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PP- this is something I can sympathise with, sound's like a conspiracy to me - Here we have a lot of problems, but no one owns lakes or beaches here, and public access is guaranteed just about anywhere except native land, where you need a permit!! As for your luck, you are doing better than me, I have been trying to contact Shane ('Montana Fishing Rods') for six months - he owes me 2 rods - I'm assuming he is your "TU buddy in MT"????????????????????????? Hope you get more satisfaction from Montana than I have. Pete

Depends what paint you use but for w/b acrylics I use Methylated Spirits (that's Denatured Alcohol there) - there is also a new ammonia free Windex out that should not eat away your brush.Pete

Milia- This is serious Blokey talk here ---------------- Dave I was going to refer CB321 to you and the vids, welcome back. Pete

JP- If your Polycarbonate is cracking/crazing the oil is probably too cold, heat it up a bit an dip for shorter period - thinner Poly (1mm) is better because it retains less moisture, which also causes it to craze/crack. If you want to use thicker poly, place the blanks in the oven @ about 150F for 1/2 an hour to dry it. To test the oil for correct heat, place a strip of scrap poly in the oil and stir it around, when the right temp is reached it will bend easily, just by the movement through the oil.pete

Big 'Ball Sinkers'. Pete

S/L- do a search for 'Eyes' and you will find more, but here is a recent thread that covers a lot. Pete http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/18183-home-made-eyes/page__hl__%20eyes

NWL- Try here, http://www.roemer.net/essex/fabulon.htm There is quite a few places selling this in the U.S, but no luck here (Australia), I notice someone is also selling it in the U.K so maybe it would be simple to get it over to Norway from there. Let us all know how it goes. Pete

Rick- Try this site , scroll down and find all the colour formulas you could want. Pete http://www.one-ring.co.uk/phpBB2/kb.php?mode=article&k=84

Very informative answer P/P- Along these lines I made a 'Brook Trout' a couple of years back, was a bit heavy but swam pretty good, I gave it to someone over there so I never got to find out if it tricked trout, but it looked the part - also shows what can be done with 'Pearls' to change colours. Pete

Kris- try misting a blue horizontal line along the bait then mist a red one parallel to and overlapping the blue, this will give you the red/blue/purple- get some scale pattern gauze and spray a light coat of 'silver pearl' over the lot including the belly,(this mutes the blue /red/ purples) ---Spray the back with some opaque black or green and you may be impressed. Takes a bit of practice, so maybe try spraying a small diameter white PVC pipe with a few patterns first. Pete

George-here's one, looked pretty good, it was coated with D2T, first rock it hit it spat off large chips, brittle epoxy does not like sticking to smooth surfaces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Pete

George- yes it has been done, looks good but there are issues with epoxy top coat not sticking to the Mylar and eventually chipping off, and of course cooking oil on the bag, but it's a good exercise in getting stuff to stick etc - use contact glue on both surfaces. I think there is still a bit on this process in the 'Tutorials section', have a look there. Make sure that any finish underneath is perfectly dry and smooth, as what you have underneath is what you will see on top (lumps /bumps through the Mylar finish).Pete

Fishunter- Are you sure that is epoxy you are dipping your bait into, sounds more like a thinners based clear – if dipping in epoxy you must have a lot and be mixing it 'too hot' to do all that damage. There will be an avalanche of advice here, but we all will need to know primer type, paint type 'clear epoxy'?? type etc. To me from what you have described, you have dipped in some sort of thinners based clear lacquer and because of it's high thinners content (slow drying time) it is attacking every paint/ primer underneath it- if so, its better to get all your paints and primers completely dry, then spray a few light coats of clear to seal everything before any dipping and for your first dip make it quick. There is a massive amount of info on 'dipping/stripping' and how to fix it in the library, do some searching.Pete

Dean- It has happened here with water, they have been telling us for nine years we are having a drought, BUT suddenly everyone seems to be up to their ears in water:lol:. And it's about time.Pete

Thanks Geppa, very well explained and a great effect, I will be trying something like this in 'Pearls', should look even better. Pete

Great design Bugpac, love the shape - like Diemai and others are saying , you won't get anywhere without some top buoyancy to right it. Instead of metal, have you thought of machining it out of something lighter like Nylon, Kevlar or Polycarbonate or maybe even casting it in resin with glass beads for buoyancy. Good luck with it, a great learning project.Pete

I have not used any moisture cure for a while but when I did I found the same problems when I painted it over w/b acrylics. The cure for mine, like 'Mags' and KC say, use a sealer before finishing with D.N - I used a spray can of 'Pastel' fixative, OR sprayed a seal coat of Propionate AND let it all set before finish coating and no problems from then on.Pete

I don't use Balsa, but I got this from someone who should know, 'There is a going to be a world wide Balsa shortage', so get out and buy your stash, especially in the larger sizes. They say that Balsa is supposed to be being used for insulation in fridges etc, as it's supposed to be more 'environmentally friendly' than foams etc, who knows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Pete

Wow, I'm shocked by this, I still remember his big beard and grin, so young, I knew he was crook, I don't know what to say here - hope his family is O.K ???- I'm having a beer for you Bruce and I hope you took your wire bender with you. RIP. Sincerely Pete

Gee Phil you old bastard, I forgot, I had it on all my calendars !!! The present is in the mail, sit back in your best chair (in a month or so) and dream about summer there and winter coming on here, I'm not. Hope you had a beer for me as well. Pete

Count me in to the next one Gene I just found your thread and sounds like a fun idea, although I will have to smarten my act up to make 10 in one go.Pete