BobP

Devcon 2 Ton became popular more than a decade ago, not least because it was available at Walmart in a double syringe for 2 bucks (which is no longer true). I don't see a lot of difference among slow cure epoxies as far as their performance on baits, and wouldn't hesitate to use another brand if you've had good results with it on other projects (as concerns leveling, clarity, lack of yellowing).

Scale netting - it's player's choice how you do it. If you spray lightly, you can use a hair dryer on the paint before you remove the template. That will ensure that you don't mar the design by smearing paint when you remove the netting. But if you spray too thickly, it can adhere to the netting instead of the crankbait and pull off the surface. I usually hit it with a hair dryer for a few seconds, then pull off the netting and finish drying the paint more thoroughly.

My jug says the same thing. Don't worry, you bought the right stuff. It can be cured under UV light or with MEKP. I don't know whether MEKP makes it any harder or faster because I haven't tried it but UV works just fine.

You can get hollow metal spacer beads from online stores like Janns Netcraft. You can also probably find them in the jewelry making section of a hobby store.

Soft temper stainless usually comes on a spool. It's soft and pliable enough to easily straighten it. There are various tempers of wire available. The ss wire you buy from a lure store to form spinners, etc, it very hard tempered. An intermediate temper might be something like Malin Hard Wire ss leader material, which is fairly stiff but can still be bent by hand. If you are doing a variety of bait styles and are not going to use a bending form, do yourself a favor and use soft temper stainless. Not only does it bend easily, just as importantly you can bend it accurately when forming a thru-wire or hand-wound screw eyes. I've never had .041 or .032 soft ss wire deform on a hook hanger or line tie on a bass bait. When bent into a small diameter circle it is surprisingly strong. I have also used soft brass wire, which is a little softer than stainless steel. Copper wire is similar but will corrode.

Some guys use an "adhesion promoter", which are sold by several companies including Bulldog. My attitude about adhesion is like HAWGFAN - I don't worry about Createx adhesion since I cover it with a durable topcoat. The paint will stay on there as long as the topcoat is intact. If it isn't, there's nothing that will keep it on the bait for long. The one exception to this I've found is that fresh Dick Nite S81 MCU will actually soak into and through Createx to form a waterproof monolithic finish layer that is both durable and waterproof. Personally, I won't use auto primers because they leave a permanent stink that lasts for years. If you are using painter's tape to mask areas on your baits, I suggest switching to painting templates because they're easier to use, don't lift paint, and can be re-used.

I don't think you can't expect acrylic latex paint to have much adhesion on a crankbait. What keeps the paint on it is the clearcoat. I use a hair dryer to dry acrylic paint but it does not reach the temperature required to melt the latex and become waterproof, so I think letting the paint air dry is probably just as effective (but slower). acrylic paint will stay on the bait unless the topcoat is breached and water is allowed to penetrate the paint layer, which will cause it to expand and push the finish off the bait. Solvent based airbrush paint like lacquer has better adhesion but presents a health hazard. Using water based paint is a compromise most of us hobby builders have accepted. I like Polytranspar Superhide White water based acrylic for color basecoating. It sprays well, has lots of pigment, and dries very quickly to a film that is harder and a little more durable than most other acrylic paints.

Hey, I know Mark likes using a water based clearcoat but many guys don't. When I tried some, extended exposure to water would turn it white and soft. I think that problem is inherent in any water based clearcoat. I say don't worry about the weight of clearcoats. You have to use them and a few mils coating a bait is a negligible weight. Even the thickest clearcoat adds only a few hundredths of an ounce to a bait. If that's an issue, you should adjust the ballast accordingly, or if you are painting plastic baits, maybe use lighter hooks or smaller split rings.

Auto clearcoat is the stuff they spray on your car after the color coat, to make it very durable. The problem is that really durable auto clears are 2 part finishes and they contain hazardous isocyanates that you never want to breathe. So if you go that route, make sure you are wearing a mask rated for solvent protection when you spray it. One way to immobilize the joints on a swimbait is to wrap a rubber band tightly into the joint. It prevents the body from flopping around and blocks finish spray from gumming up the joint. You have a range of choices for clearcoating, some can be sprayed, some need to be brushed or dipped. Personally, I really like Dick Nite MCU on plastic baits since it's very similar to a good factory clearcoat - thin, clear, and durable. Another option is Solarez UV cured polyester resin, which can be brushed on and cured hard in a few minutes - but it is less glossy than most of the alternatives.

I use a Paasche hose, which connects OK to a standard US compressor outlet (quick disconnect in my case). I bought a "Paasche hose to Iwata airbrush adapter" from dixieart.com. It was a couple of bucks and allowed me to use my old Paasche hose instead of buying a more expensive Iwata hose. Airbrush sites usually have an array of adapter fittings available. The one I got from Dixie Art was high quality, some others I've seen were not so good. Don't forget the plumber's PTFE tape on the fittings to avoid leaks.

