BobP

I used "hobby acrylics" like Apple Barrel with a Badger Crescendo but switched to an Iwata HP-B with a .2mm tip and then it was airbush paint only. I don't know if an Eclipse .35mm tip will shoot hobby paint but I suspect you're in for a lot more clogged tips. It isn't a matter of gravity vs syphon feed, it's about tip size vs paint particle size. Hobby paint particles have no requirement to be any particular size. Some hobby paints with finer grains may do OK, others won't. JMHO, you need to bite the bullet and move to airbrush paint if you want smoother, finer lines and shading. After looking at the Eclipse and the Revolution, I chose a Revolution BR with a .3mm tip because I couldn't see why the Eclipse was much more expensive. If there's a reason, Iwata doesn't make it clear cut in their product description. I think you'll like the quality on your new Iwata, whichever model you select.

Hey, I'd just stick a Suspend Strip on there

I guess it varies but at my local HL, an Iwata Eclipse with the 40% discount sells for $96, $20 cheaper than dixieart.com. The HL brush is cheaper than any online source I found but you have to pay state sales tax and drive over there @ $4/gal, so things begin to even out. I ended up buying an Iwata Revolution BR for $68.95 from Dixie Art online. Free shipping, no sales tax and I needed a few other items anyway so combining the purchase saved me their $10 shipping charge on orders less than $50.

I agree on the Bumper Spiral - it works very well and is simple to build. I have a bunch of spiral wrapped rods including Revolver, O'Quinn and Bumper wraps. They all work fine but the newest - Bumper - is becomming my favorite.

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SOLD

I always know where the centerline of the bait is because I scribe one on all my baits as soon as I cut out the blanks, while they're still "square". Then, there's no question about where any of the hangers, ballast, or the line tie should be drilled. I measure the width and mark a center, then use a compass mounting a pencil lead to scribe the line. If I suspect it isn't exact, scribe from both sides to make sure. The centerline also serves as an index when contouring the baits. I'll also scribe sanding guides on the sides of the blanks. Keeps things straight and symetrical. My baits would be pretty lopsided without it.

None of the blanks resembling LC's, Bagleys, Normans, etc are exact copies, so don't expect them to be clones of the originals. That's not to say some aren't good blanks that will catch fish when properly built out, but you have to judge them on their own merits, not the merits of the baits they resemble. Most TU custom baitmakers build wood baits from scratch, although there may be a few who get blanks shaped to their custom specification by a contactor. So I don't think there's much hidden, or that much to hide. There's just not a wide array of blank models available because it's a limited market.

Yeah, like boomah21 says, you have to clean it between colors and cleaning a gravity brush is easier and faster than a syphon brush because it holds less paint internally. The gravity brush will shoot paint at lower pressure because you are not using suction power to get paint into the mix chamber. That helps when you shoot finer lines at low pressure. A syphon model is good when you're shooting lots of paint, like if you need to basecoat 15-20 baits at a time and want to connect a large jar to the airbrush. For me, that doesn't happen often so I prefer gravity brushes. If I'm doing colors on 2-3 baits, 4-5 drops of paint in my gravity airbrush is often enough. You rinse more than that out of the paint tube of a syphon brush when you clean it. My Iwata has a 1/16 oz top cup and that's proven to be "just right" for my hobby painting.

Well they do say heat helps to remove epoxy. Raging flames do it much quicker! Of course, I'd rather not melt my Lexan or circuitboard lip while flambe'ing a lure. But other than that, I'd do it in a heartbeat And you get that great camp fire smell as a bonus!

Several companies make table top epoxy, which is epoxy prethinned with a solvent. Envirotex Lite (aka ETEX) is a similar product and it's sold in a 16 oz kit, which is the typical packaging size. If you're planning on brushing it on, there's not much of a problem with solvent. If you're spraying it, you need to protect yourself.

If you want to do it with paint, I'd use acrylic paint. You'll need it to be as thick as possible and you'll probably want to dab it on several times to build up the effect. When you're finiished, an effective clearcoat ("sealer") is Devcon Two Ton epoxy that's sold in a double syringe at Walmart. Do a search on epoxy to get numerous discussions on the brands to use and how to brush it on. The Devcon is fairly thick stuff and you want the paint to be high enough that the Devcon will not just level over it and make it a flat surface.

