Downriver Tackle

You need an N95 prefilter and an organic vapor cartridge. Change the vapor cartridge when you can smell the paint.

You're right, they are pretty crappy with U.V. resistance, but a good clear keeps them bright for years in a lure application. Also, the Auto Air will last much longer than regular Createx. Unfortunately, flourescents are generally one single pigment and cannot be tinted with conventional colors to match it. I just used it on this new Firecraw bait.

Createx or Auto Air flo yellow.

Besides the wide fan, it sounds more like a paint issue. Try playing with the pressure to the gun and thin the paint.

Leave it to me to get all technical. LOL Createx is a self-crosslinking paint. In other words, the catalyst is built right into the paint polymer, but isn't initiated until a certain temp is reached. When it is reached, the two molecules react and become one chemical and water resistant molecule.

Thanks. It is a unique pigment that gives Lucky's that different look. Yep, stencil on the stripes. I must have about 100 different stripe stencils by now.

Just got done with some Brown Shrimp repros with the Paliocrom Blue.

Just wondering for when I run out of the Paliocrom pigment. Is that Wasco EXACT, I mean EXACT face on and on an angle, or just close? One can demand alot of $$$ for an EXACT Lucky Craft repro, or any other pearls like that. Close doesn't matter to some. I'd sure like a cheaper way to match it.

That's what I do with the Paliocrom pigment. I just add it to Autoair transparent base. 1-2% by weight. I've seen other blue pearls that look close. I think there was one at Home Depot that looked close. There were quarts of dry pearls for real cheap for home projects.

For less money than the Harbor Freight kit, you can get a Passche VL kit. They're aroud $80 and you get 3 needle/tip combos, bottles, and line. And you can easily get replacement parts.

Yep, I have a couple. Absolute garbage, even for the $5 I paid for each. Paint spitters. They're OK for shooting primers, but that's about it.

Createx needs heat to fully cure and become water-resistant. I heat all my baits at 120 degrees for 15-20 minutes before I clear them. Second, the clearcoat. I'd go with something other than w/b urethane. Many suggestions here.

Funny you ask, I'm painting a bunch right now. Actually, Autoair isn't even the right color, though it will get you close. The pigment is actually a pearl called Paliocrom blue from BASF. If you really want to match it exactly, you need to find a BASF auto paint distributor, and they might have some. If I remember correctly, it goes for $600/pound.

Cool music!

Sounds like either your porportions are off, it's not mixed thoroughly, or if you're thinning it with the wrong solvent, the reaction is getting robbed and not fully curing.

Yep. Any alcohol will interfere with the reaction of the D2T. The reaction relies on oxygen and hydrogen, and alcohol is just about all hydrogen and oxygen, so something in the glue is getting robbed. A 3:1 mix of MEK : toluene will work great. No reaction problems and it will level much better than straight acetone and much less likely to blush or cloud the finish.

Regular Createx was originally designed as a fabric paint.

I'm in the artistic boat too. It isn't just fine detail though. I do allot of baits with contrasting colors, like chart. belly / purple back. Without thinning it, the purple edges look grainy and there's distinct overspray. Thin it out a bit and the edges fade beautifully. Autoair metallics, and the opaques mentioned previously, are the paints I found that have to be thinned to get great results.

Vinegar is acid. Probably much worse.

Nothing to be sorry for. We're all here to learn and like to play chemist. Nothing better than a little chemistry lesson to help.

If it says "Koncentrate", they're kinda contradicting the "ready to spray" statement.

I've seen it occasionally at hardware stores, and auto paint retailers usually carry it. The proper name is ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, but may be marketed as EB solvent. That being said, I still wouldn't try a home brew with it. There's still the Ph issue. Factory thinners usually have an amine in there to boost the Ph to match that of the paint. Without it, there's still a chance to shock the paint. Best thing to do is use the manufactures thinner, unless they specifically state that it can be thinned with straight water. Some cheap art acrylics can be thinned with water only. Most high performance acrylics cannot. As I posed in the other thread: if you are using Windex and there's no problems, then keep at it. Just keep what I posted in mind if you ever use it with a different paint, or even color, and have a problem that you can't explain.

From the same Wiki page: The patented formula was: 4.0% isopropyl alcohol (a highly volatile solvent) 1% ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (a less volatile solvent), 0.1% sodium laurel sulfate (a surfactant), 0.01% tetrasodium pyrophosphate (a water softener), 0.05% of 28% ammonia, 1% of a dye solution, and 0.01% perfume, the balance is water. But as noted, the formula changed to new solvents. The problem with either formula is the level of glycol ether, and type now with the new formula. Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether is the prefered solvent and universally compatible with most acrylics. n-hexyl ether is not compatible with all acrylics. Beyond the type, the percentage needs to be higher. All that alcohol is a problem also. The gycol ethers act as what's called coalescing solvents and are what allows waterborne emulsions to be miscible in water, and necessary to add alcohols. Without the proper level of cosolvent(generally 4-7% minimum), the whole paint mix could become unstable and no longer be water soluable. Thus, the paint components separate and you get a clumpy mess in a bottle or gun. I'm just as guilty of trying to shortcut it. I have a bottle of Autoair flo yellow that I blew out a few weeks ago. Thought I'd thin it just slightly with water alone, but the next day I had a bottle with a layer of water, resin, and pigment. Scrap! I've done it many times before with no problem, but every batch of paint is different. If the factory was adjusting the viscosity with just water, they could have stretched it to the limit, and I just pushed it over the edge with what I added. I would say that if you are using Windex and there's no problems, then keep at it. Just keep what I posted in mind if you ever use it with a different paint, or even color, and have a problem that you can't explain. Just food for though for everyone.

That's probably something different. More than likely flakes that aren't orienting correctly. Most of the time if it curdles(kicked out in paint terms), you can't even get it to shoot through a gun.