fatfingers

Heres the 6 inch bait made from the stuff. I'll try to get a photo of the finished bait put up later today. It seems to allow a certain amount of light to pass through the bait, which causes it to change colors slightly as it moves. I purposely left the bottom of the bait the natural pearl white color and did not prime the side so that the fish scale painted sides would allow the light to enter the bait from the sides. It amuses me, but we'll have to see if it amuses the muskies as well.

Thanks, Husky. That worked out well... The above photo shows the tranluscent nature of the plastic; you can even see where the weights were added to the bait. I just finished painting a 6 inch grandma copy using the same stuff and I'm tried to allow the light to pass through the belly area and bottom bait by way of using netting (under the paint) of a type that leaves a larger gap between the paint "dots". I'll post it when its cleared.

River, you've got mail. I know what you mean about the disadvantages of plastic and the inability to overcome problems incurred when the finish is pierced regardless of the body medium. The plastic does seem to drill nicely for inserting weights and doesn't seem to have the inconsistencies of wood which can cause the drill bit to want to move toward the softer spots when drilling. I'm going to try to use the white translucent properties it has by applying only a fine coat of paint to certain areas, hoping that some of the light will still pass through the body causing some sort of natural illumination of the bait. I've shaped a 6 inch grandma and a Stalker glider body out of the stuff and today I'm working on a knockoff of the infamous and ever-so-pricey "Ammabama". I'm still struggling with the software provided by Comcast as I try to host pictures to post here...but I'm slowly figuring it out. Getting messages that I've not seen previously... I traced the Ammabama body out of a catalogue, blew it up using Dell Picture Studio (which sucks as far as photo enhancing software), then printed it, tweaked it, pasted it on the plastic and cut out the body. Now to shape it on the disc sander...

Thanks for the reply, Husky. I gave it a coat of Devcon and it is now very smooth.

Great-lookin' bait and I love the name you gave it too Looks like the muskies up my way would have at it.

Elpescador, I sent the stuff in the mail yesterday. Let me know when how it works and if you need more later. I only have access to the 1/8 inch stuff and some stuff about 1/4 inch thick, which is usually too thick for most of what I build.

Thanks for the reply, Kellure. It sounds like the same material. It is a white solid plastic material, bouyant in nature, easily weighted and drilled. I've been cutting the stuff with a bandsaw and shaping it with a disc sander, using 60 grit to start, followed up with 100 grit. It cannot be painted without first clear coating to fill in the rather porous surface left after sanding. It seems that no amount of sanding will smooth down the "grain" raised by the sanding process. However...one coat of devcon leaves a glassy smooth surface suitable for airbrushing. I am lucky to have a plastics supplier within easy driving distance where I can pick up both the plastic material and Lexan scraps for a most reasonable price. I also purchased some of the white plastic material in "dowel rod" form (cylinders) and I'm going to try shaping it on a lathe, which I have to borrow from a friend. I'm hoping to be able to make additional glide baits from the stuff.

Thanks, beentheredonethat. I'll have to give that a try. Overall, I was disappointed in the rubber cement. It is very "sensitive" during the painting process and seems to come off a bit too easily if you handle it while painting. Now I have yet another excuse to go shopping for more supplies and materials!

Here's another that I finished recently. The muskies are interested...one strike and one follow so far.

Oh, and thanks for the compliment Riverman; I'm very, very new at this, having owned an airbrush for only about 5 or 6 weeks.

...still struggling with the comcast webpage that I'm using to host these photos...getting weird messages after I upload and "publish." Not the best photo, but you get the idea. Its solid plastic that I've found in block form. I cut it out on a bandsaw and shape it with a sanding disc. Its a lot easier to weight than wood because its seems to drill out more uniformly. After sanding it must be clearcoated before painting because its a bit tough to sand it smooth enough to paint...tends to have a little "grain" left no matter how much you sand it, but thats a minor problem. It would seem that this solid plastic would be less prone to changing size with temperature changes such as you experience on a hot day and of course it will absorb virtually no water. All in all, its about as easy to work with as a hardwood.

Here's a test. Not the bait I wanted to show, but I'm gettin' closer!

