Big Jerkbait & others

They all look great!

Do you use a filler on your PVC before you start painting, to fill the slight defects?

Thanks!

I don't use a filler, but I prep-coat with U-40 Color Lock. However, I do a lot of sanding before I use Color Lock to get a smooth surface to paint on. Here's the process I use:

I start by carving the blank bait to a more or less rounded shape with a knife. A utility knife works fine for this, but any knife you use should be sharp.

Next, use a dremel tool to rough-sand the bait all over. There's no need to try to get it very smooth at this stage; you're just trying to get it a bit smoother than the knife left it.

Hand-sand with 80 grit sandpaper. All sanding subsequent to this will be done by hand.

Next, put a couple drops of water on the bait and wet-sand with 80 grit sandpaper.

Now repeat the hand-sanding process above with 120, 220, and 500-600 grit sandpaper. It helps if the sandpaper you wet-sand with is a little more worn than the piece you use for dry-sanding.

If you want to get the bait even smoother, use a piece of paper to polish the bait. I don't always do this step, but it does make the surface a bit smoother.

Finally, I spray on several coats of U-40 Color Lock. With this coat I just build up enough paint over the bait to make it as smooth as possible for the final paint.

There you have it. My method takes a bit of elbow grease, but the end result is a smooth PVC bait that is easy to paint.

Ben

Hey Ben

Those Are "GREAT"

Mike