T

tonyjohnson

Well Known Member
UPDATE at post 5.

I plan to have some unique rivets installed in my RV and would like to know how I can make them visually distinctive.

I got the idea from a dad and daughter team in Boulder who had people special to them install rivets in their RV7. Some of the special rivets that I intend to install would be those handled by a couple of hundred Marines from my Vietnam unit who will meet for a reunion next week. I want them to pass the rivets around. I plan to have the mother of a Medal of Honor recipient (posthumous) from our unit install one of the rivets.

Here is the MOH citation for those who may be interested
http://www.marzone.com/7thMarines/MOH000264.htm

I would like to make the rivets visually distinctive so that they can be identified later. Can you color a rivet without causing a problem when you paint over it?

Any ideas?

Thanks


Sorry about the multiple messages, I am IT challanged. I'm sure Doug can delete the others, but I don't know how to.
 
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Tony,
If I understand you (correct me if I'm wrong), you want to color the rivets so they'll be identifiable until they're installed. You could get them anodized (that's the process that makes soft "A" rivets red). You can even anodize them yourself using any color fabric dye you want (instructions for DIY anodizing are easy to find on the web).

I like your idea; I'd try to put those special rivets in a place I'd see or put my hand on every time I got in the plane.

From the MOH citation, Corporal Smedley was a heck of a Marine.
 
colored rivets

Ben,

Thanks for your response. I would like to color the rivets to identify them both before and after they are installed. Of course, after they are installed they will be covered by paint. I was concerned that the coloring may somehow adversely affect the rivet, such as causing primer and paint not to stick.
 
Those special rivets

Tony: one heck of a great idea. Just a suggestion, perhaps you could group all the rivets into one area (say, on one side or both sides of the fuselage, forward of the horizontal stabilizer), along with one or more decals from www.grunt.com or some other source. The rivets could be installed to outline one or more "squares" and surround an appropriate decal (eagle/globe/anchor, Marine Corps flag, etc).

Another suggestion on "dots" to cover the rivets...sources of decals or vinyl for paint trim work might have small red dots that could go over each rivet and be clear-coated to seal them in place.

Semper Fi
John
 
memorial day rivets

This post was moved to the Special Parts thread, since it seems more appropriate there.
 
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It would be very easy to install them after painting and have them show up well though I think the rivet color (if they are gold) would fade over time.

Simply leave rivets out at locations that would be easy to install using a rivet squeezer (such as end ribs on the ailerons, etc.).
Paint the part as you normally would.
After giving the paint a good cure time, use a hand deburring tool with a sharp cutter to remove the paint and primer from within the skin dimple.
Install the rivet with a squeezer.

I have installed rivets this way on aircraft when I have been doing repairs. It will not effect the surrounding paint at all as long as the paint is well cured.
It will work best (and cure more quickly) if you can avoid a heavy paint buildup
 
thanks Scott

Scott,

Thanks for the info. After considering the issue after my first post, I decided just to label the rivets before installing them and keep track of where they were installed.

I posted the pic today as an update.

I appreciate your response.
 
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