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Why does literally everyone paint crankbaits now? It seems just a few years ago it was a small group of people who actually painted but now it seems anyone and everyone does it! I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but it’s definitely flooded the custom bait market and what used to be custom is just another crankbait. It’s kind of ridiculous. I think a big part of it is the Facebook pages, they see people painting and they want to do it. They paint for a week total and are all of a sudden opening a custom crankbait business. It just makes it hard for painters who are talented to make a living as crazy as it seems, and yes there are a few that do, to be able sell there paint jobs when it just gets copied by one of the Facebook page newbies and next thing you know they are trying to sell that color. Another thing the Facebook page has ruined is the learn as you go part and the time it takes to actually develop the skill to paint well. Everyone wants the know how and the how to put right in there lap. Just ridiculous man.

And if you have to ask how to make a certain color you probably shouldn’t be painting anyways.

I think of cream as a variant of “bone” and you make that by mixing a little yellow into a white base, and possibly adding a few drops of brown.

I hate you lol

Haha, I clicked pretty fast too.

First - you didn't mention what temp you're seeing the yellowing at - if you arent taking the plastic temp everytime you pull it our the micro you'll never be consistent or get consistent results (I know some you you guys can eye ball exactly 320.67 degrees..... but most of us cant - myself included LOL!!) If you're doing opaque baits - isnt' too much of an issue... on clears/tranparents - it's imperative. Buy a small digital thermometer... don't use a IR gun - that only tells you the temp of the surface - not the hot spot at the center of the cup. Agian - check temp every time - it's a pain - but only way I've been able to do clear with my crappy micro. I'd also raise the point of wattage of microwave - but look at it from an amount of plastisol you're cooking.... the smaller the batch your cooking the harder it is to control the heat. You got to remember - the center of that 6oz cup gets alot hotter than the outside portion.... so while the outside might still look good/clear - the hot spot may start to burn and then when you stir it yellows the whole cup. If it were me - I'd shake the crap out of your jug and make sure there is not one spec of anything on the bottom and it's mixed well... let it sit for a couple hours - give it a couple small shakes then try to make something like 16oz of product instead of 6oz. I never make anything less than 8oz to start and I've noticed when I make bigger batches my color is more consistent and its most notable with the clear/smoke colors.... once I get down to reheating 4-5oz things start to yellow very slightly - my guess is it's just hard to keep the heat just right. Once you start getting up to temp - I'd run shorter blasts on the micro and keep stiring like crazy. Sometimes I'm just hitting the micro for no more than 5-10 seconds to get the temp back up form a 270 to 290/300 range on small amounts. As for bad plastic - it's possible - but I'd bet 99% of the time the issue is on our end - not mixing enough, not cooking properly, etc etc.... take your time - check temps every time you heat it and you'll be on the right track. J.

I love that quote, Vodkaman. I think it describes a lot of us on this board. It should be posted as part of the header on the home page of this website as a graphic reminder for those poor, naive, unfortunates who wander in here innoncently hoping to build a bait or two. I think this will all evntually evolve into a new 12 Step Program... "Hi, I'm fatfingers and I'm a bait builder." Response from the smoke-filled room full of people with paint-stainded fingers: "Hi, fatfingers."

If you want a bass-belly white, flour some salt or use clear flakes in clear plastic and pour 1/2 the mold; use Jim's color scheme for the dorsal half. I use light gold vs. yellow gold for bass. The above bass use flakes that are all .015 (my first test pour.) I've since increased the size of the flakes to .040 for black and gold, but left the lime green or kelly at .015. The belly is sugar flakes in clear plastic - much different and more natural than using white dye or pearl. Kinami's bass is probably different.