Matt Moreau

Ya it works fine... Just be sure you wait about 20+ mins with D2T otherwise it will be too runny. I like the 5 min stuff because it flashes so quick and creates a good texture to work with... after a couple minutes you can pull the stir stick out and it is kinda like silly putty consistancy or caramel... thick and hard enough to mold on.... I didnt think about this but I have been using epoxy putty recently to fill holes, make fins and what not... That would probably be way easier to use.

Mark I do this with LC BDS crankbaits. they are silent but have a great action so I drill a hole in the top of the head add my BB's amd then fill with Devcon 5 minute epoxy. I mix the epoxy then wait until it starts to set and gets "stringy" ... I apply making sure it makes a good seal above and below the plastic layer.... let it set and then sand it down... color match to the bait and TC. I have done about 5 baits like this and none haev broke or leak as of yet. I am sure there are better ways people on here have found though!

WOW 21xdc.... I know glitter over the eyes is popular for teenage girlz but you didnt strike as being part of that demographic!

Saw a post some time back somewhere that a guy was making a turtle by using a spoon... He filled the spoon with your choice plastic and I think put some living rubber for legs and tail.... lol kinda crude but may work!

Vents in your mold and an injector help with the imperfections. I goto the local hospital supply and buy the biggest syringe they have with a cathedar tip. then just draw the resin in and inject into the mold and let it spew out the vents. you will have a few spots to fill with filler but a quick sand and epoxy coat later and your good to go.

I think its impossible to confuse Dave!!!

From my baits i have made and TC's tried I think Automotive clear is the best for clarity and flash. You have to be able to spray it safely though!

I took a long bolt and ground the head square so it fits inside the rotis motor... then screwed the bolt into a 1x1 piece of wood and epoxy it in there. That way is just a preassure fit into the motor. No glue or anything holds it in just the pressure from it fitting into my base, so if I need to take it apart its cake. Simple but works good. I dont have any pics of the drive but here is the whole thing. can hold 40 cranks or 16 swimbaits.

As far as best KO.... thats open for debate! I like Bustin Bass for stuff to PLAY with. Nothing compares to the real deal though and if you are looking for that magical KO... better luck finding the tooth fairy! Look a few posts down. BobP had a great write up on Bustin Bass Baits

Ya Dave I have used this metod on crankbaits and it works good. I am just affraid that the pelvic fins on this lil bait are going to collapse when I pour the RTV as it is the softest swimbaitbait i have touched! I cant figure out how to get around it though except get some really thin SS wire and try to pin them?

There are a bunch of places that have blanks. Do a search and you will find em. Here is where I have ordered from. BustinBassBaits.com Predator Ebay

I had the same problem making wake baits. So now I use the resign and MB mixture like you stated but I fill my mold with chopped up cork. then I take a large syringe and inject the mold. Still leaves some voids and such but a little wood filler and you are good to go. Also you have to have a mold that has good air escapes or you will have lots of defections. I dont know if this get it light enough but it really lightens my baits. Dave and I may do some experiments doing this with balsa if we get time but the reason I think cork works so well is that it doesnt absorb moisture. Good luck!

I forgot to add window cleaner in my reducer above. here is the breakdown if you want it... 12oz Distilled water 4oz Denatured Alcohol 4oz Amonia free window cleaner 10 drops Glycerine

First of all it sounds like you need to clean your AB really good. You should be able to shoot createx without reducing. Createx is made to be used from the bottle although it is thick and I reduce a little. The only ones I cant spray from the bottle are the irredescents. As far as how much to reduce....well all paints and colors are different... as a rule of thumb you want it like 2% milk. So transparent colors I bareley reduce if any maybe 10-20% reducer... Opaque can be from 10-40% reducer... Pearls are same as opaque but usually take a bit more. Irredescents I have gone over 50% to get them to spray. Its all about what tip you have and what pressure you are running. so start out with a little and keep adding and trying till you get a ratio that works. I reduce my createx with with a special homebrew formula I found on an airbrushing website. I have posted it on TU before but there are a bunch of ways to reduce your paint. Do a search on reduce or reducer and you will have pages to read if you want more than what I tell you. For water based paints like createx you can use plain ole water from the tap. Some people use glass cleaner like windex ( I suggest you use one without amonia found in auto department of stores). Some use a a mixture of Pledge Future Floor polish and water. You can always buy ruducer from the company that sells your paint like createx. I personally use a mixture of denatured alcohol, water and glycerin. For air pressure I run from 25-35 PSI but have gone as low as 15. Some people like to thin and run really low. I have heard as low as like 7 or 8 I think.

I also use auto clear and researched it extensively... On an airbrushing forum frequent I read a post awhile back that stated the flash off after the part has been sprayed and is drying is just as harmful for you as the actual spraying. His theory was that while you have the particles in the air while spraying the actual vapors while it dried was just as if not more harmful to you. He stated always wear a mask in the room where they are drying or let dry outside. I spray my water based paints in my garage but I will not spray auto clear. I either wait for a nice day and do it outside or I use a different clear if the weather is bad and I don’t want to wait.

