dampeoples

Actually, the Seal-Coat folks recommend that, that's what I thought you were referring to! Here is the DN link. It's the same link that is displayed on the banner images when theirs comes up. Good luck.

If you are using the Seal Coat, be careful what type of paint you're using it with. I can't find the pictures anymore, but painted a bait with a mix of Createx, Polytranspar and Wildlife Colors, and it cracked shortly after the clear was applied (with a brush). I contacted CSI, who asked me to send the bait in for inspection after a phone call. The guy told me over the phone that no paint should interact like that with the coating. After they inspected it at CSI, I got a message on the phone telling me that they only recommend using their paint, and they don't really know what happened to the bait at all. I made a post about it, with pictures, my findings and CSI's findings, but I think it was lost late last year with the server problems. I would recommend using another type of clear, I've only personally used D2T, Dick Nite, and Seal Coat. I would not use the D2T because it cracks, and pulls away from edges. Good thing is that for the price of shipping, the good folks at DN will send you a 2oz. bottle to try for yourself. There might be other, thin, clears to try, I do not have any experience with them at all.

Not to you! 1/2 this site owes you a debt of gratitude at the very least, don't go adding money to the pot

Had my eye on that one for a while, it's a nice looking worm, based on the Ole' Monster, I think I read somewhere. I think Jim at Ghostbaits offers that, if you want to try before you buy the mold.

Oh boy, I'm on it!!! Thanks for the interesting read! I've never actually used tungsten weights, but have heard a lot about them. Of course, you could pick a pro, have him tell the world that he uses 'x' because of 'y', and have yourself some believers quick, which is what my first thought with tungsten weights was.

Didn't a company do this with a bait already? Seems like the iCast coverage mentioned it, but maybe not. Wouldn't spend too much time with it, due to expense, and the sinking plastic that's been talked about before.

The most important thing is light, you can have the best camera available, and poor light, and still have crappy results. Outside light in the morning or evening is best, it's softer than the glaring high noon variety.

I've read a post on a local forum where a guy was telling, but not citing sources, that lead prices were getting ready to skyrocket. I, too, have a plumber friend, and used to carry mail to two different tire shops, so I stocked up then on hard lead to mix. Last I bought soft was off eBay, searched around and found it at $1/lb for soft shipped, if it's getting that high, it's time to get some more before it really gets bad!

That's pretty much a personal opinion, I've not seen any retail two piece trailer molds, so that rules that out I'll also go on to say that for a basic trailer, there's not much detail, and for personal use, a Lurecraft mold will offer you a tremendous selection, as well as value.

Didn't think of it that way, sorry Yeah, not many colors to choose from, and to get silver that's about as close as you're gonna get. Mixing some white and (very little) black to get grey is about all that most 'silver' paint is anyway, at least all that i've seen. I've been meaning to try it, but Pearl powders should work in the paint, heck, the worm colorants should work in the clear base to color the paint. I've been meaning to try that too, but you know how that goes The worst thing that can happen if you try it on a sample is that it won't work. If you do the flakes, keep in mind that your airbrush will need to be able to pass them, so something along the lines of an external mix, or a really large nozzle might be the trick there.

Yes, it turns clear when heated, and stays that way. What are you planning on painting the bait with? The paints from Lurecraft don't need a basecoat, they adhere to the bait, and are opaque. I'm sure there are different types of RTV, make sure it's Hi-Temp, and you should be OK. The molds that you can buy from Lurecraft are silicone.

I would start at Lurecraft medium and work up from there with hardener. I'm not familiar with the saltwater plastic, or I'd recommend that and work down with softener, which would be easier, given the hardener is hard to work with (or so I've read, never experienced firsthand) The tail action would need the plastic to be relatively soft so it's nice and pliable, unless you have it notched kind of like the Javallon, at least I would think.

I tried Nil's trick once, same results. I've thought about the plastic BB's to make a floater, but my son shot them all up, and I forget every time I go to the store. Would be problematic getting them to suspend, though, I suppose.

Bob P is usually correct I'm gonna yell at you now, cause I don't have one (ok, i'm not, i'm gonna grin real big) I don't understand why you would get yelled at, but we've spoken about that before.

Implementing that would be horrible, the best thing to do would be to honestly rate lures in writing. Nobody will do that*, so the point is moot, really. * And if they did, does the creator have thick enough skin to take it? Does the rater have enough experience to rate it? If a painter comes along and rates a bait that is built like dammit, but painted like a turd, does it really matter? The fish want the action, the fishermen want the rest. Guess we'll never know - all the good looking lures will have ratings/comments, and the good performing, fish catching lures with a good enough finish will be passed over

Nice George, and rare to find someone confident enough to share their methods with another

You posted in both the soft plastic and the wire bait forums, you want both, just checking your options, etc? I recommended Shawn Collins, as he's the only one I've had work done for me, both lead and plastic molds, but I'm sure all these guys could do either. My honest recommendation would be to pick a guy, and use him, don't price shop him, get a fluke mold from x, worm mold from y and a senko mold from z, you'll find that you'll get further, and might even get to the front of the line with these guys if you need something, not to mention the extras they toss in from time to time Hell, you might even make a new friend.

http://www.shawncollinscustoms.com/index.html Yeah, he's gone until the end of the month

Here it is, Sonny: http://www.ozarktackle.com/softplasticsuppliesindex.html

I think the question has been answered, and I'm guilty of it as well, but the thread has turned into a mine is better than yours thing now! That's another thread entirely

I say take the system for what it is, I've seen baits with 1 view and 5 stars....not hard to figure out where that came from

I was told once that the Pro-tec stuff is designed for fluid beds, where the other brands of paints might not be. I've not had good luck with other brands of paint flowing well in the fluid beds.