68KingFisher

I know that there are good products.....not so good products, and great products.....When it comes to purchasing unpainted crankbait bodies, do you guys that paint these have any preferences? What brand or crankbait styles do you purchase and paint the most often? Which is most popular, wood or plastic.....I seem to see alot more plastics for sale then wood. The reason being...I'd like to paint some to give as gifts to some friends and family members this Christmas, but I would like to use components that are good quality, and not get stuck with something that isn't up to par.....but I don't know just by looking at pics at an online store whether that bait is gonna run like its suppose to or will it just start rolling over or is it gonna leak water at the seams or better yet, am I gonna have to glue it all together first or?? Having never puchased any of this stuff before I'm kinda unsure where I might wanna start so i'd like ya'lls input if'n ya don't mind.....Thanks.

Be careful about those airbrush kits with compressor included for a low price.....99.9% of the time those little diaphram compressor units that come in the kit are NOT worth the money and burn up rather quickly if used regularly......someone painting the occasional lure won't wear it out as quick, but they are usually limited on pressure and alot of water based paints require more air pressure than they can supply.....also most of them don't have a storage tank so they run constantly....they are fairly quite, but they are are running all the time so they have heat issues and usually burn up the motor eventually. To make a long speech short.....forget the compressor kit and get an airbrush kit that has the airbrush, hose and bottles....Badger is a fine American made brand....But purchase your compressor seperately.....something with a storage tank to hold air and allow the unit to shut off periodically.....these will usually be alot louder, but a much better and longer lasting unit.....Hope this helps.

The reason the chrome effect shown in that video looks blotchy is because it is blotchy.....reason being its sprayed from a rattle can......but even though that Xbox case turned out blotchy a small item like a crankbait would not look that bad, and if you'll notice the reflective quality is still quite good for a blotchy paint job.....done correctly, the results from that paint is impressive.....the quality of the shine comes from the black basecoat....the better that shines the better the final chrome shines....blotchy black results in a blotchy chrome job. The product used in that video is called "Killer chrome" and is made by the Alsa paint company (www.alsacorp.com) the chrome paints they produce are the finest chrome paints manufactured today with a 95-98% reflective quality. But as mentioned before they are quite expensive....even the rattle can version.....for example. the Killer Chrome kit (rattle cans) costs $115 for the 3 spray cans shown in the video...one can of black, one can of chrome, and one can of clear.....Most of the "Killer cans" run about $40 per can. Let me point out that the clear is a 2 part clear.....thats right, two part catalized clear in a rattle can....the catalist is contained within a breakable chamber inside the can....once broken the can is shaken up to mix the two solvents and then can be sprayed......just keep in mind that now its mixed so any unused clear is eventually gonna dry inside the can....so once mixed you have a limited timeframe to work within. The rest of their chrome line is made to shoot from full sized automotive spray guns and will produce amazing results.....just spend a little time at Alsa's website lookin at the videos and you'll see what I mean....its the closest stuff to real chrome ever produced, but again its really expensive. Mirro chrome is $80 for 4oz.....in kit form with the other components needed is $349.for the pint kit....Ghost chrome is the same price, but ghost chrome doesn't look like chrome...its made to resemble real aluminum and does it quite well.....Multi chrome has an intense prizmatic effect like it has a prizm pearl added....$205 for 8oz or $430 for a pint kit. Alsa's main production chroming line is called "Chrome FX"...and its a complete waterbased system and requires an outlay of roughly $8500. for the standard start up system....make sure to watch the videos on how this stuff works.....you'll be amazed, as it looks and feels like real metal plated chrome.....chances are there are lure manufactures using this system. I'm sure i've run my mouth long enough...lol...hopefully someone found this info usefull. PS...the can of Bulldog adhesion promoter that was shown in that video is goooood stuff......makes paint stick to plastics and lots of other surfaces.....not to expensive and available at Walmart in the automotive painting section.

