Rivet Maker Tool

Seriously... if you do any sort of scale modeling, from 1:1 all the way down to 1:720 scale, you need to own one of these, if not 4 of them! I attached several photos for you modeling gurus out there to give you an idea of the patterns you can make with the Trumpeter Rivet Maker Tool and how they actually look (Also note I added weathering dust to improve the contrast on white styrene). If you're like me and you do a lot of kit and scratch build modeling then you know how time consuming and tedious it can be to make good looking scale fastener patterns. I used to make small rivets and bolt heads the old fashioned i.e. time-consuming and not very accurately. I previously used a ruled straightedge, marked the tics, and then drilled each individual tic with a pen vise. Now that I have this marvelous little tool I can cover much more ground in a fraction of the time--not to mention the incredibly accurate reproduction of the scaled fasteners I can make now. Using the rivet maker tool is very straightforward and can be explained in 3 easy steps: Step #1 Select the appropriate wheel for your application (4 included with the kit). Each serrated wheel has a different tooth size and spacing (too lazy to bust out the calipers but look at my photos for scale) and they are labeled A, B, C, and D. Step #2 Once you have the right wheel simply slide back the guard, pull back the retaining clip, and swap out the wheel. Do be careful as the center pin around which the wheel rotates, and which engages with the clip to keep the wheel in place, is sort of small and might fall out if you're not careful. Step #3 Now with the wheel guard pulled back (teeth exposed) invert the tool so the handle is sticking up vertically, or slightly off vertical at about 75 degrees, and place the business end of the tool on your workpiece. Applying gentle pressure, slowly pull the tool toward you in a controlled, smooth action, until you achieve the intended result. Repeat as necessary with the appropriate wheel size. That's it! Like I said, easy, right? One other thing to mention is that you want to avoid bearing down too hard when scribing as all of the parts are plastic (except the wheels) and with enough force it could break. Also you can make dead-straight rivet lines by laying down a straightedge to guide the wheel as you pull it along. And remember to be safe and always use the appropriate personal protective equipment i.e. goggles, safety glasses, gloves, etc. If I had any suggestions for improvement it would be to incorporate some aluminum into the plastic handle, wheel guard, retaining clip or all of the above. Also wheel changes would be much faster if the retention mechanism was simplified, perhaps if it could be revised to hold all 4 wheels simultaneously with the ability to select individual or multiple wheels for use. Otherwise, it's hard to improve on perfect! Hope you find this review helpful. Enjoy!

Very easy to use tool, really usefull

This is a great idea for a tool and it should have been more thought out. You've got a metal wheel spinning on a thin plastic axle and with limited use, it is possible to see the axle won't last very long. The handle tends to cover most of the wheel and it is difficult to see where you are heading when using this tool. A better bit of visibility would make it pretty darn good if the axle was harder and not soft rubberized plastic.

Excellent product, they work very well. I would definitely buy them again.

Works as expected!

Para los "fans" de modelos a escala, esta herramineta es muy interesante. Para modelos donde se quiere más detalle, por ejemplo en aviones (Rivets), hace muy bien su trabajo, dependiento por supuesto del nivel destreza de quien la maneja. Por calidad y precio cumple las espectativas.

If you are a boat modeler and use foil tape to simulate metal/copper plating, this is a must-have tool imo. This tool can do in seconds what would take hours to do by hand. It's not the heaviest made tool out there, but it doesn't need to be.

I'm not an expert by any means at modeling, so that's why I bought this Rivet Maker hoping to improve my skills and makes my models more realistic. The problem I found with this riveter is that the riveter wheels are too big to make rivets around edges and corners. Granted, it's hard to make rivets around right angles and such, that's understandable. If the wheels were a bit smaller, that would help achieve a few more rivets around right angles or hard to get places. It's hard to see where the wheel is engraving the rivets on the model due to the design of how the wheel is held in place on the handle. The rivets themselves don't come out too sharp, but that may be to my inexperience with this tool. On the positive side, when making long rivet lines like say on wings or airframe, it's pretty good. I've only used it on 1/72 and 1/48 aircraft so far so aside from my experience with this tool, It's been useful although I still need practice with it. It definitely makes the aircraft more realistic and better looking though. As you'll see from the item picture, it comes with 3 other wheels with different sized teeth spacing. I would probably give this item 4 stars if I were a little more experienced using this Rivet maker from Trumpeter.