diemai

Hi , folks Still managed to get to my workshop for a little while before work , so I could not help it to paint some more details onto my lure:) ! Now I am in trouble about deciding on a pair of stick-on ,- or painted eyes for my little "carp" . Painted ones would surely fit better to the paint style , but I am scared not to get them as round shaped as neccessary to look good:huh: . I would still have to think over it , probably I should use stick-on eyes , but paint a blending peripher around them ? Greetz , Dieter

@ Rick S I suppose that a swimbait is not the most typical of a saltwater lure ! But I wish to have seen the laughter freezing on those guys faces ! Great ! Keep on carvin' , diemai

@ DSV You are very productice , indeed ! Obviously you have employed some kinda jig or form to shape your wire eyelets , since they look alike one for one . If you are able to furnish such neat eyes , why not making at least the hinge eyes a lot smaller , I think you could even go down to about half of their present diameter . This step would render the sections closer together about half way , too:yes: ! Also smaller eyes are less prone to deform under tension . Greetz , diemai

Thank you guys for your kind words:worship: , but I am also a little surprised myself , that it turned out quite well so far(especially the blending tones of the body) . But I would never call myself an artist , I am just someone that ever liked to create something with his own hands ! Too bad , I don't think , that I could proceed with painting tomorrow morning , my wife intends to go somewhere and wants me around , so no time for my workshop before work . Maybe only one hour , but I won't spend it on this bait , can't afford to rush to continue with a neat job , since THIS time I gotta trick Murphy , I know , that he won't sleep ! Greetz , Dieter

Hi , folks Well , my little "carp" by now is slowly evolving , in fact this kind of painting is very time consuming , but its great fun to me , would have loved to proceed , but lateshift's waiting again ! Greetz , Dieter

@ mark poulson Yeah , so true , women and girls know strange and subtle ways to get through and to follow their intentions:wink: , men most likely can't get behind it , until they're hooked . I know this from my wife and daughter as well:lol: , just sweet-talking to me with a certain glance and smile......"my dear daddy... do you know.......?" And soon my wallet is empty , and I won't even be angry:lol: ! Alright , I have just connected my swimbait and rigged it onto a jig , that I made years ago to paint jointed baits . The rectangular wood dowel has to be rather slim to maintain good access for brush painting and/or spraying . To prevent it from falling on its side , one can fix spring-loaded clamps(carpenter's clamps work as well , but not as easy to handle) onto one or either end of the dowel The lure is put under tension by a looped piece of cord(this one here is supposed for kite flying) , that is twisted and locked with a piece of wire onto the front eyescrew . This way the blank sits reasonably rigid , enough for my painting purposes . Now , that the lure is fixed this way , I could furnish the final painting , the blending of colors and the color transitions from section to section would surely turn out better , as if painting the sections one by one , as I did for the initial paint coats:wink: . Greetz , Dieter PS: utilized a piece of cardboard for the pics for better visibility , in case , one might wonder what this is for on my workbench ?

@ mark poulson A real great compliment to a father , indeed:yes: ! I have learned this paint style during my childhood making all kinds of models , either plastic kits or also my own designs , I was ever into building things . But I am not too good in it , I have a luremaking book of Swedish origin(German edition) , the author realy takes it to the top there , if I was half as good as him , I'd be satisfied ! But I guess , that it would even still take more time:huh: ! I am like you , if I know in advance , that something would take long , I am OK with it , no problem . But if any unexpected delay should come up , no matter what , I could get quite mad about that . I guess , I grew this attitude since I am forced to work in a shift system since 1992 , my days are always torn apart and I got to dislike my job nowadays , since the pressure on us increases frequently , so I consider my leisure time to be too precious for any kind of hold-ups:yes: . It got to a real "spleen" , I guess , when I was younger , I took things much more cool . But as said before , I don't mind working over a lure for a longer period of time , it is important to me , to have a senseful leisuretime occupation at all and not just waiting to go to work . @ DSV Thanks , but it is never finished like this , I will still apply more colors and also paint on some details:yes: ! Greetz , Dieter

@ rofish Hahaha , I guess , that it is priceless:lol: ! But apparantly I am not a patient kinda guy at all(f.e. when looking for a place to park in Hamburg on a Saturday morning !) , but when it comes to sit in my workshop , all my worries and concerns about anything are miles away(just as when standing at the waters edge with the rod in my hand) , so I don't need to rush , as with so many other things nowadays:yes: ! Greetz , Dieter

It's been quite a while , since I've posted here last , but that doesn't mean , that I'm not procceding with my "Banana" lures as well ! Only the paint failure of my swimbait kept me busy for some time , also the lure shown here(in pink) I had to clean off again , since that new yellow spray paint evolved crackles on it , too:( . Like my swimbait in my other thread I also decided on brush-painting it with modelmaking enamels . Off course such a finish can never make up with the airbrush beauties shown here on TU , but I am OK with it(local fish obviously too) , I'd rather prefer designing , constructing and carving lures rather them painting them . Kinda sad , but true:huh: ! For some other lures , that I am presently working on(also one "Banana" and the "SuperBug" knock-off) I am planning on a metal flake finish . Never did it on wooden baits before , only on spoons , but I am sure , that it would work out on those as well , though it is also quite time consuming . It requires several gloss coats to sprinkle on the glitter particles until achieving proper coverage , after some more coats to achieve a reasonably smooth surface . Some other "Banana's" are almost finished so far(check second pic) , only want to apply some glitter jelly as well and after topcoat them ! Greetz , Dieter

