mark poulson

You can't mix lacquer and water based paint to achieve different colors, because they are different solvent based. You can't spray lacquer over enamel or other solvent based paints, because the lacquer will dissolve them. But you can spray water based paints over lacquer paint, and vice versa.

Maybe adding some green to the Lifetone bright yellow will give you a chartreuse. That's how I do it with waterbased Createx paint.

I would contact M-F and ask them. There may be something in their saltwater formula that won't bond to glue. Or maybe you added something, like a scent or worm oil, that's interfering with the bond.

Can you add salt, both for flavor and as a preservative?

This may be a stupid question (my specialty), but what brand of Antifreeze? If it's the kind that's fluorescent yellow/green, there are Createx fluorescent colors that will get close. http://www.coastairbrush.com/products.asp?cat=56

For #1 and #2, I dip my plastic blanks quickly in clean acetone. Quickly, because the acetone is usually a solvent for the plastic itself, or the glue. A quick dip exposed a fresh "virgin" layer of plastic, and my Createx will stick to the blank without primer, so I can even paint ghost patterns, as well as patterns that require a white or colored base coat.

Rustoleum sells an etching primer in a spray can that bonds to anything, and takes paint really well. It does have fumes, so either spray outside and with the wind at your back, or inside with a box blowing past you and out an open garage door. I use it on spinnerbait heads, before I paint them with Createx and top coat with clear nail polish, and the heads hold up to fishing through tules, weeds, and wood. Even the occasional rock encounter doesn't seem to be a problem. The wire on the spinnerbait will become suspect (weak from rebending) long before the paint on the head fails.

I mix .015 glitter in Createx transparent base, and brush it on over my paint scheme before I add a clear. Just be sure the paint is really dry first, and don't over brush.

I use sst wire, either .051 cutoffs from my whopper plopper shafts, or spinnerbait wire, that I get from LPO. http://www.lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Wire-Shafts/Looped-End-Wire-Shafts.html

Do a test first, so you don't mess up a bait. Apply some nail polish over a test painted scrap piece, let it cure overnight, and then apply KBS. If it works, great. If the KBS dissolves the nail polish, try putting the KBS on first, let it cure for a couple of days, and then apply the nail polish.

I learned that a really free moving hinge joint was one of the keys for my glide bait success. For me, a double screw eye and SST wire hinge pin gave me the most freedom of movement in my V shaped joints. Plus, it allowed me to adjust both the joint gap and the alignment of the sections so I got the S action I wanted, and a symmetrical water flow over the bait.

I've had the opposite experience. I actually use runny super glue to reinforce the thread holes in my balsa baits. I drill a small pilot hole, run the screw in and then back out again, to cut the threads in the wood. Then I put a drop or two of runny super glue over the hole, using a wire to get it down in, and let it soak into the wood. I think the glue soaks into the wood and reinforces the area around the hole. After a minute, I coat the screw threads with brush-on super glue, which has a longer setting time, and run the screw into the hole again. I don't have screws seize before they are in position, and the squeeze out forms a locking "faring" at the base of the screw eye, to further prevent unscrewing. I've never had a screw eye pull out, or unscrew.

My friend pours my 3/8oz and 1/2oz weedless arkie head jigs with Mustad 32786 BLN hooks, 4/0, and I can open the eyes with an awl and hammer to get the blades on, and then squeeze them closed again with a pair of pliers.

For the record, Dave "Vodkaman" is the reason I was able to make a successful glide bait.

I've read here on TU that you have to really careful using Future, because it sets up so hard if you don't clean your airbrush really well, and really quickly. Does your mixture have that same characteristic, or is it more forgiving?

For a buck, isn't it is worth a try?

I use clear nail polish from the dollar store. Quick, convenient (each bottle has it's own brush), and as durable as I need. Try a bottle. For a buck, what do you have to lose?

Would a narrower head allow more side to side movement of the blade? If so, I think that's a good thing.

Those look really close. Thanks.

It looks SOOOO good!

I want to match both the watermelon/copper flake and the orange/red flake in the Yamamoto Flappin Hog. I can get close to the watermelon, but I'm having trouble with the orange. My orange looks more muddy than their orange. Any help would be appreciated, since I am now making two 6 cavity molds, one of the 3 3/4" and one of the 4 1/2". I've gotten close before, but I'd really like to nail it. Thanks ahead of time.

Do you use a base color for your plastic baits, and then paint them, or pour them clear?

Is that a photo finish?

Just remember, vises are like vices. You gotta pay to play!

I use a Do-it Arkie mold, because I want to be able to add a weed guard.