..

and ...take your time[8D]

also upload photos of your new toy so we can see it

One really easy, quick and reallistic way to do scale rivets is to use the Pro-Mark dry transfer rivets.
You just cut rivet strips from the sheet and apply them on the surface before painting.
After painting you will just need to sand the paint slightly away with a fine grade 3M sanding pad to get the effect you want.

Always remind that a rivet is not a hole in the surface but a "o" shaped mark...



Pro-Mark make rivets sheets and screws sheets ( here shown around on the alpha vane )
http://www.pro-mark.com/rivetslg.htm
http://www.pro-mark.com/screws.htm

Here's another source for dry transfer rivets as well.
At the very bottom of the page.

http://www.aeroloft.com/precision%20...0transfers.htm

yes but i really want to be able to feel the rivets, no cheat.

use the sharpened brass tube technique. works great:

Sharpen bass tube in a small Pin Iron. Small soldering iron, with the tip drilled for your tubing diameter. It will stay hot and You can work quickly.

What do you mean by cheat ?
On real modern aircraft you wouldn't feel the rivets. So why would you like to feel them at 1/7 to 1/10 scale ?
You'd save hundred hours using dry transfers...

Olnico, sorrybut yes you can feel rivets on aircraft like F-16's and such. On an F-22 you may not because the panel line joints are covered. the only way you wouldnt feel rivets on a full scale fighter, is if it has been painted over a crap load, and they have been filled in. Just my .02

i'll add a +1 to that

im pretty sure that on a russian bird they should feels like a nail not totally hammered in the pro mark stuff looks good, but i want it in the surface..

about the brass tube, on the F18 you just simply melt rivets direct on the fiberglass surface right?

Thomas, i got your email, i will call you when home, we are still broke here in Alaska.....uhhhhh

If you look in the 3rd picture, you'll notice a couple of rivets that REALLY stick out more so than the others. Those are the ones that i burnt in with a soldering iron. Personally, i didn't like the way the "burnt" rivets looked. So i took the brass tube, sharpened the inside of it, placed it on the surface and spun it (by hand) a couple of rounds to "cut" into the paint surface to leave the rivet. I personally think that worked out better, for my application. If you have a higher quality soldering iron that has variable heat settings, you would have much better luck. I didnt want to destroy my $80 soldering iron to do rivets, so i tried using one of the $10 cheap irons modified to hold the brass tube.

Nick,
sounds good. i'll be here in louisiana until atleast friday morning... hopefully i'll get back home friday.

Talking about rivets...any idea of the diameter needed for a 1/6.8 scale model like a Rafale? and the distance between them?

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

The method I use for flush rivets is the heated brass tube in primer technique. I used the smallest brass tube I could get, and mounted in my trim iron. I also put a 90 degree bend in the tube to make it more comfortable. I prefer to mark off all the rivets first, making proper spacing adjustments so intersecting rivet lines properly meet. After burning them in, I lightly sand with 400 grit to knock off any rough edges.

Scott

I burned mine with a soder iron and brass. I sharpened the brass though so it would go in easier and I could twist.

I didn't use a template so mine are not the straightess out there but it was the first time I did it. I did make a stand for it with a dial to adjust the power (thus the heat).

This is my TF P-47

Here are some pics of the rivet tool I made from a soldering iron. It does help to have an iron with adjustable temperature settings. I used a brass fitting off of an old retract

Paul

I did the whole surface of my SU-27 using a modified drill bit and dremel tool. It was actually extremely easy.

if you add a few little aluminium panel you can do this...

thanks for all the great ideas.

what Su27 is that?

good idea with the template...

what SU27 is that?

Liebetrau...here's some pictures [link=http://picasaweb.google.com/WarrenGHunter/SU27UB#]SU27[/link]

Hey, Mach1! That plane looks great! How did you make the panel lines? I assume you drilled the "rivets" in the skin BEFORE priming?

Also, you mention "modified" drill bit. What size and type bit and how did you modify it?

I am building a Hostetler Cessna 150, and wnat to make some good panel line and rivet detall.

Thanks

Joe