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OK, i am in the process of making a terrain piece/doomsday device that i am want to look like it is covered in metal plate. I have basically covered a cd in pieces of plasticard but would like to have some rivets to complete the look.

The only methods i have thought of so far are a: using tiny balls of GS to make rivets or b: use this sheet of platic rivets from Bits and Kits

http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/rivet-sheet-p-6486.html




So, does anyone have any advice for me? i have had a quick look through a search of the tuts section and couldn't find anything.

Rivet sheet looks to be the way to go for ease and then you may have some for next time too!

I use PVA glue drops by using a canula to keep the drops small.

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You can make a simple rivet punch by sharpening a piece of brass tube. Place your plasticard on a softish surface (lino works) and have at it.

http://www.tedpella.com/histo_html/unicore.htm

Those apparently work well, haven't tried them myself but apparently they are handy.

I recall I tecnique which used something like using little blobs of glue, but the rivet sheet really is the way to go. Making them with greenstuff'll just do your box in after a while-and if your not careful enough they'll come out in diferent sizes, deformed, etc. Not having greenstuff at hand yesterday, nor a sheet of rivets, I was forced to cut up spear shafts into discs for a Destroyer Tank Hunter scratch build that I had to get finished for today, and having a load of pre-made rivets would have been a god send. ^^

Praxiss wrote:OK, i am in the process of making a terrain piece/doomsday device that i am want to look like it is covered in metal plate. I have basically covered a cd in pieces of plasticard but would like to have some rivets to complete the look.

The only methods i have thought of so far are a: using tiny balls of GS to make rivets or b: use this sheet of platic rivets from Bits and Kits

http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/rivet-sheet-p-6486.html




So, does anyone have any advice for me? i have had a quick look through a search of the tuts section and couldn't find anything.

My how to I posted up a while ago, not that I can find the thread is as follows:

-Get a ball of greenstuff or your preferred sculpting putty, smooth and flatten it out (preferably on a piece of plastic/packing tape on your surface/etc so you can take the bottom off. I use some vaseline on my finger and smooth it out nicely
-Smooth until it's the desired thickness of the rivet
-Let it harden overnight
-Find mechanical pencils with the correct tip size, with METAL tips (I've found 0.3 work for armor, 0.5 work for vehicles, and 0.7 for larger, it may take some looking, but they make mechanical pencils in almost every increment)
-(optional) use a sharpening stone to lightly sharpen the tip of your pencil
-Hold down clicker so the lead can be advanced/moved, and push into the greenstuff sheet
-Remove, and click pencil, out pops perfect rivet!

I've done close to 500 ish rivets like this, once oyu get it down, you can do 10-20 a minute

I make pseudo rivets by punching plastic sheet with a leather hole punch.

I say pseudo rivets because real rivets have a domed head.

You can make a simple rivet punch by sharpening a piece of brass tube. Place your plasticard on a softish surface (lino works) and have at it.

Use straight pins, like what your mom uses to do sewing.

I've made tons of rivets for various Ork projects by simply slicing up thin plastic rods.
But, the leather hole punch seems like it would work very nicely as well.

Hmmm, due to my laziness i may have to just buy the rivet sheet afterall.

Thanks for the responses peeps.

I just a leather punch too.

On recommendation from a long-lost thread here, I bought a jar of tiny little glass balls for use in scrapbooking or something or other, but they're about the size of a lot of the 40k rivets. I don't really know what they were originally meant for. But they were being hawked at a local craft store, and I got about 8 gazillion of them for around 2 bucks. Can't complain about that. The particular ones I got are Martha Stewart branded, but I doubt that'll help you too much over in jolly old blighty.

I haven't tried them yet, but I'm getting around to it. The plan is to drill out small recesses for them to fit into and glue them down, so in the final product they look like hemispherical little rivets.

winnertakesall wrote:http://www.tedpella.com/histo_html/unicore.htm

Those apparently work well, haven't tried them myself but apparently they are handy.

These look great but i'm not sure about spending th emmoney to get one shipped from the US when i might only use it for thsi one project..........on the other hand it is another funky tool to put in my box. Hehe.

I've had mixed results with my sisters bedazzler, but i highly recommend the leather punch.

I saw a guy make some sweet rivets using various sizes of some sort of hex/round plasticard rod. He just sliced it with a sharp hobby knife, picked the slice up by poking it with his knife, dipped it into a drop of glue, and applied it to the model. It was extremely fast and made some very convincing rivets/bolts

Ordered the rivet sheet. i woudl get the tool from the US but i need the model done in the next week or so which might be probem with postage.

Easy Rivet sheets: get thin (~0.3mm plasticcard) and tap a blunted nail on it, but not through it, at regular intervals, and you end up with this:

Painted, on a large scale, looks something like this:


Hope that helps!

Easy Rivet sheets: get thin (~0.3mm plasticcard) and tap a blunted nail on it, but not through it, at regular intervals,

Man, thats a pretty good idea, I'll bare that in mind next time. I used greenstuff. I always have leftover greenstuff after projects so I just roll it into thin sausages which I turn into bullet casings or rivets.

As with all great ideas inmygravenimage that is fiendish in its simplicity!

I'm goint give that go I think, but I just know that I will punch straight through on the last rivet.

I was going to suggest the method that FW use in the Masterclass book, which is to mark out where you want the rivets, to get the spacing correct.

Make a little dimple at each location (using a drill bit or stamp).

Get a filter from a refillable water filter (Like the Britas one, a used one is fine), carefull crack it open. You will find that it is filled with thousands of little balls (of carbon I think?).

Glues these in and flatten off as desired, ready for painting.

More labour intensive that inmygravenimage's but looks the part and is cheap as chips.

Greenstuff rolled into a snake and then allowed to set, then chop it into rivets/ coins.