Thanks , Mark:) ! Here is a pic of a section of my swimbait in(second:huh:)painting process . I am now using model making enamels , which takes a lot longer than spraying . To get a nice effect of blending the tones , I wipe off most off the paint from the brush and shortly press the almost dry brush onto the surface rather than making the usual strokes . I start out with the lighter colors and after go to the darker ones bit by bit , tone for tone:wink: ! The advantage is , if one section or one side of the blank should turn out uneven to the others , one can paint over with the lighter tones again . A very time consuming method , but I am in good hope , to achieve quite a realistic look , though not as lifelike , as it would be possible by airbrush . For the final paint touch-up and detail painting I consider to connect the sections for an even look . Greetz , Dieter

"Tracing something on every piece of wood....:)" , seems , that the bug has already badly bitten you....... ! So am I , whilst all machines are running at work , I always have pencil and paper handy to sketch down some new and different ideas and designs . Sometimes my workmates come around saying something like "ey , man , something new again ? You've gotta have enough by now , or not ?" So I just reply , that one can never have enough lures , impossible:nuhuh: ! Keep on carvin' , Dieter

@ mark poulson In fact I am not the most patient kinda guy , but when I want something done well , there is no way going without:lol: ! @ Perch Caught this one last summer in a small , but deep pond , an old clay pit , I suppose . I accidendally hooked it on the belly with a medium sized "Turbo"-spoon(check gallery for "array of spoons")on lighter tackle . It went like a steam engine , there was absolutely nothing , that I could do , but tighten the drag as much as possible with my thin braid . It got hooked on the other bank at the backround of picture , since I didn't know that water too much , I have at first thought(and hoped) , that I had hooked a silure:wink: . The fish got stuck into the reed , and I had already stripped my pants down to have a swim , when it moved again into open water , so my wife could finally net it after about 10 minutes fight . It was 31" and 18.5 lbs , my biggest carp so far , but as said before , accidentally and badly hooked . Such a fish won't usually go on your bait that easily ! BTW : tomorrow morning I am going to procced with my bait again , these model making enamels sometimes take long to dry for painting over . Greetz , Dieter

Well done lure:yay:, and sooooooo...... fast(to me !) Hope , the fish come in as fast as well:yes: ! Greetz , Dieter

@ redg8r Hi , maybe I am too dump:huh: to understand all this immediately , I am just missing an option to pay the fee via PayPal and/or creditcard , only found something about offline payment so far . Also I miss further info about the pre-registration coupons , if I understood right , there should be a coupon number somewhere to have it registered to gain the coupon benefits . Would be glad about some more info concerning the payment procedure and my request:yes: ! greetz , diemai (Germany)

Hi , folks Meantime I have removed all that crackled paint from my swimbait with my "Dremel" and small rotary metal bristle brushes . These brushes have very fine bristles , I have found , that the steel ones still work a bit better than the ones of brass . But still the proccess takes quite a while , but works well , the hardwood remains untouched , only the weightholes , closed with two-component glue , grew small indentions , since the glue is obviously softer as the wood . Had to do the same with one of my teakwood "Banana" lures , also used this rubbish yellow paint on it . The teakwood was a little affected by the brushing , small woodgrains were torn away , but the general outer shape remained preserved . By now I have already applied first new primer,-and paintcoats onto these lures , but it would still take quite a while , until completed ! Greetz , Dieter

@ DSV I use leadshot , ball ,-or olive sinkers and even rolls of roofing lead sheet as weights . I don't plan upon the weight locations , it's just trial and error ! Gliding jerks and now also swimbaits I don't even test for their action , I just set them to sink horizontally(most jerkbaits require TWO weights fore and aft , not just only ONE in their center) . After I'd swage the weights to shape and set them into approbiate holes in the lures . Afterwards I may try the lure for action . Crankbaits I try in my bath tube with their weights still taped on , it does have an impact on the action , but it is not that much . I guess , I wrote a little more about this in that thread( or maybe , in my "new Banana lure" thread , not that sure anymore) .

@ DSV Don't know , wether you have read over my thread "swimbait , very first attempt" entirely:huh: , but on pages 5 , 6 and 7 there are some statements about weighting to be seen ! Off course I don't claim my method to be the best one , certainly not:nono: ! Greetz , Dieter

@ bahlzar If I understood right , you have weighted the three sections one by one(single) to render your bait to be sinking:?? Does the now assembled lure sink in an about horizontal position ? I believe , that this is essential for a proper resemblance of a real fish . But in terms of your well done trout finish you surely have accomplished this resemblance , truly nice looking baits ! Greetz , diemai

@ DSV Sorry , seems , that I did not quite understand about your idea , now I did ! You'd have to furnish TWO water release holes , not only one ! They should probably not be smaller in diameter than 1/10" , rather more a bit larger . One would be for water to flow out , the other for air to go in , this way the water would come out rather fast . I guess , it would be best to possibly place them in about paralell to the length axis of the lure , because when you take out the lure to cast again , it would hang tail-down on the line . Then you swing the rod backward , it would still be tail-down during that motion , allowing water to flow out all this time , so that your lure has lost a lot of weight already to be able to cast it with your light rod . The whole affair stands and falls with the size of the hollow chamber(amount of water to release)and the diameter of the TWO holes(speed of release) . Well , these are my theories about this matter:? , good luck , Dieter

@ mouldybits Check that site , that BEZYB mentioned , there should be somewhere an instruction for a lure called "The Roach" there . I'd strictly recommend this one to start out , it's easy to build and easy to balance(requires only one lead weight in its belly) . Also easy to fish , pull it , twitch it , jerk it or just reel it , it always provides swimming action at 1 to 15 feet approx. , depending on built-in sink rate . You may read more about it here in the hardbait gallery , I posted some there under their original name "Heiddy" jerkbait . greetz and good success , diemai