Replacing small rivets...

I've heard of 2 techniques that people use, neither of which I've used. There's the laborious task of drilling your own, and then there's the Pounce wheel method, where you run a toothed wheel along the panel line making little depressions with the sharp teeth on the wheel.

Thinking about it, I've seen another method that has a template for different sizes & spacings of rivets, and some kind of tool to make the depressions. Not sure where I saw it now, but have a look round MDC's website, which can be found here:

http://www.shopcreator.net/mall/modeldesignconstruction/

You can also purchase a multi-size rivet set from Calibre 35. This set includes few dozen rivets in multi-sizes. I am looking forward to purchasing this set for myself.

Sunken rivets or raised rivets? For sunken rivets just use a tiny bit in a pin vise and dimple the surface to match those around it. For raise rivets go to any good art supply store and ask for "Dimensional Fabric Paint" (not my original idea; thanks, Domi!). It is thick paint for doing designs on fabric. The good thing about it is that it doesn't sag or level out. Put a tiny dot in place for each rivet and let it dry and it will be difficult to tell the difference.

I know I'm a definate minority, but I don't necessarily agree with rivets on 172 models, especially on painted models. Take a look at just about any picture taken of a real aircraft that was taken more than 10 feet away from the plane and you just don't see any rivets. You will probably see dzus fasteners and panel lines (usually because the paint is chipped around them, caused by their removel during maintenance) but very few rivets. One of the best models I ever built was an old Heller F4U that I sanded all the surface detail off of (ok, I was forced into it because of the amount of putty I had to use on it), rescribed a few of the panels (gun bays etc) and then weathered and chipped the paint.

Having said that, with the details of todays models I do try to prevent their removal or replace those that get removed. I usually put tape on either side of the area to be filled and/or sanded to limit what gets removed and then scribe new lines and or use a needle to replace any missing rivets (gotten to lazy to remove all the surface detail)