mark poulson

Just wanted to give a big thank you to LPO for their service. They provide exactly what they advertise, and get it to you quickly. I ordered Tues. morning, and it was in my mailbox Friday afternoon. Good outfit to deal with.

I use Createx, Wildlife, or just about any water-based sir brush paint. The size of the paint particles is the key to a good air brush paint. Here's a link to one source: http://www.coastairbrush.com/categories.asp?cat=11 I always do a really light first coat over the raw plastic, and heat set it well. You can get some really neat transparent/translucent paint jobs that way.

If you're going to spend $50 on a jerky gun/baster, you might as well spend another $20 and buy a real injector. http://www.basstackle.com/Hand_injector_p/injector.htm

My wife and I planned a getaway, but, when the baby sitters crapped out, we wound up taking three kids, including a toddler. I got up early to go get some coffee, brushed my teeth in the dark, and that's when I realized I had put the baby's Desitin on my tooth brush instead of tooth paste. Of course, the wife and kids woke up when I was spitting and cursing, and they still laugh about it!

you actually know what you're doing, something comes up and slaps you upside the head to bring you back to your senses. Yesterday I decided to powder paint some spinnerbait blanks. I set up my heat gun, got out the spinnerbait blanks, and the rack to hang them on, once I got them coated. I got my glo white and glo yellow out, turned on the heat gun, and held my first spinnerbait over the heat with a pair of needle nose pliers, for a five count on each side. Then I held the bait over the powder, and spread a pinch of white over one side of the head. It didn't stick/melt, so I did another five count on each side, and tried again. Again, no deal. So I moved back to the heat gun and did another five one the first side. When I went to turn the bait over to heat the other side, it fell apart! I stopped, thought "Thats weird", and then I looked at my glo powder again. I had opened two jars of Glo Nation glo powder, not my powder coat. Doh!!! I had to laugh at myself. So I closed the glo powder, and opened my two jars of glo powder coat paint. Surprise, it worked like a charm! Hahaha

I only buy in gallons, but I wonder how much settling there is in 55 gallon drums? Does it depend on the supplier?

Thanks.

Could you modify an Arkie jig mold by putting some high temp silicone in it, and then laying the jig head you like into the mold, and closing it to force the extra silicone out? I'm assuming you can get an Arkie mold with a big enough cavity to hold your swim jig head.

What do you use to rotate your mold?

I haven't had any success with UV coatings on hard baits. However, dipping soft plastics quickly (acetone melts soft plastic in UV dip coat (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/CS_Coatings_UV_Blast_Worm_Dip/descpage-CSWORMDIP.html) really works.

I mix Glonation glow powder into my paint. It shoots fine through my 3.5 nozzle. Using a Createx clear as a base works. I haven't tried it in any other paint, because I think the pigments would mask the UV glo. My best results have been from mixing their white/green powder into clear nail polish, and then coating the baits after they're painted. This also works on spinnerbait heads and blades.

I use a 40+ year old oiled compressor, and have never had oil issues with my paint. Back when I first got the compressor it was to use on construction sites, and, in order to keep water from rusting out the tank, I poured compressor oil directly into the air storage tank, so I was worried when I began using it for air brushing fifteen years ago. But I've never had any issues. I have a filter right where the air come out of the compressor, and another at my paint station, just before the air brush connections.

Man, I am sooo jealous of your convection oven! It sounds like the hot setup.

You can experiment with temps and times by hanging some egg sinkers on paperclips, powder coat them with different colors, and then cure them at different temps and times. I'd guess the temp/time combination that works for one will work for most, but clears and special colors like your ruby slipper may need their own setups. I use a toaster oven to cure my baits, and I learned I have to not hang a bait directly over the heating element, or it will burn and dull the paint. I load my oven, set the temp for 350, and the time for thirty minutes. I figure it takes a little time to get up to 350, and to cool back down after cooking, so I'm guessing it's at 350 for thirty minutes total. I've learned to just keep the oven's door ajar when it's cool down time, and let the baits cool down completely in the oven, instead of trying to remove hot baits to speed the process. Hot powder paint will stick to itself, and ruin any bait that touches something else.

You might try curing at 350. I do that, do not do any lead cleaning, and have never had any powder coat flaking.

Tuning a 2.5 before it's painted and top coated will get you really close. Fine tuning it after paint and top coat, once you've done the first tuning, if it's needed at all, is easy after that.

There are primers that are other colors. As a rule, white is the easiest to use, because most bait fish paint schemes start with a white/light belly, and lighter colors are easier to cover.

Relatively. The smaller the storage tank, the more often the compressor has to cycle to maintain pressure, and the harder the compressor motor has to work. If you're only painting occasionally, and not big batches, that compressor will probably last a long time.

I would make a test joint with two pieces shaped like my bait's joints. See how it holds up to folding the two pieces to one side hard, like a fish would when it's trying to throw the bait. It's better to fail in the shop than in the boat.

In my experience, you get what you pay for. A smaller compressor works harder, so it may be prone to failure more quickly if it's not made well.

Try adding the flake first, after you've heated the plastic, and then add the colorant to build up to the color you want.

Great process of elimination!

I found that, with hard swimbaits, tapering from a full width back of 7/8" to 5/8" at the belly, starting at the bottom of the shoulders of the bait, created a very stable bait that could be burned on the retrieve without rolling. I think it might have been because I removed some of the buoyant material from the belly, but maybe it's just a more stable shape. It's kind of like a V/battleship profile. Maybe the same thing will hold true with a soft swimbait. Flat sided cranks roll less, so there seems to be a connection between side profile and bait stability. Maybe the flat sides offer more resistance to the water, and dampen the roll. A thinner, "taller" profile might also help. Look at the Huddelston/type swimbaits. Maybe you could deepen the belly of your existing mold to get the taller profile. Another thing some successful soft swimbaits have is dorsal fins, which also add another vertical flat surface to increase stability. Then, again, what do I know? Nothing, if you ask my family! Hahaha

Any rattle can primer van be used under Createx. I use Rustoleum X2 white primer, but there are lots of different ones out there. Sanding sealer is meant to be used on wood, to lock the grain so it can be sanded smoother before painting. With Resin, PVC, and plastic baits, you don't need a sanding sealer. A sanding sealer needs to be soft enough to sand easily, or you'll be sanding forever. Glue-type epoxy is not soft, and is a poor choice. Epoxy will work as a sealer, but you have to sand it's surface with fine sandpaper after it's set so you paint will have something to grab onto, a mechanical bond. Otherwise, the surface of the epoxy is too smooth . The paint gets down into the sanding scratches and grabs. An etching primer will help your paint even stick better. With resin and PVC you still have to prime your baits. The purpose of a primer is to give your bait a undercoating of porous paint that will give your paint scheme something to hold onto. If you're painting plastic baits, dip them quickly in clean acetone, let them hang a minute to drip dry, and then you can spray Createx directly onto the plastic. The dip in the acetone removes a thin layer of the plastic's surface, exposing a completely fresh, clean plastic surface that your Createx will bond to. Just use thin coats, heat set each coat with a hair dryer, and be sure to use a good top coat to protect the paint job. I hope this is clear, and helps.

I resemble that remark!