Rivets to fit Mk4.

[zooma]

Can anyone help me find a supply of miniature rivets of the right sizes to use on a 1/16 scale model of a Mk4 Male tanks please?

A 93 year old friend of mine (John Harmer) has bought the Hooben kit of this tank as he would like to build a replica of the tank that has father drove in WW1.

viewtopic.php?t=36687

This main parts of the kit are OK - but the plastic rivets that came with the kit (all three sizes) are very badly made and vary considerably in size - making them useless.

My friend paid £192 (!) for the optional metal rivet set from Hooben to replace the very poor quality plastic rivets that were included in his Hooben Mk4 Male tank kit and they arrived this morning - but they were also of very bad (unusable) quality.

I would like to help John locate a source of rivets that will make it possible for him to complete this model of the tank that his 18 year old father drove in WW1.

Although 93 years old, John is a very experienced model engineer (making live steam locomotives), but the sub miniature rivets that are needed to complete his model are smaller than anything that he has, or can find a supply of.

[Kaczor]

In my Mark IV from Hooben I used nails. More precisely, those with a 1.1mm diameter round head (2mm diameter head). They are not very faithful "rivets" but close enough for me. Look for "decorative" nails. Unfortunately, they are a bit of work, each one had to be cut, and additionally all the holes in the model had to be drilled. While there was no problem with the aluminum sponsons, I broke about 20 drills on the stainless steel hull.

[zooma]

Thanks Kaczor.

I guess you also had probelms with the original Hoogen kit rivets too?

Your solution looks very good and I will try to find a source of these nails for John as it will give him a good option to work with.

Hopefully I can find something like this on eBay for him.

Bob.

[ColemanCollector]

If you check out Aliexpress there are sellers offering these sheets of rivetheads, nuts, bolts in plastic that you shave off the backing and apply. Might be the sizes you're looking?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqlMhhH

I've used them on various tanks and accessories. Fussy, but they do help add detail.

Mike.