Every airplane has various access panels and ports spread around on the fuselage, wing and empennage. Some are flush, others are mounted on the surface, and others are actually left open to the elements. Some are round, rectangular, square, oval, or irregular shaped. It all depends upon what the builder needed to gain access to for assembly, inspection, or repair.

In the early days of fabric covered airplanes, a number of access panels were installed in the wings. Access or inspection plates were generally put on the bottom of the wing to minimize airflow disturbance over the top of the wing. The wing was covered and at each inspection plate location a five inch diameter ring about one half inch wide was simply 'doped' onto the surface. After finishing, the center was cut out leaving a four inch diameter access/inspection hole with a reinforced edge. A slightly dished aluminum cover plate was then either screwed or snapped over the access port. Irregular or rectangular inspection plates and fairings were usually just screwed in place. So how can we simulate the look on a film (Monokote) covered surface?

Turns out it is fairly easy. Cut a piece of trim film to match the inspection plate shape in the scale you are using. A five inch plate in 1/5 scale would be one inch diameter. At 1/6 scale would be closer to 7/8 inch diameter. Remember, on a model it helps to exaggerate a little.

Stick the trim film 'plate' in place. I like to use Monokote with the liquid solvent. It is less likely to set up bubbles. It takes just the lightest coat of solvent to trigger the adhesive.

Now you can do one of a couple of things to finish the job off. You can use a circle template with a small size opening and just mark in the 'screws' with a marker, or, you can use a toothpick to spot on a few raised 'screws' using RC-56 glue mixed with a little aluminum powder (available at craft stores). For the truly insane who are working in a little larger scale, you could make a silicon rubber mold of some small no. 2 screw heads and mix up some fake epoxy screw heads to glue in place.

So I heard someone say, "What about flush screws or Dzus fasteners?" So I say you could just use the old marking pen, or you go a little further.

For about six bucks you can purchase a small 25 watt soldering iron at Radio Shack, or some such outfit. Take a 1 1/2" piece of brass tubing that will just fit over the tip (about 1/8" I.D.) and hold it in place with a wheel collar. Insert successively smaller pieces of brass tubing until you have the diameter of the screw you are simulating (at 1/5 scale, a 1/2 inch diameter screw would be about 3/32 inches). The final piece of tubing will be a little longer than the rest. Mount that piece of brass tubing in a drill or drill press and sharpen the end a bit from the inside diameter. Install the tubing into the other pieces on the soldering iron and lightly crimp them with a pair of diagonal cutters so they will stay together.

Now, when you plug in the iron the tubing gets hot and you simply imprint the round impression of each screw. For Phillips head screws you can heat a small phillips screwdriver and imprint, or just a small x with a fine marker. Be careful. If the iron gets too hot it will melt too far too fast and ruin the covering. I have an inexpensive light dimmer wired in series with a plug outlet and mounted in a metal electrical box that allows me to adjust the voltage and control the heat.

Dzus fasteners require indenting a small rounded groove in the center of each 'fastener' impression. Use a small flat screw driver ground with a small radius to simply press in the indentation.