I don't know what brand airbrushes are available in your area, but as Spidergrub said, if you'll stay with most of the major brands of airbrushes you can't go wrong.....go with double action in whatever you get to get the most control from the brush. As for painting the details, it seems most here use stencils and various fabrics to achieve the patterns on their hard baits......A fine tipped airbrush would allow you to freehand small details, but you'll need plenty of hands on experience with your airbrush before you'll be able to develop the control needed. I'll be glad to help, with whatever brand airbrush you end up with.....just remember you get what you pay for so don't go with cheap off the wall brands if you don't have too.

Chip, I was diagnosed with moderate to severe sleep apnea close to 3 yrs ago, and started dealing with a CPAP machine and mask shortly after......I have a huge love/hate relationship with this stupid thing......I love the fact that it helps keep me from snoring....as much....it does allow me to get a better nites rest so I actually do wake up feeling rested, and I'm not worried about the whole "Stopping breathing" thing anymore. On the flip side I absolutely hate wearing the mask everynite.....its hot....its uncomfortable....the hose is always hangin on something or gettin wrapped around my neck.....but it works so well that I put up with all that and wear it even though I can't stand the thing. I use the Resperonics brand comfort gel masks....and I get the same problems you do with the air leaks and blowin in your eyes.....I have found two things that help. First is adjusting the pivot above your nose that holds that padded deal against your forehead.....by changing the angle of that pivot the leaking around the top of the mask can be made alot worse or alot better, so you gotta play with it.....sometimes routing the hose up and over your head can help hold pressure against your face a bit better than runnin the hose at a downward angle....at least for the way I sleep it works better, plus it keeps the hose from wrappin around my neck. Secondly, is simply adjusting the headbands to fit tighter and pull everything against your face a bit tighter....the down side is you wake up with indentions in your face and around your nose from the mask and straps every morning and it takes awhile for those to go away....as you probably already know...lol.....I wear a mustache and it stays smashed down all the time because of this stupid mask....but I can get it to seal even with a mustache which I actually found surprising. Lastly, just make sure your mask is the correct size for your face and nose.....maybe switch size and see if that helps....although those masks are not cheap......here lately i've been looking at another mask that a buddy of mine showed to me....insurance won't pay for it, but it looks interesting enough that I might fork out the green myself.....check it out for yourself at www.nomask.com Good luck with yours, and keep preachin the word brother cause theres alot of guys out there that have sleep apnea and don't even realize it, nor do they have any idea how dangerous it can be. I've told alot of guys and several went down and did a sleep study to find that they too had it bad.....two of them swears the CPAP machines have saved their lives, and marriages.

From my experience, ANY clear that is not catalized will never dry really hard....they will always remain soft to some degree...some brands do dry harder than others....i've used cases upon cases of rattle can clears over the years on license tags and little league ball helmets after airbrushing some kids name on it first.....and found U-pol to be one of the toughest non-catalized clears i've ever run across. Unfortunately it costs alot more than something like Krylon but thats probably why....it drys harder and holds up alot better to abuse....still yet, don't expect it to do what a catalized clear would do.

I was not familier with the Champion brand so I had to go to tcp's website and look it up to have a look. It looks like they copied an Iwata hpc....0.3mm tip is a great size for this type of work.....Gravity feed cup is easy to clean but can get in your line of sight when doing detail work....its got a solvent resistant teflon packing o-ring which is always a good thing if you use any solvent based paints.....all in all it'll most likely make you a fine beginners airbrush.....keep it clean and it may give you good service for along time....let us know. My main concern would be ease of aquiring replacement parts....with brand names like Iwata, Badger or Paasche, you can usually count on finding common usage spare parts at stores like Hobby Lobby or Michaels.....who knows, you might find that Iwata parts will fit.....only thing wrong with that is Iwata parts aren't cheap. As for the price differences, who knows.......coulda been a mess up or ?....Maybe it was price of airbrush only compared to price with hose, bottles, wrenches, etc?......I did some pricing online at Bass pro's website recently and then went to one of their stores to make my purchase....only to find that the instore pricing was different (ie:more expensive)then their online prices.....Go figure! Good luck with your new airbrush....It'll take ya some time for the brain/finger thing to work correctly....hehehe....just don't get discouraged and you'll do alright.