I am familiar with the code necessary to post a picture on the message board, but I am having trouble producing the proper code to place an image on my website prior to posting it on a given message board. The isn't the code that I am failing to remember. Its goes something like

Been quite some time since I hung pictures and in the meantime, I've changed ISP's and need to rebuild a webpage and cannot remember the HTML code.... .....? hELp!!!!!!

elpescador, check your pm inbox. I'll be sending you some lexan soon.

Yesterday I purchased some plastic in bulk form, meaning small planks and blocks. I'm now trying to "carve" bodies out of plastic instead of wood. My first attempt was a knock-off of a Cobb's 6 inch glider. Worked out pretty well. I used a small band saw to cut out the body and I shaped it on my ancient drill/disc sander combo. I found it very difficult to sand the stuff by hand but a dremel with a wire brush attachment was helpful in smoothing it down enough to a point where it should paint okay. I'll post a photo or two if I get a chance later today or this weekend. I know there are quite a few salty dogs on this board when it comes to lure-making. Anyone else use hard plastic for bodies? Any tips? Suggestions?

Looks great!

Thanks baitmaker. Sounds like a great tip. Have to give it a try.

I'm trying alternatives to masking tape because it can be a hassle to get it on and off. The rubber cement seems to work okay for masking the lexan lip prior to painting but you have to be careful not to get to rough with the rubber cement during the painting process because it rubs off rather easily. It seems to work pretty well though. I've been trying vaseline after painting and during the application of envirotex and yes, I do hold it back a safe distance from the area onto which I'm applying the e-tex and I do overlap the etex onto the lexan lipl a little to assure a good seal. If any of the etex does touch the lexan in a area other than desired, the vaseline prevents it from sticking to the lexan and marring it. As I say, I'm just trying something new, hoping to find a shortcut over masking tape.

For applying Envirotech to lures with the lip already in place (both new and repaint jobs), I tried applying vaseline to the lip so that any excess clear coat would not stick to the lip. It works great. I also tried rubber cement for masking the lip prior to applying the paint with the airbrush. It worked okay, but you cannot touch the lip during the painting process or the rubber cement tends to separate. Its also a bit tougher to remove the rubber cement than you might thing after it has a few coats of overspray on it, but I will continue to try tweak it and see what happens The vaseline works great for envirotech on the lure lip. I'm also going to try applying it to the hook hangers to see if it will make it easier to clean off the excess Envirotech when the finish if completely cured and done. The rubber cement...well, the jury stills out on that one.

I agree that too much hardner could produce a too-brittle surface, which is subject to chipping. However, I also thought that the right amount of extra hardner could produce a good tradeoff between a too-soft, easily scratched surface, and a too-brittle, easily-chipped surface. As I said, I wondered if anyone toyed and tested the hardner idea. I'm still considering trying it. I am also going to give River Man's surgical tubing a whirl, although I wonder whether the tubing might cause the hooks to protrude and maybe cause a different action in the lure movement?

I "T" all of my baits, but it seems that eventually they do their dirty work. I will try tweaking them further from the body a bit. I'll also try the surgical tubing on those baits particularly prone to hook grinding. (The muskies don't seem to mind the scratches, but I do; you know how that is.) I appreciate the help, you guys. I had seen "hardner" in a tube on the rack nearby the Envirotech stuff and wondered if I should try it...but I figured I'd check with the board to see if any of you guys had tried it first.

I've been using Envirotech for the finish coat on hard baits. It seems as though the hook eventually wear through it, especially on musky class baits trolled at higher speeds and those from the jerkbait class. Can it be made to cure harder and a bit more invincible?

Thanks for the response. I must be using the wrong kind of lacquer thinner then, because the cups melt but don't dissolve in the lacquer thinner I'm using. Thats why I considered trying acetone. I do appreciate your help.

I use the round sanding discs for smoothing, grinding, etc. One of the problems I've found is that the resin seems to loose its adhesion quality when I change discs (to use a heavier or lighter grade of abrasion). But I found that... If you take a heat gun and heat up the resin when replacing a used sanding disc it will once again stick to the wheel for you. Its a way of getting more mileage out of each disc.