Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Steampunk Protostar, Part 39 - More Rivets

 The Steampunk Protostar detailing odyssey continues to rumble on with the making of more riveted components.

The first of these are made to adorn the main body tube with 'metal' strips placed at each of the joints formed by the riveted 'copper' skin panels.

Again, the strips will be made from adhesive Avery label paper. The strips are marked out to a 4mm width.

Like the tail section rivet strips made earlier in the build, these 'rivets' are also punched from the back side  of the paper using a ball-point pen tip. Rivet spacing is 3mm.  It should be noted that the strips are not cut from the sheet until after the rivets are punched'


Once the strips are completed, they are taped to a cardboard paper towel core for painting.  Painting them separately will be much easier than applying them to the model first, then masking.  Also the thin edges of the paper strips will receive paint so that they look more like metal bands.  Metallic silver spray paint is used to finish the strips.


Once the paint is dry, the strips are carefully applied to the model using a paper wrap guide to align them correctly.  The ends of the strips are aligned with the launch lugs so as to hide the seams on the 'back of the model. The edges of each strip are pressed down using a Q -tip.

Finely, a drop of thin CA is applied to the seams to keep the ends from pulling up.

Here is the finished result:

Next post:  still more rivet strips.