Steampunk Protostar #21 - Let The Detailing Begin !

Now it is time to start the good stuff - super-detailing the Protostar's freshly completed fins with the application of riveted panels. 

To accomplish this, I intend to use a method which I have never attempted before on any model rocket build.  I'm definitely in uncharted territory here.

The plan is to model individual panels with tiny rivet detail using adhesive Avery label material.  The panels will be individually made and affixed to the fin surfaces.  I'm figuring that this level of detail will be better accomplished before the fins are glued to the body and pods.

Here is a pic of the full-sheet labels. 

The first step in construction is to trace the entire fin outline on the back of one of the label sheets.

 

Starting with the root edge of the fin, I mark and draw lines that will define the panels themselves. I arbitrarily chose panel widths of one inch.  The layout, therefore will call for three vertical panels on each fin surface.

Next, I draw two lines on either side of each panel line, 2mm away.  These will be the guidelines for the rivet detail.  Note that I am not applying any rivet lines to the fin root edge or the opposite edge that will be glued to the fin pods.  These areas will be covered with other details later on, so rivets are unnecessary.

Now marks are made where each rivet will go along the guidelines.  I arbitrarily chose one-tenth inch spacing between rivets.  (Kind of odd that I'm going back and forth between English and metric dimensions in this process.  That's just quirky old me!) 

Again, no rivets are marked within about 5mm of the leading and trailing edges of the fins because of future detailing.

Before making the actual rivets, a little work needs to be done on the tool to be used. 

I'm going with a medium sized dental pick-type tool with which to poke the rivets in the label material.  To prevent the tool from merely punching holes through the paper, I blunt the tip with a small needle file, and try to form a rounded point.  This particular tool will give me rivets that are less than 1mm in diameter!



The other important concern is the surface on which I will be poking the rivet detail.  I chose a block of very high density fiber board, because of its extremely hard and smooth surface.  A piece of melamine covered MDF would work just as well. Any surface material softer than these would only allow the small dental pick tip to poke all the way through the label material, making holes rather than simulated rivets.

Now, carefully lining up the tool tip with one of the rivet marks on the back of the label sheet, I press downward with even pressure to make the rivet, keeping the tool perfectly vertical.  I use both hands on the pick for better control.

There is kind of a trick to doing this - enough pressure needs to be applied to make a nice dimple (rivet) protruding on the label side of the sheet, but not so much that the tool pokes all of the way through the paper.  Even trickier is to make all of the subsequent rivets on the line uniform in size and depth.  I practiced - a lot - on scrap label material until I could guage by feel how much pressure it took to make consistently good rivets, before attempting this on the actual model panels.

TIP: This type of precision work is better done while viewing through a bench mounted magnifier lamp. If you don't have one already, I highly recommend purchasing one for all of your modeling work.  Especially if you're an old geezer like me, who's eyesight ain't what it used to be!

Here's a pic of a completed rivet row as it appears on the label side of the sheet..  Not precisely perfect, but satisfactory.

Once all of the rivets are applied to the entire fin profile, the panels will be cut apart and applied to the fin surface.

But that's another post.

Cheers!