BobP

BTW, here's a pic of the new Berkley hollow swimbait in blueback herring color, fyi.

I seem to remember that Davy Hite won a tournament last year at a Ga lake noted for blueback herring. He used a brown jig which he said duplicated their brownish coloration. Other successful competitors used topwater pencil poppers with blue metallic backs. So watcha gonna do? I think I'd try blue shoulder shading and overshoot the top of the back with med dark brown or raw umber. I bet you'll find the size of the bait is just as important as getting the color right.

I think giving the D2T a light sanding to remove the gloss promotes better paint adhesion. I use 400 grit paper. I do mine like Blackjack above does (I think!) - waterproof with D2T/acetone, apply the foil (I use aluminum duct tape), paint the lure, clearcoat with D2T. Some guys add a coat of D2T over the foil and sand it lightly for paint adhesion. I agree that's ideal but I just shoot paint straight onto the foil. Yes, it's easy to knock paint off bare foil if you aren't careful but if you are, it will be OK after you get the clearcoat on the lure.

Hey, don't know about anyone else but I'm nerve-less Just providing info. Apparently, there were 3-4 different sizes of the bait made back in the 1940's.

Do a Google search and you'll find several collectors' sites with all the paint patterns. They say it came in various sizes. 2 1/2" is mentioned in one.

For unthinned Createx, one spray coat usually provides sufficient coverage. If you have runs, you're applying it too thick. Keep the brush moving. Shoot a thin even coat then gently dry it with a hair dryer (careful, you can push paint around or the paint can crack if you hit it too hot, too fast). Drying takes maybe a minute. Then take a critical look and hit any spots that need more paint to get an coating with an even color value all over. Then dry it again and shoot the next color. When all the paint is on and dry, hit it with the dryer on high for a minute or two to make sure the paint is heat set. If you look at the surface of wet paint so a light reflects off it while drying, you'll see the shine disappearing as the water evaporates.

WASCO (www.taxidermy.com) carries a good selection of paints.

Use ONLY the Devcon Two Ton for clearcoating. The 5 min variety is too fast and will not level out, plus it will yellow.

If you want a shallow wide swimmer, a short wide lip set at 45+ degrees down angle with the line tie in the nose of the bait just over the lip is often the ticket. But getting it to swim "just right" at a particular speed requires experimentation on the water. I'd start out with the lip a bit longer and wider than you think will be needed, then use a battery powered Dremel with a fine sanding drum attached to sand it down gradually until you hit the sweet spot. Absolute shape and size? Take a look at some commercial musky baits whose action you like and start from there.

I guess the choice has to do with "the look" you prefer and/or your woodworking skills (mine are sorely limited!). So I use a simple hinge of 2 stainless hand-twisted screw eyes made one inside the other. Easy to make up in 5 minutes and you can choose the wire diameter and size the screw eyes as you like, then recess the screws to the exact depth needed to control the gap between segments. I use 2 hinges on each segment. It makes a very strong and free moving connection. If you slightly slope the top of the segment cuts toward the tail of the bait, it hides the gaps to any following predator. You can make one of the hinges part of the bait's thru-wire structure if you're working with soft wood.

Xllund, F/C includes a solvent to make it soak into rod guide threads better. I'm thinking you're getting a chemical mis-match between the F/C and your sealer or primer. There's no easy way to predict if a reaction will happen between coatings, especially ones that contain solvents. That's why there are "families" of compatible coatings developed by companies. You just have to experiment. IMO, if you avoid solvent based coatings when possible, you have fewer problems. For example, try plain epoxy, epoxy thinned with acetone, or a water based sealer. For primer, try plain white acrylic latex. As long as your topcoat is strong, what's underneath is unimportant as long as it sticks in place. The only time I use solvent primer or sealer is on oily wood like cedar. Avoiding solvents also makes your tackle box smell much better

http://www.texaswoodcarvers.com/tool_index.htm Here's a url for a Texas company that sells Devcon 2T and other useful stuff as well. I've had good service from them.

I got some awhile back from lurehardware.com and have used them all. Now they don't respond to an email asking to order more, so I need to find another source. Anybody know one? Thanks!

I've not had the problem either and suspect the DN solvent may be reacting with either your lacquer sealer or the unspecified primer, causing one of them to soften. I suggest sealing with epoxy/acetone 50/50 and using an acrylic latex primer (I just shoot white over the sealer). It would significantly reduce your build time too. I'm usually finished 24 hrs after I seal the bait.

A mixer SEEMS like a neat idea until you consider cleaning it before the unused epoxy cures inside. I'm with the other guys, I mix mine in a baby jar lid lined with tin foil and I really go to town on it, disregarding bubbles. There are more lures ruined by mis-measured or poorly mixed epoxy than anything in my experience. 99.99% of the bubbles will disappear as you brush on the epoxy.

I use adhesive backed 3D eyes from Stamina or Jann's and set them in eye sockets cut with a Dremel and a cylindrical wood carving bit. No glue, just stick them in after painting and epoxy or DN over them with clearcoat. Never had one come out. If you don't use a socket, the eyes are stiff enough to lift up on the edges when applied to a curved surface. Besides, I just prefer the inset look.

Yeah, I think if the lip is narrowed it should swim a little tighter. You can easily reshape it with a Dremel sanding drum. How the bait sits in the water also has an effect on the swim action since it determines the angle at which water flows over the lip. If your bait swims tail down as in the top pic, the lip angle is effectively very shallow (i.e. closer to horizontal) than it would be on a bait swimming horizontally.

If you already have Dick Nite, just dip it in and hang it up, repeat after 24 hrs and let it cure for 4-7 days before fishing.

Most cheap compressors that advertise "30 lbs" pressure actually work at about 15 lbs a second or two after you pull the trigger - believe me, I know! But 15 lbs should shoot properly thinned paint OK, you just have more options with more pressure. Like Dean said, fix any leaks and you should be able to get'er done. Black Createx is already one of the thinnest airbrush paints right out of the bottle. Try shooting it unthinned. Your paint should be the consistency of milk. If you thin it too much, it will fail to adhere and puddle up on the bait (like water).

Hint - disolve the prop pellets in acetone. Denatured alcohol won't do it.

Poplar is a little more dense (26 lbs/cu ft) than white cedar (20 lbs) so requires less ballast. I've been making hook hangers, line ties and segment hinges with Malin stainless steel leader wire (.29" 180lb test) and hand twisting the screw eyes. They have a BUNCH of glue surface and I can't imagine one failing. You can make the screw eyes any size and length you like to fit the size of the bait. A pair of round nose wire pliers is a big help in bending wire for baits.

Xllund, if it were me, I wouldn't remove all the finish down to bare wood. I don't see a particular advantage in doing it, and you've run into a disadvantage.

16 lb foam is the same density as paulownia wood. Balsa is 11.2 lbs/cu ft and white cedar is 20 lbs.

I checked dixieart.com and they don't list a tip size for the 155. Whatever it is, the finest line for that brush will be at low pressure 10-15 psi, with thinned airbrush paint, and with the brush tip held relatively close to the target.

IMO primer/sealers have 2 functions. First, they prevent water in acrylic latex paint being absorbed into the wood fibers and causing them to expand and roughen the lure surface. Second, they can be used to reinforce soft balsa to make a durable bait. I think Krylon will serve the first purpose but maybe not the second unless you apply enough coats to make a thick strong barrier coat.