mark poulson

I've done that with baits that have eyes that I glued into them, to put a coat of clear over the eyes to make them smoother. It holds up pretty well.

When I use bondo as a filler, after I've sanded it to shape, I apply a coat of runny super glue to the bondo. It soaks into the bondo, and makes it both harder and stronger. I do a light 400 grit sanding last, in case there are any imperfections in the glue.

Rodney, First of all, good luck with your wrist. We beat the hell out of our bodies when we're young and immortal, and don't know any better. I will continue to use a dust mask, and a box fan behind me, blowing out an open garage door. It's not perfect, but I don't get technicolor boogers.

If I did want a matte finish, I'd put on several layers of gloss, and then knock down the gloss with a scotch brite pad. But matte looks glossy as soon as it is in the water, so I don't bother.

I just caught my first bass on a Predator Baits knockoff. They are as advertised, and came to me quickly, too. Great action, easy to paint, and, obviously, doesn't require skill to actually catch fish.

I've found that the long chain polymer molecules that produce a gloss finish are also the strongest, most durable, for baits. When I buy a bait that has a matte finish, I immediately coat it with a gloss clear, to protect the paint. Otherwise, the finish will be trashed after one day of fishing.

Which mold is that?

Thanks.

Do they sell your plastic in one gallon jugs? Is the glitter they sell yours as well?

I use one of these, and it's a pain to get the saran wrap and rubber gasket lined up right every time. Plus I'm getting skinning after only one month, even though I use Bloxygen, so I'm thinking of trying one of the pickle jars I have in abundance, thanks to my youngest's love of dills.

A simple painter's dust mask will work fine for water based paints like Createx, because there are no solvent fumes.

I used to use these syringes for control line airplane fueling. Maybe they'd work. https://www.amazon.com/Syringes-Plastic-Reusable-Syringe-Scientific/dp/B01GIU6716

I don't use a spray booth or mask, but I spray toward an open garage door with a box fan behind me. Dust from Createx isn't anywhere near as bad as solvent fumes, but it's still not what you want to breathe. Dust is what causes Asbestosis and Coal Miner's Lung.

I add some .008 glitter to some transparent base, and brush it on over my paint scheme, before I top coat. Use a soft brush, and don't over brush, or you can move your paint.

After I draw my bait's outline on a rectangular blank, including the eye location, I drill a small pilot hole for the eye all the way through on my drill press. That way, no matter how much material I take off in the shaping, the eye locations on both side of the bait are the same.

Really nice!

Thinned epoxy actually penetrates into the POP, give a good mechanical bond for the second coat, and making peeling minimal.

That is a really well thought out and executed idea! Congrats.!!!

If you want a 1/4 oz finished bait, take everything you want to use, except the body, and weigh it. Subtract that weight from .25 oz, and whatever is left is the weight you want your body to be.

I wonder if hilite powder would also move to the tails. I also wonder if you could do a two color with chart. tails and another color for the bodies. It looks interesting, but I don't think it's for me.

I just figured out how to put a small amount of dip and dye on my plastic baits, without dunking them and going too deep. I shake the plastic bottle, set it down, take the top off the bottle and lay it next to the open bottle. Then I take the claws, or swimbait tail, that I want to dye, and push it into the cap. There's enough dye left from me shaking the bottle to dye one bait, and that way I have more control over where the dye goes. I use the pens as well, and actually prefer to use them, but I carry a bottle, too, because the pens dry out sometimes. Just something that works for me. Do not try it on a windy day, or in rough water, unless you have a dye-proof area in your boat to do your dye work. Otherwise you will wind up with chartreuse carpet, sooner or later.

I don't know either, and I'm too cheap to buy one just to find out! Hahaha

Thanks.

No, the D2T I'm talking about is Devcon 30 minute epoxy, better known here as Devcon Two Ton (D2T). I mix the two parts of the epoxy thoroughly, and then add some denatured alcohol to thin it, so the first coat is absorbed by the POP. A second thinned coat completes the sealing of the mold. I add the carpenters glue after I've mixed the POP, and before I pour, so it adds to the POP's strength.

I think your problem is the acrylic sealer. All the acrylic clears I've tried as sealers for hard baits, from spray clears to concrete sealers, react to the plasticizer in soft plastic and melt. I keep those baits separate from my soft plastics. Find another sealer for your molds. I mix some yellow carpenter's glue into my POP to make it stronger, so it holds details better, and seal my molds with two coats of D2T, thinned with denatured alcohol after they're thoroughly mixed. Last, I spray my POP molds with PAM cooking spray before each pour.