I can't answer your question because I have not used Devcon, but if I were in your shoes i'd do a test run on something small that didn't matter...either an old lure or small peice of metal or plastic depending on your needs....See how it reacts....if you don't get any type of lifting or wrinkling right off the bat you'll probably be ok as far as delamination goes....its all gonna depend on the compatability of the two products.

I have not used any on a crankbait, but I have used alot of liquid masking.....most of the stuff I use is a waterbased product called Spraylat.....I use the sign painters blue mask which I get in gallon cans.....its not too expensive and can be sprayed or brushed on, but being waterbased it dries fairly slowly, plus it must be built up to a thick layer or you'll have all kinds of trouble getting it off later.....the thicker it is applied the easier it comes off later....problem is you can't apply a thick layer in one coat....it needs to dry awhile before you can add more layers so it takes awhile to get a good thick coat. I personally like this stuff for motorcycle and helmet work, but i'd think that masking a crankbait bill, would be alot easier just using a good quality automotive masking tape.....your not waiting for the tape to dry like you will be when using a liquid mask.

The way I understand it is that the original formula acrylic paints designed for airbrushing onto tee shirts from either Createx or Aquaflow or whoever, must be heatset which caused the crosslinking Mark mentioned.....this insured the paint bonded with the fibers of the cloth, so this heating with blowdryers and heatguns or heatpresses came about for that reason. Since their creation, these paints have been reformulated various times......So i'm not 100% sure what their policy is now, but from what I could find on their website, the original Createx acrylic paints are still designed with the tee shirt artist in mind and needs to be heat set...nothing was mentioned reguarding "crosslinking". Their AutoAir line does not mention heatsetting anywhere I could find, and even has a new line of waterborne paints(4700 series)....not your normal waterbased........the new line called "Wicked Air" is called an acrylic polymer according to the MSDS sheet, and uses its own reducer for thinning....which i'm assuming is NOT water?....no mention of being waterbased or waterborne was found on their site or in any literature I could find. Now, on a personal level I can tell you that having used the original Createx and the AutoAir that both paints bonded better when using a heatgun to set the paint peridically as I painted........How do I know it bonded better than not heating??.....Cause I've tried it both ways on motorcycle helmets, and I can assure you that when it comes to sanding those paints back off that i'd much rather sand the Createx that was not heat set....Why?....Because its sands off waaaaay easier......So that tells me one thing......Heatsetting does something and it works cause it tough to sand off once its heatset, so my suggestion to all those using regular Createx is to always heatset if you want good adhesion.

You just wanna make sure all the moisture is gone before you seal it up......if your just lettin the stuff air dry it may take awhile, but if your using a heatgun or hair dryer to speed up the process it shouldn't take more then a couple of minutes.....You can usually notice that the shine on the surface seems to fade out into a dull flat finish as the water evaporates....thats what you want. I always ran a heat gun over my stuff when using AA......heated it up till its nice and warm in to my touch and all the shine was gone....that always worked for me when using that stuff on helmets and motorcycles....never had an issue once it was cleared.

I don't think I can answer your question of "How" it works.....its just something you have to mess with to understand whats capable.....alot of the pearls I use are powered and I add them to my final clear coat or to a mid coat clear.....Normally you can't see the effect until the final clear has been applied....then as the light passes thru the clear, hits your base colors and reflects back up thru the clear to your eyes the irredesence or pearlescese(sp?) is revealed.....its a play on light reflection that you have to see to understand.....I hope that made a little bit of sense? By the way.....the effect doesnt' just show up over a white or silver base.....it works over most colors and in many cases the darker the base color the easier the effect shows up.....using a blue pearl over white isn't near as easy to see as using a blue pearl over black....both end results look different so you have to play with them to get a feel for whats gonna happen.

