cadman

I have used in the past, a head of a finishing nail, end of a kids artist brush. Also you can go over the eye with a marker. I use black marker on white jig. Let dry and then go over it again.

Jjg Man, they don't look that bad. The colors are more blended in than standing out. I'm sure the fish don't care. On the second one in the last pic, are those slight bulges from the lead pours?

If it is cool or cold, I take the jig and re-heat it with my heat gun on low temp. Then when it gets hot, apply your powder paint. Just remember don't burn all your initial colors. If you put the powder on and the jig is not hot enough, the powder paint will look dull, and that is OK. You would rather have it dull looking and bake again then burning it and starting all over. There is a fine line between hot and very hot. The only way to know this is by practicing a lot. Then you will know when the jig is ready.

Mark, I don't cure between colors except under one condition when I put purple over yellow chartreuse. For some reason if you put purple on over ylw chart. and then you bake the colors the purple turns green. This is the only color I have had issues with. So in an instance like that, I put chartreuse on the entire body, cure the jig and then go back and put purple over the top of the ylw chart. and then I get purple to look like purple. As far as multiple colors on one jig. I build colors similar to air brushing. Start at the bottom, do your middle body and then go top down and fade back. Once I'm done, I put the jig in the oven to bake. Once baked I look at the jig to see if all the colors are the way I want them and no powder paint bled through. Once it's good I do the rest.

The list you are looking for probably doesn't exist, as there are a lot of molds that Do-It has made over the years. The only one who would have a list like that would be Do-It, and I don't think that they will give it to you. On another note, there are a lot of molds that have been discontinued, and only way to find them is when someone sells them on e-bay. If you know what mold you are looking for, post it on some forums and someone might have it and they may sell it to you. BTW, welcome to TU.

If you are trying to get a two tone effect by mixing two powders into one powder especially the colors you are requesting, then I'm going to say no. Even if you combine your pumpkin brown with a green shake it up really well, you won't get a two tone effect. One color will overpower the other. However make a small batch and maybe it will work. Please post your results, maybe I am wrong. The only place I have seen this work are on marble powder paints and vein powder paints. There are powders that fishingskirts.com has that has a two tone effect that I believe you are looking for but don't have your colors. The process you describe has to be done at the powder paint manufacturing facility and that is way too expensive to even consider. When you are doing your two colors, you do not have to put an entire basecoat on as one color and then put on your second color. You can put your first color let's say on the bottom going half up the jig, then take your second color and go top down overlapping your other color so you won't have any raw jig showing. Doing two colors really isn't that time consuming. I hope I answered your question correctly. Others may have more info for you. Stay Tuned.

I have a sand color but it is beach sand color. I then looked up the zoom sand, and I also searched fishingskirts.com. Apparently zoom sand is really dark unlike sand at the beach. I looked on line as well and didn't find anything without glitter. Fishingskirts.com has the zoom sand but with glitter. It also has the beach colored sand without glitter. I don't know how many jigs you are making, but the glitter does seem to come off fairly easy. Maybe you could scrape it off. Just a thought.

Exactly what Jigman suggested. Buy the screwlocks with the clip on one end. Clip the screwlock onto the hook shank, and align the screwlock with the weedguard hole. Stick a drill into the screwlock, close mold, pour. remove jig and remove drill bit.

If it's not going to be all white, I still love D2T. If it is all white and you want a pure white look then E-tex. I still find these to be the hardest finishes. JMO

Jigman, That can be easily achieved and if clearcoated will look almost as beautiful as Kasilofchrisn's. Turn your bait belly up. Take white powder or whatever color you want and tap out the powder on the whole belly all the way up to the nose. Make sure when you tap it out you turn both sides a little on an angle so you get the powder paint to run up the sides. Both sides. Next do the red nose with the bait belly up only. when done, turn bait dorsal side up. If you are only going to do one color on top, then start tapping your powder top down again tilting the head on an angle until you get coverage all the way down to where you left off with the belly color. Do the same on the other side. Finally, if you want to put black on the dorsal line do that as the last step and tap it looking at the top of the bait straight down. Bake, install plastic tailpiece and clearcoat. I hope this helps some. What colors are you working with? How bi is that bait? Please post pic of your results or PM it to me if that would be an issue. I just want to see your beautiful jig.

Jigman, Can that plastic (lexan) be removed before powder painting? Reason being, heating up the jig will probably melt(disfigure) that tailpiece. If that cannot be removed and glued back on, I would suggest airbrushing it or hand painting with Testors acrylics and then clearcoating it.

Sometimes, you just have to try several options until it all comes together. Drop-Out does work. Also you can try to gap the mold or like mentioned above scratch a vent line to relieve any trapped air as you pour. Glad it all worked out for you.

Let us know how it goes.

