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I sometimes incorporate CrankWraps products into my muskie baits for variety. They are made primarily for bass baits but I cut them to size and then blend with paint. They are adhesive backed. I have never figured out airbrushes but have developed a style of texture painting instead.

I really like MCU but have always had the same storage failure problem regardless of the heroic measures I tried to stop it. Now I think it’s just the nature of the beast. I’ve also had Solarez harden in its container after lengthy storage. I don’t know of any coating that stores indefinitely, except maybe epoxy.

I used prop dissolved in acetone a few years back. Over the years there were two members who sold prop pellets. One passed away and the other disappeared from the forum. Some have used dissolved plastic cups but results depended on the specific cup brand and the specific solvent used, with many failures and cracked clearcoats. And as far as prop goes, I’m not much of a fan. It takes 7-8 dips to coat a bait properly and at least 24 hrs to dry. Nothing wrong with the results but it’s fidgety to use and there are alternatives like MCU that are superior and faster. Jmho

Ahh yes thats it Travis it had to be "VIRGIN" lacquer thinner I think I used klean strip or something. Ya it was tricky...Travis has it though. It had to be the strongest lacquer thinner usually denoted by "Virgin" on the bottle. I remember it was one brand in particular that worked best and you had to add the plastic cups only a few at a time until I got the consistency of proportionate.

I have a chicken foot hand pour mold. It's old as the hills and have no idea where it came from. The mold I have appears to be a larger version of it.

Stanley Jigs also made some for a brief period probably around 20 years ago. They used a Colorado blade with a hole drilled in the wider end of the blade for a line tie. The skirt rotted away years ago. At the New England Fishing Expo 2 months ago, I bought some nice looking lipped jigs from Rocky Ledge Tackle out of New Hampshire.

I have the “full kit” of Jacobs Shooting Star and find it versatile. It has the large set of pots and the small set. Both are outstanding for laminates. The temp control system is sensitive and predictable, allowing me to dial in the viscosity for the job. There are multiple injectors, and a separate heated “port” so I always have hot injectors. I really don’t use it anymore though.

No kidding? That surprises me. I was taught to go with soft for finesse baits. Hmm

I wound up modifying my mold. I mold in a 20 gauge wire, paint and bake. I pull the wire and epoxy in the 60 # surflon. It worked just fine yesterday on Table Rock lake. I caught a 4# lmb on a homemade easy shiner swim bait with my home made head.

When I originally posted this was because I found it to be a good wood sealer..I still do..Nathan

Hook rash is normal.... trying to balance weight to function is something your going to have to determine yourself. Description to explanation to actually doing it is almost impossible to replicate from area to area because of temperature, humidity, storage and type of finish... So the more time you put in the better you will get. If you have any exact/direct questions, there is a lot of experience here to answer.

I struggled with the regular skinz when they first came out. I had better luck with the ProSkinz and foil skinz which came out later. The skinz are not durable without a clear coat protecting them. Hook rash, impacts, and toothy fish can easily damage an unprotected skin. There is one video where epoxy is put on the body before the Jigskin. Then the skin is put on on with a heat gun or using a turkey baster to apply boiling water carefully. The epoxy cures and creates a bond between the skin and lure body. I would still put a topcoat clear on it. At 3:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8LBi1H7gTc

It gets difficult because guys use so many different things. "Solo" cup gets mentioned but individuals were using various different plastics. The same for the "virgin" lacquer thinner. Those also end up being different chemical compositions depending on location and brand. Reason so many hit and misses with the solo cup method. Propionate was easier for most because they were sourcing the same product from Swede or Palmeto Balsa for instance. Even then I was never sure what exactly propionate they were using. I assumed cellulose acetate propionate based on the initial Rapala reference and coming a few sites across the pond with google translate.

I think acetone was used.

I'm using bait plastics plastisol & myself personally i like medium for everything except for mixing 50% hard/medium for tubes & lately i'm liking saltwater hard for crappie lures.