longhorn

I would do the back in green pumpkin with silver pearl to make it light and large (.062) black flake and the bottom in pearl with maybe a single drop of yellow and .035 or .040 black flake...see how that looks and adjust from there.

I've got no experience painting but Lurecraft has paint made for soft plastics...do a search because this subject comes up often.

this is the only one I know of: LC 8" grub

Double-sided Scotch permanent tape has always worked for me...as shown in the POP mold tutorial...just another approach...the master will not be destroyed just will have some tape goo on it.

Great video...thanks for sharing. What type of camera did you use? I've been thinking of getting a video camera for fishing and maybe some posting but don't know much about it. Thanks.

Some of the craft glitter works and some doesn't. If it's mylar it usually works..you'll just have to try it. I've sucessfully used some craft store glitter in my pours. On your shipping issue...an International Priority Mail small flat rate box is $13.45 to any country. I have these boxes and it looks to me that in one box you could get at least 8 small containers of dye and six small containers of glitter...Probably more. When I go to the shop today I'm going to see how many of each I can get in that size box. I'm sure some of the great businesses on TU would ship it that way for you. That doesn't seem that unreasonable to me...we routinely pay shipping from places like bass pro where the minimum is something like 6.95 no matter how small your item is...just a thought and good luck.

I have several sizes of famous hand-poured swimbaits...they all have the tail dimple. All the swimbaits I sell have the dimple and I've not gotten any complaints. Just passing that on. Let us know which method works best...now you've got me curious.

Either of these have worked very well for me. RTV

Just some opinions here. Your proposed method is complicated and to me looks like it would have flow problems. I'd recommend RTV since the belly flap is complicated. A simple way to make a mold of this bait would be to trim off the dorsal fin (the fish actually might identify that profile as something harder to swallow anyway). Place the bait upside down on a cork tile lined with a sheet of plastic and use straight pins to hold it upright. You can then make the mold as shown in the tutorials. The resulting open mold will capture all the detail and allow you to make laminated pours. I'd recommend RTV but POP might work...just have to try it. Good Luck and let us know what you end up doing.

I've done that myself and also took an old mold and turned upside down and carved a completely new cavity from scratch with the dremel...I got some keeper baits just messing around doing that.

POP is good for many lures but for ringed lures I'd recommend RTV

I finally got my POP tutorial posted in two parts. I hope it will give beginners an answer to their question "how do I make a POP mold" which occurs on this forum frequently. I tried so hard to not have any errors and then made a typo in the title of part II which I was unable to figure out how to edit

Never mind...impatient as I am I just did it in part I and II and kept most of the pics.

POP Mold Tutorial Part II When the mold is separated remove the plastic originals. The originals will have tape goo on them and I usually throw them away. Use a knife to smooth the edges of the mold top and bottom. Make the bottom and top edges flat and radius the edges all the way around the mold top and bottom. Next carefully remove any very thin edges from the cavities. Don’t remove too much as it will make your bait less like the original. Don’t "hog out" the cavities. That will result in a bait that doesn’t look like the master. I run the knife lightly along the entire cavity edge to give a smooth edge that will be thick enough not to break when the bait is released. The cavity opening must also be wide enough to pour into. When the mold has been trimmed as you like it, place in a 325 degree oven for at least one hour. A rule of thumb is one hour per inch of thickness. I just put it directly on the rack. This baking will remove the moisture from the plaster so the glue will stick to it. Now is a good time to clean up your mess so you don’t' lose kitchen privileges and to prepare your glue mix. I use a bottle with a wide mouth so I can pour the excess mix back in for re-use. Mix the Elmer's with water. 50/50 is a popular ratio but it can be thicker as well. The cavities can also be painted with straight uncut Elmer's and an artist brush is you're so inclined. I use the flooding method because I'm lazy. When baking is finished remove from oven and place on a paper plate. With experience you'll be able to tell if the mold is ready. If you set it down and moisture condenses on the surface it's setting on then it's not ready. Pour glue mix into all the cavities. Slide the plate back and forth to kind of swish the glue mix. This will help the glue fill all the little areas of the cavity. With your finger rub glue mix over the entire top surface of the mold to seal it. After a few minutes turn the mold over and drain off the glue. At this time rub glue onto the bottom and sides of the mold. This will seal it and keep it from leaving white marks everywhere. Then set the mold on something fairly level to dry. You can pour the excess glue mix out of the paper plate back into the bottle if you wish. The first coat of Elmer's mix is usually not enough. I poured the molds after the first coat to illustrate a common problem that comes up over and over…bubbles in the baits. These bubbles form when the POP has little areas that are not completely sealed with the glue mix. No big deal, just do a second flooding or take a brush and dab some glue in the area with bubbles. When all the cavities are sealed the baits will come out with no bubbles. These were poured after a second coat of glue mix and had no bubbles. I used these 4 1/2" finesse worms as an example. This process works well on anything you can stick down including round baits. Hopefully this covered the basics. Best of luck in making molds and soft plastics…there's nothing like catching a fish on a lure that you poured yourself in a mold you made yourself. I encourage you to design some baits…the possibilities are endless. Longhorn 3/1/10