I think a soft wire line tie can help a bait hunt but it isn't sufficient in and of itself. The bait also has to be designed to be on the edge of instability. I stopped building for hunting action because pushing that envelope also means exceeding it on some baits, requiring a lot of "detuning" to make the bait usable (if at all possible). Now I feel that if you want a bait to run erratically, the best thing to do is run it into as many pieces of cover as you possibly can. Same end result and a lot less aggravation. JMHO

I like Rapala balsa baits including the DT's. Could they be made more durable? Yes, I wish they made the lips out of better stuff but I'll take their fish catching action, and the chance they'll break, over more expensive crankbaits. I think guys get used to throwing hard plastic and just don't recognize a balsa bait - any balsa bait - has to be babied a little for it to last.

Ditto on slapping water to get rid of grass. There aren't many wood baits, especially balsa baits, that can withstand the abuse. I found out the hard way. Fishing in Canada in the middle of nowhere I was catching smallies like crazy on one particular balsa bait. No time to pick grass off! Slapped it on the water and the belly weight shot out the bottom of the lure and the head snapped off above the lip. No more bait, no more fish Just don't do it.

Ha! There you have it! Tater Hog volunteers:yeah: Look at some of his baits in the gallery. If anyone can, it's him.

I know zip about classic style crankbaits but that one looks killer for modern crankbait design.

You can use fingernail polish remover or a similar solvent but it's a messy messy job and takes awhile. If the solvent is too active (eg, acetone) it can melt the underlying plastic (and details). And every solvent I've tried that will remove finish will also cloud the lip. If the detail is important to you, I recommend dulling the existing shine on the bait with some 400 or 600 grit paper and painting over it. I hear, but haven't seen, that some repainting businesses use a blast cabinet to remove finish. It will dull the detail slightly but is probably the best compromise if you have one handy. So there's no magic paint remover that I'm aware of. If you find one, give a shout!

For thru-wire, I use SOFT ss wire which is slightly harder than soft brass but much softer than tempered ss. .040" soft brass works fine too. I don't like copper because it discolors and can cause split rings to corrode. Brass doesn't seem to do that. On balsa bass baits, soft wire is easier to form, much easier to tune, and won't damage the finish if you bend it. I use soft ss wire on all line ties but make hand-wound screw eyes for tail hangers from hard ss. No problems yet with any breakage or deforming - but I fish in the SE where big toothy critters are very rare.

Assuming they have enough ballast (have you compared the weight of yours to the originals?), I'd try shortening the lips so the line tie is just short of half the distance from the nose of the bait to the tip of the lip.

I have a few Megabass baits and think if you want paint like theirs, you probably need to buy Megabass. That's not to say some TU painters can't paint lures as nice or nicer as Megabass, but they'll be different. Isn't that a good thing?

Nice work! Those are interesting shapes. I like to experiment with body shapes too. I figure if I wanted "standard" I could go to a tackle shop and buy them.

I occasionally get a few 1 5/8" Netcraft "Diver 1" fat balsa blanks and make crankbaits with a single octopus hook on the tail and a Lexan lip set at about 45 degrees. I use .10 oz ballast where the belly hanger would normally go. The finished baits are .25oz with Devcon clearcoat. The final "throw weight" is important - I want to fish them on baitcast gear with 8 lb line. The octopus hook provides very good hooking; better than #8 trebles. Plus, the upward pointing hook allows the bait to be fished through gnarly cover.

To answer the earlier question about thinning Devcon, yes you can thin with various solvents. I've tried acetone, lacquer thinner and denatured alcohol. All work but denatured alcohol works the best for me. It flashes out of the epoxy mix slowly enough that it extends the brushing time by a few minutes but when it's cured, the epoxy seems as glossy and hard as regular unthinned epoxy, to me at least. And it cures in about the same time as unthinned epoxy takes. I dip my brush in DA and shake A FEW DROPS into the mixed epoxy, then blend it in. Not too much! Now that we're coming up on summer, I'll mostly apply Devcon unthinned. I don't run a flame over epoxy to expel bubbles but I know some guys who turn out beautiful baits do so. I think the key is to use a flame sparingly and quickly. And it needs to be a clean flame, like you get with an alcohol burner. I just breathe on mine to pop the occasional bubble. I believe you can make this whole thing too complicated. My basic rule is: The more things you do to a bait, the more often you'll screw it up. KISS