Edavillenut,
I think you've encountered one of the "modeling monsters", how to add rivet detail to an object.
The usual process is to emboss rivets in a wrapper(styrene,brass,or copper sheet), and then apply the wrapper to the form.
The only time I know of, where rivets where applied after the fact, was a model of the Disney version of Capt. Nemo's Nautilus.
This was done, one at a time, using epoxy resin, and a sharp pointed tool.
In the case of styrene, a separate sheet of "rivet detail", with body putty filling in the back side, was made so that any damaged rivets could be replaced by slicing each one off and glueing in place of the damaged one.
Pete