mark poulson

So, I made a late night run down to the garage and painted the other side last night. This morning I brought one up to check it in the better light, and it looks good. The details in the spinnerbait head didn't get filled in. Even though I covered them with a piece of paper, I had a little overspray on the wire, but my fingernail got it off. It did stick pretty well. I left the overspray on the hook shank. Maybe it will make a good keeper! I am going to hand paint these, and then use the clear nail polish, because I want a test of the system. If it works okay, I'll be happy, since I enjoy the hand painting. I am not talented enough with an air brush to do fine detail work.

Where are you getting your garlic flavored PAM? I've looked everywhere, but I can't find it anymore.

I use an infrared digital thermometer I bought years ago from Harbor Freight. Mine is accurate enough that I don't scorch my plastic. Plastisol in a microwave heats from the center out, so taking the temp from the surface isn't accurate. You need to stir it, so you can get the internal temp, or you risk overheating and scorching it.

Glenn, I painted 10 baits with the Rustoleum etching primeron one side today, and tomorrow I'll do the other side. I would have painted both sides today, but I forgot.

I am bummed that my nail polish won't work!

I found it at my local Home Depot. Thanks.

Thanks guys. I'll begin my search.

I cook my plastic with my salt and blast media already mixed in. Also my softener and heat stabilizer. After it's reached 350, I stir it a little, and then add my glitter. That way, when I begin adding my color, I can tell what the finished color will look like, since both salt and glitter can affect color. I try not to reheat past 330, so I don't over cook the glitter. If I want a darker watermelon, I begin adding black, drop by drop, and mixing it well after each drop, until I get what I'm after. Adding some black flake along with my red flake at the beginning makes my water melon darker, too. You'll have to experiment. If a watermelon doesn't come out the way you want it, add some brown and make it a green pumpkin, so you can still use the plastic.

I just painted up a batch of 1/2 and 5/8 oz spinnerbaits with Createx, and top coated them with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails clear. l wiped the raw lead down with acetone before I painted, but the paint is still fragile. Is the a primer I should be using?

Is scent just worm oil with "flavor" added?

Is that a Thunderbird deck drain?

Contact Leonard at Baitjunky's and ask him.

Ben's right. If the paint is already reduced, adding more reducer is a mistake. I find the Createx transparent base works well to restore my paint film if I've used too much reducer, or if I've added too much water back into my paint bottle.

Once you've put the purple opaque over the areas you want and gotten the base coloring, you can always go back and do a light coat of the irridescent, if that's the effect you want.

I had that problem until I switched to Baitjunky's glitter.

I do it every pour.

A little of that medium goes a long way. Too much, and you get paint that has no film strength. I use water with a drop of dish washing liquid in a spray bottle to clean my air brush cup, and pour the liquid back into the paint bottle, since it's usually too thick, anyway. When I get to the bottom of the bottle, the paint to water ratio is too even, and I get that effect. Try using the AutoAire 4011 reducer. It is supposed to keep the film strength while it thins the paint. It works for me.

If you're using transparent colors, the yellow will turn the purple brown, because it shows through the trans. purple. Purple and yellow make brown when mixed. Try an opaque purple.

Fun videos!

Coating the mold with spray PAM might help. A light coat, or the baits will come out slimey.

For me, there are three ways to go. The first is to let the first color cool just enough that the second won't mix with it, but still bond. Personally, I do it this way with larger open pour swimbaits. For Ikas, I use the second option, and have never had a problem. The second is to let the first color cool, and then pour the second hot enough to melt into the surface of the first to bond. The drawback is that hotter plastic shrinks more, so you may get uneven results. The third is to use some kind of a bonding agent (Spikeit sells some) so you can coat the first color, and then pour the second at a lower temperature (325) and still get a good bond. I'm sure there are folks here who do it differently, and get good results. These are just the options I know of.

I am no expert, but there are videos on Youtube showing how to do it. Here's how I do it: I use rod wrapping thread on a bobbin, a 15 year old Cabela's cast iron rotating fly tying vise (cheap) and some home poured jigs (from a friend who pours). I do the powder coating. I lock the jig hook in the vise, facing down, and wrap enough thread around the shank of the jig to hold without falling off, typically four or five overlapping turns. I add my skirt materials in layers, starting at the bottom. The first lay will be the outermost when you're done. I use three wraps of thread for each layer. I use rubber for my first layer, and then parts of silicone skirt tabs to add accent. After I add the bottom colors, I rotate the vise to the side and add another set of layers, and do the other side the same way. Then I rotate the vise so the jig faces up, and do my top layers. I do a couple more thread wraps, and then two half hitches to secure the thread. At this point you can add a drop of nail polish or super glue to lock the threads, and then cut the bobbin off close after it's dry. I actually us gardening wire to wrap over my thread, two times, and twist the 1 1/2" tag ends with a pair of small needle nose vise grip pliers. I twist it tight, pull up to cinch the skirt more, and twist up the slack I've created. I leave about 1" of twist, cut off the tag ends, and bend the twisted wire back toward the hook, so I have a holder for my soft plastic trailers. Bear in mind, I just make stuff for myself, but this works for me. Good luck.

For me, mop jigs have fuller and longer skirts, but are tied in the same way as regular jigs. Generally speaking, they represent larger prey, so "should" attract larger fish. Play around with a couple of different skirts. Drop them in a bucket of water and watch how they flare when they hit the bottom. Drop a traditional jig in at the same time, and you can see how they differ. You can vary your skirts to get the effect you want. Also, round rubber will flare differently than flat rubber, so that's another variable. Good luck.

If it's an open pour mold, you can partially fill/dribble your first color in, and then pour the second over that. If it's a two piece hand pour mold, you can fill one half while it's still open with your first color, and then close the mold and pour the second color. Hand pour two piece molds have a more open entry point, so you can pour your plastic in quickly enough that it won't cool and block the opening. Injection two piece molds are difficult to hand pour, because they are designed to take advantage of the pressure from the injector to get the plastic to fill the mold completely. They also give you the ability to have more details, but you will need to buy a hand injector.

Sharing is what this site is all about, going back to Jerry.