mark poulson

It looks great. Swims really well. One thing you might think about is, since your hooks look to be silvery, painting the belly hook flat white, and the tail hook white shank, black bends, like a bass' tail. Mike Long, one of the true trophy bass fishermen from the SoCal area, who caught the world record bass "Dottie" when it was "only" 20+lbs, does that to all his hooks. A little extra camo, so they blend in with the lure instead of stand out. I've seen it done on some commercial lures, and they mask the hook points first to keep them as sharp as possible. I just picked up some flat Rustoleum metal/wood primer to try it with. I use black nichol hooks, so I'll probably only paint the belly hooks on my lures. Also, have you considered a feathered treble for the tail hook? I think it would really enhance that great swimming action, and feathers pulse when you pause and jerk the lure.

Ah, so deska! Now I understand why I'm so dumb....windex brain damage! Seriously, I think I have the newer Windex, but, if not, I'll put the Windex in the truck window washer, and some dish washing detergent and water in my clean up bottle. Thanks for the heads up. Does the ammonia attack the teflon seals? Or the O rings?

Chris, Congratulations on such a great score! While you're right, this is a great place to learn, I don't think this should be your first source. Since you found such a generous auto body shop, I would go back with your list of questions and ask the guys who work there with the product. They're the experts. Hopefully, someone here who uses lacquer based paints can fill in the blanks the auto body guys might leave open.

I can't stress strongly enough how easy Flexcoat syringes make mixing Etex, and all two part epoxies. Equal amounts by volume, per the instructions, plus thorough mixing, is the key. And no finger prints! Flexcoat 3CC Color-Coded Syringes (Set of 2) Dummy easy, thank goodness. Look up posts by Border Bass, and you'll see how to do it. Basically, since the tips of the syringes are slightly tapered, you drill a snug hole in the caps, and leave the syringes in the bottles when you're not using them. Then, just hold the syringe tight in the cap, turn the bottle over, and pull out the plunger to get the correct amount. Turn the bottle back over to the upright position, withdraw the syringe and squeeze the epoxy into a salsa cup, or other mixing container. I mix the epoxy with a small, bare paper clip for about a minute, and then let it sit for another minute or two, until the big bubbles rise. I worry more about getting it mixed completely than about air bubbles, which can be dealt with. Rolling it around in the mixing container and blowing on it will help to break up the smaller bubbles, and brushing it on with a fine artists brush will also help break up the bubbles.

I think they're a site sponsor. buyairbrushes.com - Air Pro Tools PS900

I have an Iwata HP-C gravity feed with a .3 tip, which I use for general painting, and a Badger siphon feed with a .5 tip, which I use for base coating a lot of lures at once, since the bottles hold way more paint than the gravity cup, and the .5 tip will shoot molasses (JK). I wanted a brush with a MAC valve, so I could control the air pressure at the gun, so I bought a Master brush with that feature, and a .3 tip. Mistake. The machining on the MAC valve is so poor that I don't have the fine adjustment that I bought it for. So, after reading several rave reviews here, I bought an Air Pro 900, with the same MAC valve, and the spare .2 needle and tip. Night and day difference. The Air Pro performs just like I want it to, and has become my detail gun. I put the Master brush back in the box. The Air Pro is more expensive than the Master, but less than the Iwata. Kind of in the middle. I am a ham fisted painter, but the Air Pro is easy to use, and I get good results. I would recommend it for detailing.

Frank, That's really good to know. I guess I've been very lucky so far, and, even though I wash out with windex between colors and thin some of my paints with it, I've not had any problems, so far. I'll watch for it in the future.

BobP, I'm not a talented painter, and haven't really had much success layering paints. I use mostly transparents, but my green pumpkin is a mix of opaque and transparents. I can't figure out how to layer them to get the same color. Maybe you could post a tutorial of how to achieve some of the layered colors you do. Mark

I didn't think Windex had silicone in it. I use it for airbrush cleaning, and to thin some airbrush paints, so that would not be a good thing.

That's a great video. I was trying to get a green pumpkin for my baby bass, and played around with an avacado green base, adding yellow and orange, and a little brown, but it was when I added red that I got the brownish green I was looking for. Now, thanks to the video, I know why.