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mark poulson

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Everything posted by mark poulson

  1. How do you keep a fish from smelling? . . . . . . Cut off his nose, of course! Man, it took me sooo long to go through my memory for that one.
  2. Husky, Thanks for the info, and the link.
  3. I make a 4 piece swimbait that my partner named the QT, for Quatro Trout. I weight it with a weighted hook hanger ( 9grams) in the first and third sections, as far back in each section as I can go without running into the hinge cotter pins. For floaters, I only add a little more weight in front of the head section hook hanger. I test float the lure after I've installed the hook hangers and hinges and treble hooks. I can pinch more weight onto the hooks to get the lure to hang level in the water. I allow 3 grams for paint and epoxy. For slow sink, I weight the unpainted lure until it has about 1/4" out of the water before paint. For faster sink, I just add more weight, usually in the second section, again toward the rear. I never add weight to the fourth, tail section. Don't waste time painting anything, other than sealing the lures, until you've worked out the weighting. That process includes casting it to see how it swims. Good paint jobs and top coating takes a long time. If you do go too far and your lure doesn't work the way you want after you've painted and top coated it, don't be afraid to drill out some of the weight, patch the holes with light filler and epoxy, and test it again. Don't be discouraged. If I can do it, anyone can. Good luck. P.S. Four sections swim much better than three.
  4. I missed it, and I really sorry. I'm in the process of repainting two of his lures whose paint bubbled. I sure would have liked to know what paint he used. It came off like lacquer, but it was really hard and tough. I did see some telltale mill marks under the paint, like he'd used a copy lath to make the blanks.
  5. Find a swimbait that you like, and start by copying it, to learn how. Then you can make your own designs using the knowledge you've gained by imitating a successful lure.
  6. Way to go! Sounds like you've got a real winner there. Now that you're hooked, too, try different weighting, like slow sink, fast sink, so you can use it at different depths. I try to keep added weight as near to my hook hangers as I can without sacrificing strength, and don't put anything in the tail section. Hmmm....let's see. Blue gill, baby bass, trout (light and dark), crappie, baby striper, the list of paint schemes is endless. That should keep you busy for a while.
  7. I sent a couple of older reels back to Quantum for repair, and they replaced them with newer versions.
  8. They look great, especially for your first lures. Try "T"ing your trebles to cut down on hook rash.
  9. mark poulson

    jointed lures

    8" floater, 75 grams, 6 1/2" wood body, tail by Captnsully.
  10. mark poulson

    jointed lures

    12" 5 piece floater
  11. mark poulson

    jointed lures

    8 inch floating swimbaits
  12. mark poulson

    jointed lures

    8 inch floating swimbaits
  13. mark poulson

    jointed lures

    8 inch floating swimbaits
  14. First, let me start with a disclaimer. I am totally a hobbyist, and the most lures I paint at one time is typically four jointed swimbaits, or four cranks I'm repainting. And I generally use the same scheme for each batch, though not always. I figure out what overall scheme I want. Trout, bluegill, crappie, tilapia, bass, the usual suspects. Then I go online and look at as many pictures of those fish as I can find, until I find one that looks good to me. I get out the paints that I think I'll need, but my paints are in a rack right in front of me, so if the winds of inspiration break while I'm mid-paint, I can change or add easily. I try to figure out not only the basic color scheme, but what kind of a base coat I want to show through after I've scaled. For me that's the hardest sometimes. Assuming the lure has been sealed and sanded, I spray a base coat of white opaque Createx and heat set. Then I usually start with a pearl white belly and whatever color I want to show through the scales. For bass and tilapia, I mix a really light transparent green, for trout and crappie, I use pearl silver, and for bluegill, just peal white. Then I place my scale netting (drywall tape for me), hold it in place with clothes pins top and bottom, and begin painting the sides and top. I usually finish with spray glitter, and then, after it's set for a day, Envirotex Lite epoxy. I'm no artist, but a little patience and forethought, and a lot of mixing and test spraying, usually gets me the colors I like. And writing down how you make custom paint colors helps. I have a very colorful piece of white cardboard that I use to see how my colors look before I spray them onto my lures. One tip I would stress that helps a lot is putting a protective clear over each step, or each couple of steps, as you go, especially after you first scale. Someone on here posted the tip to use pastel fixative as a protective clear between coats, so you don't have to redo all your work if/when you make a mistake. It's a solvent based clear that dries fast. This only works with water base paints. I don't know about solvent based paints. For me, playing around, and not being afraid to redo something is the key, and the clear fixative helps make this easier. Have everything you need ready before you start, including a hairdryer on a long enough cord so you don't have to fight it, a tub of clean water to clean your airbrush between colors, and practice a little so the steps become automatic, and you'll make your life a lot easier. Hope this helps.
  15. Dead still air is the ticket. When I used to spray furniture in my garage, I'd open the front overhead door, take an air hose and blow out all the dust for a couple of minutes, with a fan in the back of the garage blowing out, and the small door in the back open, to make sure it didn't just come back in. Then I'd let the garage sit with all the doors closed for an hour, so any dust in the air settled down. Then I'd wipe down whatever I was going to spray, and, wearing a respirator, spray the lacquer or urethane. I'd let it sit until it flashed, and then leave through the back door so I disturbed the air the least. It worked for me, but it was not a production setup. For production, a dedicated spray booth with a back fan to collect overspray is the way to go. In the past we made spray booths for a commercial painting company, before OSHA and all the regulations. We'd build 2X4 walls floor to ceiling in front of the spray booth, cover the inside with chicken wire, and then the painting company would fill the stud bays with some kind of cotton filtering material. They had huge exhaust fans on the roof, and big filter racks behind where they sprayed. When they turned on their system, any loose clothing would be pulled toward the filters. But they did painting and plating for Govt. projects, including the instrument panels for jets, and they couldn't afford to have any dust. For hobbyists and small lure makers, the remote exhaust fan idea is still a good one, but it would involve a little work. But that way all dust, overspray, and fumes go out, not into your lungs. Some people on this site have done a good job with their own spray booths. I think you can find pictures if you do a search.
  16. The Accurist is a good all around reel. I've use one for years, and it's held up fine. I like the flipping switch for buzz baits, so I can engage the reel the second the lure hits the water, and I can begin the action with the rod while I switch hands. Of course, I got a left handed Kevin VanDam from Bass Pro, and don't have to switch any more. I think the KVD, also a Quantum reel but made for BPS, is a better reel for the money. I use one for sight fishing, and for blades and frogs on 50lb. braid. The only knock on both of these reels is they won't throw light lures well. 3/8oz. is the lightest I can throw well with them. Even though I am using 8lb. line, and a rod rated for 1/8oz. If you're throwing lighter stuff, and can afford it, the Pflueger Summit is great for the $160 price, or you can splurge and get a Shimano Chronarch MG50, for $250, and it will throw anything.
  17. Proto #3 looks great. Nice action. What happens when you burn it? What kind of hinges and tail did you use?
  18. Thanks. That makes perfect sense, although I'm not sure how much that means coming from me, since I spend hours making lures and fishing.
  19. Really nice lures, and great paint jobs. Now, can I ask if your screen name, "Boskabouter", has any special significance?
  20. I use cotter pins and egg sinkers (a tip I learned from someone here) as hook hangers, with the cotter pin passing through the egg sinker and then bent and cut off, so there are two ears. I fill the hanger hole with 5 min epoxy, slowly push the hanger in until the epoxy comes up out of the sinker hole and it sits flush. Of course, I'm making larger wood baits, but small sst. cotter pins should work for cranks. Just cut them to length, and spread/bend the ends so they don't pull out.
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