I think Createx, being a water based acrylic latex paint, would come right off during use. Best to stick to a solvent based dye like the Sharpies, or one of the worm dyes or even fabric dye should also work fine.

I recently got a couple of the Duo Realis Spinbait 80's. Very small, slender but heavy (3/8 oz), minnow baits that resemble threadfin shad with small props on the front and back. They are cast out, counted down to the desired depth, then retrieved with a slow constant retrieve (according to a Duo Realis video). Recommended line is 6 lb fluorocarbon. The props rotate to give the bait a little flash and the body has a moderate rolling action as they come through the water. This is a finesse cranking presentation that works best in clear water, including on deep suspended fish. Mark, I'm not sure how a suspending JB would work without a lip to submerge the bait. You definitely want it to sink at a controlled rate to whatever depth you need to be fishing, so extra ballast is required. The Spinbait 80 sinks pretty quickly, maybe 2 ft per second on light line. Several Japanese companies are making these now (see Tackle Warehouse) and the design varies among manufacturers.

I don't mold crankbaits, but if you are sitting on the Hardbaits forum page and enter "crankbait mold" into the search feature, you'll get several pages of results based on past posts. I don't think you'll find much specific on using expanding foam but I think the mold process will be similar.

To me, thru-wiring is for one fishing scenario - if the fish bites so hard or fights with such strength that it crushes or breaks the body of the bait, the thru-wire will keep the bait together long enough to land that one fish - after which it's toast anyway. I haven't seen thru-wire on a hard plastic bait and haven't had a figure-eight hook hanger pull out of one - so am wondering why the spec for thru-wire construction?

Interesting use of the fiberglass cloth! Nice build.

You can remove the paint with 400 grit sandpaper but it leaves the lip cloudy with scratches. Don't know how that would look on a Wart but they usually don't have a very transparent lips anyway so you might not be losing much. When used, water will penetrate the scratches and make them disappear. But after sanding off the paint, you can dip the lures in Dick Nite S81 moisture cured urethane to fill in the scratches and make the lips look good as new. I specify Dick Nite because it contains a very active solvent that makes the urethane adhere to plastic better than other MCU's I've tried.

Yeah, Wahoo's web site is confusing about which resin is which. I was just going by the look of the label on the jug I received 6-8 months ago and don't remember them offering a "low VOC" version back then. JMHO, I would opt for whichever version is thinner in viscosity and the jug with more VOC's probably means that it contains more solvent and is thus thinner. I brush Solarez on vice dipping lures but the thinner version would be my choice too - so I'd get the regular version, not the "Low VOC".

Yes, that's it.

P.S. - I have a few #5 and #7 Risto Raps and comparing them to Calvin Johnson models being sold on Ebay, the lips themselves don't appear to me to be larger than stock - but the line ties have been moved closer to the nose of the lure.

I doubt there's a solvent that un-glues a lip and if there was, I'd be afraid it would also melt the lip's plastic and would probably mar the exposed lip surfaces too. I use a Dremel with a thin fiber reinforced cut-off disk to remove broken lips. Run it in at the top or bottom and it saws away the glue on one side of the lip. Then you can usually break the lip free physically from the other side's glue bond. Use epoxy putty to fill the lip slot when mounting the new lip and it's an invisible repair. Risto Raps are one wood bait that you can use a propane torch on to remove the existing finish quickly because the thick white undercoating (sometimes called a "build coat") on them is non-flamable. Run a torch over the bait and the topcoat and paint bubble right up, leaving a clean white undercoated bait to repaint. Don't try that on other classic wood baits because many of them have very flammable undercoats that burst into vigorous flame. Don't ask how I found that out! Many classic balsa wood baits made by big manufacturers employed a thick white "build coat" over the raw wood. The build coat covers any grain defects or small imperfections in the wood blank and serves as a good waterproof undercoat. It speeds manufacture and keeps labor costs down since the blanks don't need to be hand sanded. JMHO, you never want to remove the build coat anywhere on a bait you're re-finishing as doing so causes lots of problems. If you used old baits in this modification, you'd end up with a lot of the #7 Risto Raps without lips - unless you had a stash of old Risto Rap lips from somewhere. Rapala no longer builds them.

I want to say Heddon Bayou Boogie, but no - they're different

I use lead - no matter where from. Given a choice, I'd use pencil shaped lead as it's easier to cut, measure, and install. The main feature of Japanese style walkers is their gracefully curved belly shape which helps rock the bait out of the water when pulled. Yours seems to have a stubbier shape - taller height vs length than a Balsa Pro or Sammy. Since a lot of the bait sits above the water when paused, I don't know whether this would make a difference in the action. Note the line tie position carefully. I'm no topwater expert so just built mine exactly as the Balsa Pro had.

There is no scoop cut in the face. I uploaded a pic of my Balsa Pro, with measurements just now to the Hardbaits Gallery. Another possibility for a great topwater walker would be a balsa version of the Lunker Punker, which does have a scooped face. Don't have one, so you'd need to Google it for pics, etc. They are very popular in California.