I don't know the exact color your trying to reproduce but the color typically seen on olives is a dark shade of yellow . In most cases it can be made by adding some black to yellow.....experiment with that a little and see what you come up with.

Thats good to know since i've got a gallon of Dupont 7600 Chromaclear sitting in the shop.....You dip or spray yours?

We just got hit by a recent tornado and it pushed our huge pecan tree over onto the house....needless to say i've got ALOT of pecan stacked out beside the shop....lol....i'm set for firewood for a few years.....lol...I might try to dry some out and carve a bait out of it myself.

I agree with what Mark said......I also use quick disconnects on my airbrushes....they are just like the larger units were used to seeing on full size airhoses, but these fit the tiny airbrush hose.....so I use one hose that has the female fitting and each of my airbrushes have a male fitting....I can quickly change from one brush to another and not have to deal with a bunch of airhoses.

mixing small quantities of clear can be difficult.....I use some 1oz plastic mixing cups to mix my small batches....it has markings for 1/4oz....Drams....Milliliters and teaspoons.....mixing small amounts of a 2:1 clear isn't too bad....but its alot tougher to measure when using a 4:1 Clamboni, keep in mind if you can't find the color you want in uro's then i've used waterbased at times.....you can paint right over uro's with it.....just make sure you use a heatgun or hair dryer to remove all the moisture before clearcoating....i've never had any delamination issues on helmets or motorcycles, but I haven't tried it on something like crankbaits yet. Also remember that besides all the pearl and candy basecoat colors, HoK has graphic colors and neons colors.....and they also have a line of pinstriping paints can that be sprayed thru your airbrush.....there are a couple of brands of pinstriping paints that can be used under clearcoat...Kustom shop has one if I remember correctly.....Sign painters OneShot brand is NOT one of them so don't use it below clear....you can however use it on top of clear and it dries to its own shine....its a tough as nails enamel but i've never used it underwater so who knows how it'll react....I'm guessing it'll work fine once cured, but I might have to give that a try one day just to see. One last tip....if you like adding metalflakes or stuff like holographic pearls to your finish give these guys a shout....they have good prices and small quantities at www.paintwithpearl.com

Yeah, were headed that way aren't we.....it won't be long.....at least they seem to be makin strides in the quality of the waterbased and waterborne paints.....I hear good things already and from the stuff i've used its really not too bad concidering.....I'll switch when I can no longer buy solvent based paints but not a second sooner...lol.

My advice is buy the best you can afford.....both in airbrush and compressor.....stay with a double action airbrush and a major brand....Badger,Paasche,Iwata,Peak,etc.....I wouldn't go with a no name cheap aftermarket brush...they are fine for awhile but a quality brush will last you a lifetime. With compressors you want something that has a holding tank.....personally i'd buy the largest compressor I could afford, but thats me and I use air tools and such so I want more than just for airbrushing......but your needs may be different and you might be able to get away with a small unit....i'd still get one with a storage tank so the compressor will pump up the tank and shut off.....those little diaphram "Airbrush" compressors are quite but they aren't really anygood....specially if you want to shoot some of the thicker waterbased paints....you'll want more pressure then what those little units can make. Compressor noise becomes the next issue.....some units are super loud while others are silent.....silent compressors are great but very expensive......other units can be much cheaper but alot louder, but you can construct a box to house the unit and help cut down on noise if you keep it in the same room you paint in or place the unit outside or in another room. I hope this helps a little.....feel free to hollar if you have more questions. Michael

If I was a betting man, I say it looks alot like some finely ground prisim flake to me.....I've got a jar of it in the shop only slightly coarser than what was used on that bait.....used over a silver base produces the same effect.....there are several brands around that give off the same type of effect....just add it to your clear.

