mark poulson

I find that the air valve gets dirty if I am not careful when I clean my airbrush. If I let the dirty backflush paint water get into the area of the trigger and don't flush it out right away, it dries in there and can make the air valve stick. I've been lucky so far, and a thorough cleaning with acetone has freed up my stuck valve when I've had this happen. I find flushing out the whole trigger assembly with clean water and making sure to drain it back out is the best way for me to avoid this problem. Since I've switched to the "total immersion" style of airbrush cleaning, where I hold the airbrush tip and cup underwater in my cleaning tupperware full of clean water while I clean and backflush it, I haven't had that problem. Whatever dirty water makes it's way into the trigger area is cleaned out by the shear volume of clean water that's flushed through the entire brush. I still remove the needle and wipe it clean, and runs some water with dishwashing liquid through the brush after I've done the major backflushing, just in case anything is still stuck anywhere, and I backflush with acetone every so often, if my airbrush seems sluggish.

The molds look good, and so does the pricing. Whose injectors will work with them?

You can also play with shades by spraying your base color on first, and then misting over it with very light coats of your stronger color or accent color. I had made some too blue cranks, and sprayed tran. yellow over them lightly to achieve a nice green. To practice mixing without wasting a lot of paint, try spraying accent colors over white PVC plumbing pipe, so you don't have to spray a white base first.

There is a soft plastic bait that walks like that. I think it's called the Basirisky. The flexible wings are set at the rear of the bait, and face forward. It alternates from one wing to the other on the retrieve, and moves a lot of water. Here's a picture of it: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Deps_Basirisky_Hard_Belly_Frog/descpage-BHBF.html I hope this helps.

That's a great site, and a neat idea! Thanks for sharing.

Those poor perch don't look very lucky to me! Hahaha Great video, and, obviously, great lure! Congrats.!!!

Sounds like the shaking brings the flake to the top, like old tires rising in a landfill. Well done!!!

I'd start with something like a burnt orange base plastic color, and add black and green flake.

Looks like that to me, too.

Ouch!!! That's a punishment that should be reserved for politicians.

Do you guys think preheating the mold would help?

The Metal Meister strikes again!!!

I'll have to look at one of my old jitter bugs to see how it sits. Offhand I'd say the bill/lip has to be at the front of the bait, with the line tie coming through it, and the bill angled so that it is higher and more toward the front of the lure at the top, and sloping back so the lower edge is farther back toward the rear. That way it acts like an extended cup face on a popper, and not like a diving bill on a crank.

Exactly! It's not hard to make a mold accommodate fatter shanked or bigger hooks, up to a point. I would never use such a pricey hook, in the first place, but I lose so many jigs, since I fish them in rocky areas, that I would go broke using Trokar hooks in them.

I fish a lot of finesse jigs, but I wanted a bigger hook than the 1/0 and 2/0 it was designed for. I bought a Do It football jig mold, the FBB 38, and easily modified it to take the heavier wire Mustad 3/0 and 4/0 hooks, using a small triangular file for the hook shank, and a drill press with a small bit locked at the proper height to enlarge the hook eye area. I gave the mold and hooks to my fishing partner, who pours, and he made a bunch of the jigs, which came out perfect. He pours with a ladle.

Mike, Now that you mention it, I also used to catch a couple of fish a year with either line or plastics coming out of the anal vent. I haven't seen that in years. Nowadays, here in CA, the DFG is pushing hard to stop anglers from discarding used plastic worms into the water because they've found bass don't digest them, and the plastics actually block their stomachs and cause them not to be able to eat. Do you think it's because of a change in the formula for plastics?

Dogs are like people. Each one has their own personality. And you usually get out what you put in to the relationship.

The perfect bone is always open to interpretation.

After 4 hours call a paramedic!

When I make jointed lures, I float test them in a water bucket and try to keep as much of the ballast in the front section as possible. If I run out of room, I add some ballast toward the front of the second section, but never in the tail. That keeps the tail section light and buoyant, so it stays level on the retrieve, and keeps it more active. Keeping the front section twice as long as the other section, with the majority of the ballast in it, seems to keep the front section more stable on the retrieve, so it doesn't wiggle as much as the rest of the lure.

I've been struggling with making a Fat Rap-type lure, too. I use 1/8" lexan for the bill. I bend mine cold in a vise. It is tough stuff, and doesn't break easily, but it will hold a shape once bent. After I've bent the bill, I cover the bill with blue painters masking tape and then glue a small cylinder onto the top center of the front of the lip, using crazy glue. I turn it over and glue two more small cylinders onto the outside edges of the bill. Then I put the tip of the bill with the cylinders on it into a vise with wood jaws. I clamp it down slowly until I get the bend I want, plus a little to allow for spring back. I use small cylindrical dropshot weights for the cylinders. They are about 1/8" diameter, and I find that is the right amount of bend when I close the vise completely. Plus the lead is soft, so it doesn't scar the lexan. I am still struggling with finding a way to get the huge X action that the Fat Raps have. I'm going to use Ben's idea of putting the ballast directly at the front hook hanger location, to see if that amplifies the X wiggle. Why in the world did Rapala stop making them?

Amen! And a drop of brown will give you a dirty bone.

114!!! The fish you catch will be cooked before you can release them! Of course, in the Mohave, that will be a dry heat, so you probably should use a marinade in your livewell. Hahaha Seriously, no paint is going to hold up well without a top coat. Dipping in a water borne urethane is a great way to go with non-wood lures, since water intrusion is no longer an issue.

Learn to clean your brush quickly and thoroughly, and make cleaning between colors, and after each session, a part of your routine. Then learn about thinning and straining your paints. Those two things will free you up so you can concentrate on learning to paint well, instead of cursing you airbrush.