POP Mold Tutorial Part I This is a tutorial for making a one-piece multi-cavity Plaster of Paris (POP) mold for making soft plastic baits. I wrote the instructions as carefully as I could but you'll have to have some experience to get a feel for some of the steps in this process. After a few molds it'll become easy. Materials needed: Plaster of Paris (available at craft stores) I think the craft POP results in a smoother mold. Elmer's Glue All Mixing bowl Large spoon Empty 20 oz soft drink bottle Water Dishwashing detergent Serving tray or other flat surfaced item (which will be the base for the mold) Scotch brand permanent double-sided tape (office supply stores) Masking tape Plastic container the size of the mold you wish to make. There are lots of ways to make a mold box…this is just one of them…I like the way these smooth containers release from the POP. Knife Original soft plastic baits in numbers sufficient to make the number of cavities wanted (the originals will end up a with a bunch of tape goo on them and are usually thrown away…I guess you could clean them with something if you really need to save them) Clean the surface of the tray to ensure the tape will stick. Cut the bottom out of the plastic container (to allow the plaster to be poured through). There are many ways to make a mold box, I'm showing one that works for me. Place container on tray upside down and trace the outline of the inside of it Apply permanent double-sided tape to entire area with no overlap Wash plastic originals in detergent to remove any oils and dry completely. This is to ensure they'll stick to the tape. Place plastic originals on taped surface inside the mold outline area. Press firmly down with your finger all along each bait to ensure they're stuck down good. Place container back on tray in alignment with traced outline. Then use masking tape to secure the container to the tray and to prevent leaking. Mix plaster in the bowl, using cold water, to the consistency of pancake batter.,,too thick will not work well. The most common error is not making the POP thin enough. Add water only a little at a time especially when it’s close to being ready…it goes a long way. Make sure you mix enough POP…the volume will shrink when you mix it with water. If the mold is too thin it will not be durable and will have more of a chance to break when you're removing it from the tray. So don't just cover the lures…add enough to make a durable mold. Pour the POP into the container Pick up the tray and rock it gently so the POP moves it back and forth to ensure coverage and to release air bubbles that are trapped next to originals….you will see them rise to the surface. The POP should be thin enough to flow back and forth. You can also gently tap the bottom of the tray. Make sure tray is on a level surface and wait until the plaster sets up. Another way to make a quick and easy mold is to pour the POP into a container and simply push the masters down into it. The only trick here is to make sure the bait is down far enough into the POP to ensure full thickness and you need to stand by for a few minutes and keep pushing the bait back down until it stops floating up in the POP. The plaster will become warm as it cures. After the warming occurs and has cooled it’s time to start separating the mold from the tray. A common mistake is to try to work on the mold too soon and could result in a broken mold. First carefully work the container back and forth and remove it from the new mold. Next separate the new mold from the tape and tray by applying pressure with a knife a little at a time on all sides. This is a critical step. The mold will be stuck down to the tape so carefully go all around and loosen until the mold is free. Too much pressure in one area could result in a broken mold. Don't stick the knife under too far to avoid damage to a cavity. Not a bad result..a few small bubbles. Now go to Part II of this tutorial

Welcome to the Jungle

I've spent hours making a tutorial for a one-piece POP mold for beginners. There is always a post asking for instructions. I have a bunch of photographs in it. I know I have to use the IMG code and I was all set to post it but it doesn't show any ot the photos and gives a message that I've submitted too many photos. Does anyone know the rules? Seems like tutorials should allow a lot of photos. Thanks

Does the exhaust over the stove vent to the outside? Most these days don't. I would not recommend pouring in the house. The fumes may be very harmful to you and your family and it will leave a residual odor in your home. I know you're between a rock and a hard place but I'd look for somewhere else. No matter where you pour wear a good respirator.

Not sure about the seam but the hollow part is due to not enough sprue on the cavity. If you have room on the mold carve out a larger sprue and this should solve your problem. Don't know what you're pouring but the larger the bait the larger the sprue. Here's a pic of one of Bear's molds...the part above the bait that gets cut off is the sprue. mold photo

Not sure about the motor oil you want but MF has a changeable motor oil color.

I don't see a downside...the bait looks good. If that's the trailer...how big is the buzz bait!??!!

A common recipe is: 1 cup plastic 1/2 cup salt 1/4 cup softener

Thanks...that is great information...I'd never seen that.

Some photos would help but the plastic will reflect exactly what the mold surface is. Two things...either the mold surface itself is rough or it has something on it that reacts to the plastic. Use some dish detergent and water to gently scrub the cavity. Make sure it's completely dry before you pour.