mark poulson

You probably had it on the wrong setting. I get bit real well on the energy saver setting.

Obviously, great minds think alike!

Wow! Those are some great looking baits! I love how the fins move in the slightest bit of water movement. Are those from the mold link your shared? Great job! Are they hard to pour?

I'm not doubting that you are right. I'm just showing how little I know about painting soft plastic.

You might also try using acetone or some other solvent to remove the epoxy. I've never tried to do that, so I don't know what will work. Is the epoxy loose in the cavity? Maybe pouring it a few times with scrap plastic will pull the loose stuff out with it, and save you some work.

The separate MAC valve is $25, so you're paying an extra $15 for the HP-CH ($245) vs the HP-C Plus with the separate MAC valve ($205+25). It's up to you...they both do the same job.

Maybe they are the same thing. I was just unable to find a HP-CS. The built-in MAC (micro air control) valve in the Hi-Line HP-CH just seems handier than having to add one inline.

Don't you need some kind of a solvent to bond the paint to the plastisol?

Before you give up on the mold, try putting them in the oven at 170 for an hour, and see what happens. If you're lucky, any trapped water will come out, and loosen the epoxy that's left so you can pry it off. What do you have to lose? Just go slow. Remember, the only part you really need to be sharp is the cavities themselves. The rest can look like crap, just as long as the two faces marry nicely and don't stick together. When I first started making pop molds, I used yellow carpenter's glue to seal them, and some of my old molds have black mold that grew under the seal coat when they were in the storage cabinet. If the seal coat fails in places now, I just remove whatever's loose, reseal with some super glue and keep on pouring.

My link shows a .3mm needle for the HP-C Plus. I can't find an HP-CS. Iwata sells brushes with an air control valve built in...they are called MAC air brushes, and it's their Hi-Line series. I didn't buy one to begin with, because I didn't realize how handy it would be, so I added the valve later. I've never used a Hi-Line brush, so I don't know how well they work, but, if I were buying a new brush right now, it would be their Hi-Line HP-CH brush, with the built-in air control valve. Iwata makes really good stuff, so I wouldn't be worried. http://www.coastairbrush.com/products.asp?cat=35

If I could make something that beautiful I would never let it get near a fish with teeth!

If you're only going to buy one air brush, I'd say to buy the .3mm nozzle/needle and the med. cup. I have the HP-C Plus, and that size cup, along with the .3mm nozzle/needle works for 99% of my painting. I can put only a little paint in, or more, if I need it, and the cleanup is the same. The medium cup holds plenty of paint for most of my baits. If I have a lot of single color paint to do, like undercoating multiple swim baits, I use my Badger siphon brush with the .5mm setup. It came with bottles for the paint, and I feel like I could shoot any paint through it. I have found a smaller nozzle/needle, like the .2mm, requires paint with much finer paint particles, and lots of thinning. Instead, I use an aftermarket inline Iwata air control valve right under the air brush, and am able to cut down on the air and paint flow quickly if I want to do detail work. Coast Airbrush only shows the option to covert to a .2mm needle on the HP-C Plus, so it looks like that is the air brush that would let you have the option to switch nozzles/needles in the future. http://www.coastairbrush.com/products.asp?cat=34

A coat of clear nail polish where the hooks swing will cut way down on hook rash. So will turning the belly hook hanger cross ways, so the treble hook straddles the belly of the bait.

One more time, really nice!

I think the Wicked Paints have some solvent in them.

Dude, leave your boots on when you're kicking butt!

When I'm making a pop two piece mold, I cook my mold halves for an hour at 170, and then let them sit inside overnight before I seal them. Pop loves to grow moldy if it still has water in it when you seal it. I use D2T, thinned after I mix the crap out of it with denatured alcohol, up to 50% for the first coat so it will really soak in. Then another coat thinned 25%, and I brush the excess out of the cavities so it doesn't pool and lose the details. I think the 5 minute epoxy may not be soaking into the pop, and that's why it's flaking off. There might also be some moisture left in the pop that gets trapped under the epoxy, and that might rise up and break the bond of the epoxy.

From my experience dipping in AC1315, a concrete sealer with fumes, you still need to either dip outside and let the bait hang until it stops dripping, or use a proper respirator and a fan blowing the fumes away from you. You don't want to be inhaling fumes, or even letting them be absorbed by your eyes.

The thing to keep in mind is freely moving hinges, as centered, from side to side, as you can get them. I use (2) sst screw eyes and bicycle spokes for hinge pins, and that lets me adjust the joint after the bait has been tested. I've found that, in a multi-joint bait, the tail joint is the only one that wants to be really loose. The others need to be somewhat limited, or they will jam when the bait hits the water on the cast. Being able to adjust the joints while I'm test swimming the baits is critical for me.

I posted that I use .024 wire to tie my skirts. Correction...I use 24 gauge wire. Big difference. Sorry.

I would call Baitjunky's and ask Leonard. He'll know better than I.

So no solvent will remove it once it dries! When I try it, I'll definitely be dipping it, for sure!

I stick with one supplier, because I'm just a hobby pourer, so there's not a huge difference in prices in the quantities I buy. People who make baits commercially will have different experiences, since they buy in quantity, and have specific needs for different products they make and sell. I picked Bait Junky's because Leonard has always been very helpful, his prices are fair, and his colors and glitter don't change or fade.

John, I don't think a lot of people are familiar with your painting process.

I have to think the Hinkle baits are all hand made, tuned, and tested. They have such a devoted following, they must work! They do get a good price for them. Is the price high? Yes. Too high? I guess that depends on what you're looking for. As a friend said to me one time, if you get what you've paid for, you're not overpaying.