How true, how true! I was looking at that myself, but my thought was to PE a 90 degree bracket, drill or etch the hole on one side, and solder the other to the rod... I didn't really want to get into to soldering, but it doesn't look like there's gonna be a way around it... Looks like it's time to buy and iron and fine tip!
But in the matter of the hatch struts, the bodies aren't even an inch in diameter, that's only 1mm in scale! Maybe hypodermic needles? I know that's what some people ues for those working dipsticks, maybe if I find two sizes that are tight enough to keep the hatch open, yet loose enough to close with little resistance... Where can one get hypodermic needles without a standard reason? (ie diabetes, pet medication, etc) I mean, 16 year old kid asking for hypodermic needles, what's the first thing that'll pop into that clerk's head?
One other thing: do most hobby shops normally stock K&S metal sheets? I know my LHS (local, ha! 70-100 miles away
) carries the tubing and rods and such, but I can't for the life of me remember if they have sheets... I'm going to PE the brackets out of .020 stainless...