mark poulson

Thanks, favorite son!

If you have any ventilation it'll be fine, but not in a closed space. If durability is a real issue, try Solarez. It is a surfboard repair resin, so it is very strong. It is also very low/no fumes, and it is UV light cured, so it will cure even in the cold. I dip my baits in it, and let them drip back into the bottle. Then I hang them a a 36 watt UV fingernail light box for three minutes, and they are ready to fish. If I lived where it was cold, and I had to work indoors, it would me top coat of choice. This is where I got mine: http://solarez.com/products/low-voc-dual-cure-polyester-resin/

VMCs are the only swimbait hook I can open out to use in some of my hardbaits without breaking.

I just ordered some of the transparent hologram baits. For those of you who fish clear lakes, it is a dynamite lure to paint in clear/transparent ghost patterns.

I have a Badger sipon that I use to base coat large lures, or a lot of small cranks at once. I like it because it's bottle holds a lot of paint, and because I can spray concrete through it. Hahaha It has a .5 mm needle, so it doesn't clog. I use my Iwata HP-C+ for almost everything else. It has a .3 needle, and with an aftermarket Iwata micro air valve, it is very versatile. I can shoot Wicked White through it unthinned, and pearls, with a drop of AutoAire reducer just to play safe. I have a cheap knockoff detail brush that I almost never use, because it is hard to adjust, has a .2 needle that clogs easily, and is a pain to clean.

If they both rotate the same way, the bait will lean on a medium or fast retrieve. If you look at the Duo Realis, you'll notice the belly and back are arched. That raises the center of mass in the bottom weighted bait, and allows it to wobble back and forth on any retrieve. It really adds flash to the lure, I'm now in the process of trying to figure out how to make mine do the same.

Nice job! Try the AC1315 as a topcoat. It plays nice with air brush paints, is quick and easy, dip and hang, and it's durable. If you can, do your dipping outside, and then bring it back inside to dry and cure, but with ventilation. http://www.directcolors.com/product/ac-1315-high-gloss-concrete-sealer/ I do one dip for my bass lures. I let it drip back into my dipping jar, wipe off the last drips with my finger and scrape that back into the jar, and the let it hang. After 15 minutes or so I hit it lightly with my hair dryer, and again after another 15 minutes. It's dry enough to handle in an hour, and you can fish it the next day. I've tried spray clears, epoxies, dip urethanes, and Solarez, and this stuff is the best. I still use the Solarez for same day top coating, or for adding a little more weight a lure, but otherwise I only use the AC1315 now.

That makes sense. Is the paint you spray in a liquid carrier, or dry?

I use plain red tying thread to wrap my different skirt colors individually, so I can position them where I want them, and then wrap it all with wire when it's where I want it. In the past, I've used old braid to wrap, and put a drop of super glue to hold it. Those skirts wore out before the braid failed.

He sure gets a lot of coverage from one bowl of paint. I've never painted soft plastics, so maybe that's standard, but I was surprised.

Skeeter, You made that suggestion here years ago, and it has really helped me refine my paint colors without wasting a lot of paint or time. Thank you so much for that tip. A bonus is you can simply wash off the paint when you're done, and reuse the PVC pipe again and again. I use a short piece of 4" drain pipe, and it lets me do multiple color tests before I wash it, plus, because it is so wide, it stands by itself vertically when I do my test painting.

How do you get the sprayed paint to stick to the lure, so you can cure it out?

I would contact the person Anglinarcher knows, and see if he can offer any help. Who knows, you might have gotten a bad batch. It's happened before. Alumilite wouldn't have gone through all this to make a bad product. The video on their website shows the guy using the same UV fingernail light I use for Solarez, and his works just fine, so I have to think there must be something wrong with the batch they sent you if it won't cure quickly. Here's his video: http://www.alumilite.com/store/p/1027-Alumi-UV.aspx

X2!!

On second thought, how can I hate someone who is obviously my long lost favorite son, and who wants to give his daddy the best spinnerbaits he can make. Such a wonderful son!!!

Sounds like a good system.

Paint them with Createx, and then dip them in Solarez resin twice.

Bob, I prefer working in wood, too. I love the feel of wood in my hands, and the smell, and the way a handplane shaving curls off with a really sharp blade. But I hate trying to seal wood to make it waterproof, particularly with jointed lures, and just the time the whole process takes to build lures from wood. I've only just recently been able to take more time in my building process, but I am still sticking to PVC. If I want a balsa bait, I'll call you!

If I were trying to make that color, I'd add just a drop of black to my clear, and a drop of heat stabilzer to start, and then my flake, because flake changes the color of the finished plastic, at least for me. I'd make up a small batch that was just for trying to get the color right, so I wouldn't waste my time and plastic pouring something I wound up not liking. Remember, it's always easier to make a color darker than to try to get it lighter, so go slow and take notes.

It's fun to see how you build a color. I guess, since the pigment particles just sit side by side (unless they are really fine, like in a dye), and add to the build up, instead of canceling each other out. I know that is an oversimplification, but it helps me to try and visualize what's going on. Kinda like trying to figure out why the fish are doing what they're doing.

Sounds like you have a very full life! Good luck, and enjoy the ride!

If you're going to use water based paints, be sure to clean your brush between coats and colors by shooting some clean water through it, and backflushing, and then do a real good cleaning after each paint session. I have a tupperware tub full of clean water next to my painting area each time I start painting, so I can just dip the brush into the clean water to flush it between coats. It takes 15 seconds, tops, and I'm ready for another color. I also made a wire hanger from a piece of coat hanger wire for the side of the tupperware, shaped like a long U with a dropped belly, and ears on the ends to catch the lip of the tupperware tub. I leave it attached full time. I can hang my brush in it with the tip and the paint bowl in the water, give it a quick backflushing, and I don't get tip dry or paint skinning in my brush between colors, or while I'm heat setting my paint. I have forgotten and left paint in my brush overnight, and I had to disassemble the entire brush, soak it first in acetone overnight, and then in air brush restorer, to get it to shoot right again. The channels that carry the paint are super fine, and it takes forever to get them clear, once they're clogged! NEVER LEAVE PAINT IN YOUR AIR BRUSH OVERNIGHT!! It will become an expensive paper weight.

You have now been officially added to the list of people I HATE!!!! Hahaha

Mike, I just checked those props out, and I wish I had some like that! I see why you're looking for a bulk supplier. $2 a p.o.p is pretty steep.