mark poulson

100 lures in two days??? Man, I need a beer! Good luck. If you're selling them, you might keep in mind that spar varnish can be recoated easily, and let people who buy them know that.

Yeah, I have the same air brush, and it has teflon seals. Acetone shouldn't bother it. Kelly, I have five kids, and love them to death. I just hope they, and all of the kids growing up now, make smart choices. When I was young, it was either go to college, or get a job and get married. I got married, got a job, and never looked back. That's what my generation, or at least a lot of my generation, did. But having kids young does you and your kids a disservice, in my opinion. I have my first at 17. My wife and I didn't know jack about being parents, and my first two boys suffered the consequences. I was a much better parent at 30 than I was at 17. On the job training is great, but, if you're young, your kids are going to pay a price for your inexperience and immaturity. I know there are exceptions to this, but I've found that, for the most part, older people make better parents, simply because they're wiser. It's kind of like driving. My kids' reflexes are sharper than mine when they get the licenses at 16 years old, but I'm a much better driver because I have years of experience. Not a knock on them, just the way it is. "Too soon old, too late smart". Fish as much as you can!

If you want to know, try scrolling down in the gallery below the picture, and email or pm the maker(s). I think I remember how one of them did it, but it's really better explained by the maker directly.

Be sure you find out which thinner you'll need to use to clean up your air brush first, and whether the air brush has seals which can stand up to that solvent. As the parent of both a 23 year old son, and a nineteen, soon to be 20 year old daughter, all I can say is, "Go for it, dude!". ) Seriously, you both will only be young, without children and serious responsibilities once, so make the most of your opportunities. And don't do anything stupid, like getting you-know-what, that will tie an anchor around your legs for the rest of you lives. You have plenty of time for stupid stuff after you get old. Good luck. Oh, yeah, with the nail polish, too. )

Thanks for the link. I just ordered a bottle, to see if it works for me. I'll let you know how I do with it.

A stupid question! Finally, something I might be qualified to answer. ) Alas, I've never sprayed nail polish. But I've used it, and still use it, to add glitter/flash to jerk baits and crank baits. It looks to me like the glitter in the cheap 99cent polish I use would be too big for an airbrush. But I haven't actually tried it. I use rattle can glitter from Michael's.

Benton, I think glitter adds flash, and that's a great attractor, and can be a strike triggering feature.

Wood, because I can work with it. I'm a carpenter, and it just feels right. I can easily shape it, and I know how to glue and tool it. And I can vary both the buoyancy and durability by which wood I choose. And I can deal with saw/sanding dust easily. No fumes or chemicals, unless my band saw blade is dull and smokes. Plus I have a garage full of it! P.S. I am a hobbyist, and don't sell lures.

I just went on Jann's and couldn't find it. Can you post the name of the product?

What's it like to work with? How's it applied, what is the "open" working time, how many coats does it take to get a good finish? Inquiring minds want to know! )

Ohio, You made a wise choice not to try and "land" that bird, although I might have tried to break it off sooner. When I was a kid fishing the pier in Santa Monica, CA, I accidentally caught a seagull. If an older man hadn't come to my rescue, I'd have either been beaten and clawed to death, or thrown my fishing rod off the pier. I never guessed how many sharp parts birds have, especially when they're hooked and po'd.

There was a thread a few days ago about action vs. color. IMHO, for reaction baits, the action is critical, and the paint scheme secondary. For suspended fish in clear water, the paint scheme becomes much more important, but the action is still paramount. I've had fish hit a white lure, no detail. Spinnerbaits are long on action and short on detail, and fish whack them pretty good. Overall color scheme is important to reinforce the impression that the lure is a prey item, but actual detailed painting schemes are only critical for clear water, finicky bass, in slower presentations. Again, that's my opinion. Unfortunately, the tablet with that inscribed on it was the one Moses dropped on the way down. )

ff, Could you get around the brittle problem with the Lowe's stuff by laminating two thin pieces with epoxy?

Confession. I copied your idea of painting the insides of the joints red on one of my baits. But your lure, and the paint job, are way beyond my abilities. Great looking lure.

I asked about lacquer over water based in case I can't get the effect I want with the water based flip flop paint. I really don't want to fool with solvent based paints. I've already had my share of health problems from chemicals. So far, I haven't seen any flip flop effect on the lures I painted with it. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong. I put on three coats over the entire lure. I had hoped to get the color shift on the darker back, and a scale effect on the sides, but, so far, no success. Maybe I just need more coats.

That's a great setup. Good job!