Some have proposed to just epoxy the button without screw to the surface of the airframe. However, I wouldn't recommend this for anything but the lightest of rockets as the head of the screw provides all of the strength when holding the rocket to the rail. This solution definitely doesn't work with the three-piece buttons.

Monty Chaffin showed me the solution he came up with, as shown in the photos to the left. He laminated three craft sticks together to form a standoff which fully contains the mounting screw. The standoff can then be glued directly to the airframe. I would recommend wrapping some sandpaper grit-side-up around the airframe and sanding a conformal surface on the bottom of the standoff if possible.  You can also use just two craft sticks and allow the screw to partially bite into the airframe without going all the way through.

I used a slightly modified version of this technique on my 7 x 13mm clustered UFO as shown in the photos to the right. I made a standoff of equal length to my motor mounts and mounted a button on either end. I used an extra washer and two craft sticks. After I tacked on the standoff with CA I then went back and added fillets to fill the gap created by the small airframe diameter.  This dual-button standoff can also be used at the rear of larger rockets using the three-button configuration.

For those who use the Acme fin canister you can also use a standoff for the forward button of equal thickness as the canister. The aft button can then be mounted directly into the canister. I used a slice of 3/8" dowel for the standoff instead of craft sticks but the concept is the same. This surface mount technique was used on my 54mm "Rogue Demon" and has flown on everything from an H123 to a J350 to a K185 and shows no signs of coming loose.

Obviously many more variations of this technique can be used. You can shorten the mounting screw to reduce the height of the standoff. You can use different standoff materials and geometries. I'd love to hear what you come up with!