Hey Guys, I have a really soft swimbait that I want to cast in RTV. This thing is 5x softer than a hud and I have no clue how to cast it without the tail and fins collapsing . Any ideas? It is a lot like the matt lures tournament series swimbait but a homebrew guy did them and I cant find them anymore. Any help is appreciated!

Hey Bob, I should have touched more on this but yes there is more to changing the size but not much. I changed my talon from .3 to .5 so I would have a base/flake gun as it doesnt compare to my eclipse. all that was needed was the needle, nozzle and cap and its good to go... should be the same for the iwata.

$7.00 I think or around there

Wow was researching the Iwata Revolution Air brushes for a thread and came across a Mini version... this thing is kinda cool! http://www.airbrush-iwata.com/objects/altre/Mini_Revolution_En.pdf

Well I am not familiar with the Revolution but I just did some research on it and it looks like they have 2 gravity fed guns that fit what you are looking for. The one with the large cup has a .5 needle and the one with the small cup has the .3 needle. so I looked at the parts pages on Coastal Airbrush and TCP Global and it looks like they offer both needles so I would imagine that they are interchangible. I am sure someone with a Revolution will reply shortly. Revolution HP-BR = .3 size tip Revolution HP-CR = .5 tip http://www.coastairbrush.com/products.asp?cat=33 Coast is my favorite place to order from and they match or beat anyones price.

I cant compare between the two as I have an Eclipse and never used the revolution. But the Eclipse is an awesome gun and well worth the money! I own a few guns tho and I can say between the Eclipse and Paasche Talon the Eclipse if far superior in every aspect. With any Iwata you will not be sorry(except that new one as I dont know anything about it). If I was a begginer I would get the Rev just because of the price point and parts are a bit cheaper too I think. I have a horrible habbit of dropping the nozzle for my eclipse when I clean it and it always dents and gets ruined. At $25 a pop it gets a bit pricey. Plus, while learning to clean and maintain your gun you may damage a part that isnt replacible so learing on something thats a bit cheaper may be a good idea.

Ok ok I cant resist anymore.......This debate will never end as its ones opinion and very hard to prove. that being said here is my 2C! Everything has a time and place. Everything matters to some extent. It's how we as anglers put together the puzzle and figure out how the fish are reacting to our presentation. Personally I choose a bait based on conditions. Today that may be what color I think the situation calls for then choose the style, action and size. In this order all the time? NO! Do I think some of these matter more than the other? YES! But what the fish want now is going to be different than what they want in an hour, day, week.... so what matters most today isnt going to be what matters most tomorrow. Thus understanding the environment, feeding habits, predominant prey and fish tendencies should be on the top of your list. Example...I fish a body of water here in CA that for about 2 weeks out of the year (Right before Prespawn) the only thing you can pattern a bass on is a RED crankbait. Can you catch a fish on something else? YES, but the quality and pattern comes from that red bait. It doesnt matter if you are throwing a Bomber, lucky craft or xyz bait as long as its a deep rich RED. I have won tournaments using this pattern. One where we had 23lbs for 5 and the next closest competitor was at 14lbs out of an 86 boat field. My nextdoor Neighbor is an FLW PRO and Tournament winner and he also swears by this. So my point is that during this time Color is the key indicatior not the action or other variables. On the other hand I test my lures in my back yard and catch fish on unpainted cranks that are just sealed and looking like freankenstein. They have no paint or anything but still catch fish... so in this case Action is more than likely the leading contributor. Hunting lures I feel add to the realism of a bait and therefore only help the catching ability. Some lures truely out perform others and god knows I have had lures that I thought were the cats meaow until they got imploaded on a rock, piling, dock or one of my buddies favorite targets...MY MOTOR COWLING! But even when you have the diamond in the ruff if the fish are keying on other factors then action its not going to help you.

WOW Bob great write up! To add I have tried the RC2.5 KO and the LV 500 KO... Both run decent and are put together better than any other KO I have tried. The seams or welds are good and they both have a low amount of defects overall. The RC 2.5 runs similar to the real RC. I don’t think it has as much wobble and the bill is slightly different but it is a very fishable bait and one that I do use when playing around. Make no mistake I fish the real ones in prefish and tourneys but to go out and just goof off one night after work I use the KO's. But I live on the water so it’s not a loss for me to do that. The LV is another story... IMHO the LV lacks in Vibration from that of the real LV. The top of the bait before the line tie is to thin and doesn’t create the vortices like the real one does. That is a big negative in my book as I want a lipless bait to just be as loud and obnoxious as it can be. Also the sound is off... it’s not as crisp if that makes sense. I don’t really fish these and I bought 10!!! They will probably all go in the pile for when the big strippers come into town.