Hughesy

Craig, Thanks for sharing my life with the whole world!!!!!!!!!!LOL

I agree! I have had very great results with the new DN. Shoots great, lays flat, and dries very hard.I think the submersion tests are really an extreme. Lures rarely see that kind of water exposure.

As I said on the KBB post, I sprayed the new DN with excellent results. I did not have to thin it. I sprayed on a pretty heavy coat and just used 1 coat for testing. To me it seemed very hard after day 3. The stuff laid very flat when sprayed. I fished a crank very hard after day 3 and the crank had very little hook rash and no chipping. I too did the scratch test with the same results as Bob. It is very user friendly. I love it. I think 2 or 3 coats would been extremely tough. No storage problems. Can't wait to get more.

I didn't dilute it at all. I shot it at 35Lbs with a 5mm tip. It flowed out flat. I put on a pretty heavy coat. One coat was all I used for testing. Two coats would be more than enough for any application. I can't wait to get more.

Dean, I too am testing DN new topcoat. I have the same results as you. This stuff is way beyond good. I sprayed mine. It dried hard, clear, and fairly fast. No reaction to my paints (lacquer). I did a scratch test from day 1 to day 7. I couldn't tell any difference after day 3. I fished it hard, threw and retrieved it up my gravel driveway, and scraped it with hooks and knives. The stuff is very very tough!!!

I use 4011 Createx reducer. Decreases curing times by assisting water’s evaporation from color through a mild flashing of reducer’s co-solvent.Improves flow, decreases dry-tip and improves atomization of colors. You just need to try different ratios because each bottle of paint is a different thickness. The thinner you make the paint, the slower it will dry but the finer it will shoot. Don't thin as much for faster coverage such as you base colors.

I have built many baits that hunt. I have fished, for many years, baits that hunt . There is no doubt in my mine that baits that hunt do catch more fish. When a predator is after prey, the prey never runs in a straight line. Watch a fox and a rabbit or a big cat and a deer. The rabbit and the deer will run a zig zag pattern every time or die. Same thing with fish and all of nature. Now, Bob P and Vodkaman are exactly right on with the instability thing. To make a lure not stable, and want to run a little crazy, try adding a little weight to the top of the lure. Shallow running square bills work the best. Deep cranks have a hard time recovering from running one direction and then the other.

This is and old super R that I kind of semi carved with a file . The legs and claws are off of some castaic bait that I don't think they make anymore. They are soft plastic. Bass pro had bought some of my other lures like the H&T series and the topwater boinger from me, and I had painted several thousand rogues for them. But as far as desinging lures for them, they just call and asked me if I would do it.

It takes a lot of time to get your name and product out there. What started out as a hobby has ended up to more than full time work. It is just one of those things that if you are persistent (like Kelly said), and your have a good product ( like Bob P said), and you make the right decisions, your business will grow but it takes time. I know of no one who just bursts on the scene, and the money starts rolling in. And you never know where your business will take you. I started out just painting. Then, I got into making lures which lead to a phone call from Bass Pro Shops. Now I am painting, making lures, and now designing lures for Bass Pro. If you want it bad enough, you can do it, but it ain't easy by no means.

The way I hold my netting is I cut a piece of netting in circle about 7" in diameter. Then, I use #2 splitshot and crimp them every 1/2" or so around the edge of the netting. Then I just drape the netting over the lure, arrange the netting, and shoot. The lead weights hold everything in place perfect.

Thanks Mark! Painting them really was not a problem. I held it nose and tail with alligator clips. Kinda like the hacksaw trick. I just took 1/8" wide masking tape and wrap it around the cloth section. Then paint away. Spray on a couple of coats of DN. Let dry and remove tape. The joints are so close together, that it is hard to paint the inside. I just kind of feathered out the paint the deeper in the joint I got.

The proto types I turned into Bass Pro were wood. They now make them out of plastic.

These are made with a non rip nylon. Seems plenty tough for bass. Bass Pro now makes them and they are using something very similar Kevlar.

I'm gonna try my hardest to be there this year. Nathan, got your PM and Thanks.

What is the secret to getting a swimbait to have the perfect "s" motion at very slow speeds. Like when it falling. This is your basic 5" swimbait with the line tie in the middle of the nose. Slow to medium speeds are ok. Medium to fast speeds are great.

Really would help to see a pic but just for starters I would try putting the line tie in the nose of the bait.

You might want to try spraying on a coat of water based clear before you use the etex. This does two things. It gives your bait one coat of all the same base and also seals the edges of the eyes and tape.

I use it and thin it with 4011 reducer made by Createx. Thats what it is made for. It not only thins it, it make all water based paints shoot a lot smoother.

If the other suggestions (which are excellent!) don't solve the problem, try thinning the paint just a touch and spray a very light coat. Heat set it and do it again and again until you get your desired color. Water based paints will sometimes make the pin holes if the paint is applied to heavy and thick.

I have used something like this on many baits. The brand I use is Jones Tones. Tubes & Rolls : Jones Tones, Creative Fun in Every Product Its available on line and in some Hobby Lobby stores. They sell a glue they use for sizing. It comes in a tube but I just put some in a small airbrush cup and thin it with water until it shoots smooth. The glue drys clear and is very tacky when dry. Just press the foil to the tacky glue and peel off the foil and the holoflash stays. No problems with any clear coat.