bassn1

Black, dark purple or green pumpkin

There are many shades of green pumpkin, start by useing G.P. strait out of the bottle and then add black,brown,pumpkin or watermelon one drop at a time until you get the desired result you're looking for.

I use a wire brush that ataches to my cordless drill. After it's clean I spray it down with PAM.

Thanks Tubeman, your method works great. Can't wait for spring!!

Try this link and go to page 3 http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10335

I tried that with just a shad body....same results. I think the split ring deadens the action. Also on the chatter bait, the blade is fastened directly to the jig head. It's the chatter blade itself that gives the jighead all its action.

How many dips do most people use for the tails on the basstrix style minnow. I tried to use Del's method but with only one dip on the tail (padle) itself it just seems kind of flimsy. I'm using salt water plastic. Since the water here has 6" of ice, I have no way to field test them. Any thoughts?

try this: 6 oz. plastic 12 dr. amber 6 dr. red 6 drops black All colors are LC

I expanded on an idea that Nova had to keep your can of plastic warm when dippin' swim tubes. I took a 4x3 heating duct reducer and cut the top off of the 3" end 1/2 " below the rim of the can. Set this on your hot plate with the 4" side down. Take another piece of sheet metal and Cut a hole the same size as the can opening and slide that over the can and onto the reducer for a cover. This keeps the heat around the can for more even heating and you don't have to worry about moisture dripping into your plastic. Worked for me. Had to turn the heat down on the hot plate because it got too hot.

Here's a trick I do with TJ's cups. Insert the cup all the way into the base and draw a line around the cup at the baseline. Cut a slit lengthwise and centered down to the line with a bandsaw or hack saw. Next take a piece of tape and fold it 2/3 of the way onto itself and stick it next to the slit to form a gasket or seal. I use two pieces per slit. You can now hold the pinnerbait by the hook or wire and push it into the cup and powder. You still loose some powder but just put a pan or a clean piece of paper under the bed to catch it and pour it back into the cup.

Go with the bondo. I can get 50 pours or more before it starts to break down. With a POP mold you run the risk of it exploding. Hot lead and any moisture in the POP is big trouble. Learned that one the hard way.

If you have some plexiglass handy, try making your own. I placed a blade on the plexiglass, traced the outline and cut out the rough shape. Place the blade (curved side up) on a cookie sheet, then place the cut out plexiglass on the blade. Make sure it's lined up even with the blade. Pop it in the oven at LOW heat and watch for the plexiglass to melt around the blade. Too much heat will put bubbles in the plexi-blade. Take it out and sand the edges and drill your hole for the clevis or split ring. 1/16" thick plexi worked better for me but 1/8" will work as well. Hope this helps.

Hers's a few recipies I copied in my files before the crash: Gourd Green Root Beer or Amber Brown with medium and large green flake will both make nice Gourd Green colors. Pumpkin works too. Gourd Green ( gets real close to Zooms gourd green using LC pumpkin and medium green flake. I don't remember an exact formula for it, but use it sparingly and you'll get there, I am thinking around 3-4 drops per 8 OZ. Try adding some small black flake too, really cool effect.

I made a two piece slug mold and used a cut up soda can to make the "hook slot." Just cut the top and bottom off the can and cut lengthwise up the remaining cylinder. Roll it flat and you have enough metal for many molds. I measure the depth and width of the slot on the master and then add an extra 3/8" to the depth. Bend the extra 3/8's into an "L" shape and insert it back into the master and pour your mold.

I could just use one of the good baits and make a new master but I really don't want to fork out another $30 on more RTV. Husky could you explain the "score line" on the mold?

OK, I took the plunge and made a few "foamies". A friend of mine wanted me to copy a Bagley B2 so he gave me one with a broken lip. I cut the lip off and left about 1/16" on for a reference when I made the mold for it. The problem I'm having is cutting a strait lip slot in the new foam bodies. I get 1 out of 3 to come out right. Is there trick to this or do you just "eyeball" it and hope for the best. ... BTW, the ones that did cut strait came out great. ( catch fish too ). I never would have even tried with out all the knowlege I gained from this site. Now if I could just talk the wife into getting that air brush.......

I made decoys out of expandable foam years ago in school. Same process as making a foam crank bait. I wonder how many gallons of bondo or RTV it would take to make that mold?......................

I'm trying a Bagley B2 with a foil finish. It has a paint scheme that's no longer in production. A friend of mine wanted me to try to foil and repaint some other cranks with the same paint style but I thought I'd go for it and just try and replicate the whole thing.

Never thought of making the lip out of foam but that's an interesting idea. I was thinking about inserting a pre-cut lip ( lexan) into the mold and then pour the foam. Since I never tried foam before I don't know if the foam will stick to the lexan or if I need to epoxy it in later.

I searched in the tutorials for the answer to this but came up with nil. I want to copy a crank using foam. My question is, do you mold it with the lip still attached to the original or do you remove or sand the lip off and just cut a slot in the copied bait and glue a lip in later.

I tried MEK and worm color...it didn't work, I think the oil in the color has something to do with it.

I used the black to get it to the shade of R I's color. I had to use 4 drops of Dels because it's not as strong as some others. I also used gold hilite.

Here's a quick recipe: peanut butter and jelly color Purple with red flake over MF transparent brown (lots) with gold flake

You could also twist the wire around the arm ( like a closed loop spinnerbait) or use a piece of shrink tubing. Worked for me.

I tried painting with Plastikote Fussion, it's supposed to work on plastic...maybe it does but not on "soft plastic". I tried lure dip, I used a fine brush and the baits looked awsome!....for about three days, then the dip bled all over and I was left with a pile of crap. Back to square one and order some paint from LC........