Randy, Welcome to TU. I always tell everyone that pours, first buy Frankford Arsenal "Drop Out". It is a mold release spray. To use clean all your lead cavities with Mineral Spirits or Naphtha. Let dry or evaporate, then spray the cavities lightly with the mold release. A little goes a long way. Just make sure you get all the spots. Your cavities will turn a light gray color. Once its sprayed it will dry in about 5 to 10 minutes. Then heat your mold and try it out. That should solve 90% of your problems. You can also gap your mold a little to release any trapped air. Going to a bottom pour pot is definitely a plus, because you can stick the pot nozzle into the cavity hole and it will be similar to injecting lead into your mold. Some things to try.

Yes try the victory hooks. I tried a couple on a spinnerbait and I was happy with them. I don't throw them a lot, so maybe there will be some problems as time goes on. It's worth a shot.

That's good to know. I didn't know there was a difference. Thanks for the info.

Thank You Mark

I have an old Iawata Eclipse HP-CS (2006 vintage) that probably needs a needle, tip and a cap I assume. I am also looking for some Createx paints. I will be using water based paints. Where are some places that have some really good prices on these items. I might be lucky and still get some Cyber-Monday deals. Thanks in advance.

tdarin176 I found some more info for you as I looked at my Do-It catalog collection dating back to 2001-2002. All the pages in the catalog were all green and white. 2001-2002 was the last year they had colored handle molds. Starting 2003 all handles were black. See attached pics. some interesting info from way back in the day. It looks like t he black handle molds were the professional molds where they were better cast molds and the molds had multiple cavities of the same size head throughout the mold.

Welcome to TU. On the color handles, if I remember correctly. The different colored handles were the different price ranges for the different molds. For example all the orange handles were one price, all the blue were another and so on. I believe there were only five colors. Red, blue, orange, green and black. There might have been a yellow. Do-It stopped making colored handles prior to 2006, don’t know the exact date. They are all black now. As far as the molds go if my memory serves me correctly: #1. I believe you attach a hook at the back end of the wire form and you wire wrap the hook. I can’t remember if this is a free spinning wire inside the head. I also believe that you cast it out and reel it in dragging it on the bottom. #2. It is a smaller profile jig that looks like a bass jig with a weedguard. Don’t know why they call it a walleye jig. #3. I have its cousin which is a stand-up jig with a spinner blade on the back (mine does not have a weedguard). The correct 1623 hook has a crimp in it which kept the hook from turning in the mold. The 1623 CR hook is no longer manufactured by Eagle Claw. They do make the #1623 w/o the crimp. This jig is to be drug on the bottom, tipped with a minnow or a grub. Unfortunately this is a poor design. These jigs never falls flat on the bottom of the lake with the hook pointed up. They always fall over even if they do fall flat on their base. There are much better jigs for using live bait or grubs. #4. Yes it is a Sparkie style head spinnerbait with a weedguard. Weedguards on spinnerbaits are unnecessary in my opinion since the wireform will hit the weeds first. Interesting concept at the time. #5. I have this mold. It is a good dragging jig for the bottom and a good choice for a minnow or a grub. It has a wider base on the bottom of the jig making it better for dragging. #6 Post pic of mold. I’ve seen this before but don’t remember. This is all the info I got on this. I may have forgotten some info and maybe some info is inaccurate, however someone will be on here to add more info or correct me. There is a guy on here “SmallJaw” that has been pouring jigs for a long time. He may have more input on these molds.

Thanks, I'll try the diamond clear coat spray.

Hey Mark, wouldn't that be a great idea, if the reel companies sold an after market touch-up paint like they do for cars? Wow, now there is an idea for reel manufacturers to cash in on. I am sure many guys would buy it. The only problem is all the SKU #'s they would have to keep for all the years and models.

Bob, Thanks for the info. I understand the thin coats, I also had a feeling that there is no clearcoat as good as the factory coat. Out of curiosity, do you think KBS Diamond aerosol spray would work? My other thought was to go with enamel spray cans. The only problem with that is if I screw it up, will I be able to get the paint off of the side plates without damaging them? The side plates are plastic and I'm sure I would need lacquer thinner to take off the paint. With that said, the lacquer thinner may soften the plastic side plates since it is so strong. Is KBS removable once sprayed on? Thanks..............Cadman

So I have some slightly beat up baitcasting reels that I would like to air brush and clearcoat. The reels themselves including the sideplates are plastic. I have read a lot about prep before painting and so on. My big question is clearcoat. I have used in the past D2T and E-Tex for my jigs and that works fine and they both are durable. However I am thinking that these clearcoats would be too thick for a fishing reel. What would you guys use for a clearcoat. If anyone has painted reels before with good success please chime in. Also we can communicate off line if that is easier. Thanks in Advance...........Cadman

Did you try etching primer before painting?