I’ve taken the plunge and have moved on to the “replacing detail” stage of modeling. So, I’ve sanded off a few rivets that got in the way of smoothing a seam and I now have to replace them.
Now, I’ve bought some plastic rod, but I find it a pain to round the rivets, either before or after I apply them. I mean, it’s more of a pain because I bought a rod that was a little too thick, but I’ve gotten the hand of slimming it down (scrape is with the taima panel scriber while turning it to keep it round. Paint though)
Make it easier on you and use little blobs of dimensional fabric paint to replace all your rivets… Apply with a toothpick. scrape the one you are unhappy with and start again, then seal with a coat of Future.
Dimensional fabric paints, such as the one made by Plaid are available in craft stores but also in shops such as WalMart in the US.
Sooooooo much easier and faster than glueing bits of rods… (and no glue that will damage the plastic either!)
dj’s suggestion of using fabric is excellent. When I read it I looked over my shoulder to my wife… “honey… can I borrow some of your fabrice paint?” [}:)] Let me tell you, it worked great. One thing I found when applying it was that once I got some paint on the tip of the tool I was using, the first and maybe 2nd rivit were too big, the subsequent two or three were just right, and then too small. So what I did was dip the tool in the fabric paint, attempt a couple of rivits on some scrap material, then quickly go to my subject and do a cuple, then start the process over. As was said earlier if you don’t like it, clean it off real quick. Great tip dj, thanks much!
Sounds like a great idea, but I have one question. What is dimensional fabric paint? I could probably ask my wife, but I don’t want to give her the satisfaction of telling me something I don’t know. [;)]
It’s a special of ‘plasticky’ paint that is normaly used to decorate garments. Comes in a whole variety of colours (useful to see what you do on your model), and a single ‘tube’ lasts forever.
It’s fabric paint that comes in squeeze bottles. You “paint” the fabric by drawing the design as you squeeze the paint out. The finished product is raised as well. If only there was a walmart or anything like that on my route home.
Oh well, I’m mostly done with the rivets anyway. I was thinking of my next project, which is a while away.