Thanks for everyones input so far....its sounding like urethane clear is good stuff to use so thats what I start with and see how it goes from there. To clarify my position....i'm much more of an artist than I am a painter.....I got into airbrushing as a teen because I wanted to paint Ratfink style hotrod cars onto tee shirts like Big Daddy Roth and guys at the county fairs....never did I dream that little paint gun would lead me down all the other paint paths that it has since then.....I was forced to learn about urethanes and clearcoats when folks started asking me to paint their bikes,helmets,cars,etc. From the start I airbrushed outta my home like most of you....a spare bedroom, then an attached garage....neither were good places to use solvent based paints around the family so like most of you I went the waterbased route.....But once we moved into a place that had a separate shop I started using uro's and there was no going back.....all my adhesion problems went away....no more waiting on paint to dry....no more paint lifting with tape....none of the bad but all of the good it seemed.....I just needed plenty of ventilation and the more expensive materials and a degree in chemistry.....hahaha....well it feels that way sometimes....lol. I've used several different brands of urethane clears over the past 12 years.....some of the cheaper brands actually work better than their prices suggest.....Extreme from 5Star runs $60 gal with catalist......Matrix is a 2:1 mix and runs a little bit more money but has higher solids so it builds alot quicker, where the extreme is a 4:1 clear and builds slowly which is great when you don't want to fill in tiny details so quickly....,Matrix clear,#M20 I think reminds me alot of the more expensive Concept2000 series clear from PPG.....I used that clear on most of the racing helmets I use to paint....specially for the sprintcar racers....their helmets take an amazing amount of abuse and Concept 2021 was a good hard clear that would withstand the punishment of dirt,clay,rock,etc hitting it at high speed but its not cheap. From a custom standpoint I think House of Kolor has the best paint products on the market....they have been into custom paints longer than anyone....all the top custom painters have used their stuff for years and after using it myself I agree.....from a cost standpoint I think they are cheaper than PPG or Dupont brands, you just gotta shop around.....in the past few years PPG, Dupont and others have focused more on the custom market and now offer a custom line of paint products......Dupont Hot Hues is a good example of custom colors that didn't use to be available......Alsa is an up an coming custom paint mfg that has come killer stuff out. The downside of using uro's for something like painting crankbaits is the cost.....they aren't cheap and you can't buy small amounts normally.....although there are places that have started catering to airbrushers and package HoK in small bottles that are affordable.....just be careful about buying "premixed" ready to spray HoK....that means someone else has already thinned it down....and its usually alot thinner then it needs to be....I want to be the judge of how thin I want my paint.....so I think its easy to ripped off if your not careful who you buy from.....these will all be candies and basecoats....not clear....clear isn't sold in anything smaller than quarts that I know of, but colors can be purchased in 4oz bottles I think.....Coastairbrush.com is a good place to shop....So is BearAir.com and Dixieart.com When it comes to basecoat colors its sometimes wise to check with your local paint mixing stores as well as paint and body shops for old or miss-mixed paint colors.....alot of times they will sell these super cheap....even free in many cases....i've picked up alot of misc colors just by asking if they had some stuff they didn't want....saves them disposal fees and you get free paint....just make sure its something you'll use or you'll have to deal with disposal someday. Well, i've rambled long enough.....i'll shut up and go back to listening....thanks again.

No worries mate....i'm in no hurry.....my shop was damaged during a recent tornado and is waiting for contractors to do the repairs so i've got some time before i'll be able to paint anyway......i'm using my down time to do some research on the subject.

Hey Guys, I've been airbrushing since the mid 70's, and even on a professional level for the last 20+ years.....i've painted everything from tee shirts to semi's and most everything in between except fishing equipment....lures or reels to be exact...never done any, but i've been asked to on several occasions. Most recently i've been painting for the biker crowd....lots of Harleys, helmets, and leather jackets to say the least....lol. So I can safely say, i've got a fair amount of knowledge in the area of paint, plus i've already got a fair amount of automotive paints and clearcoats in stock and I was wondering if I can use them on lures? I see alot of you use waterbased paints which i've also got cabinets full of(Createx & AutoAir)but i'd like to stick with the solvent based stuff if I can....I just like the way it sprays more so then the water base.....but I never see anyone talking about using automotive clear coats as a top coat for their crankbaits....mostly I read about brushing on Devcon epoxy.....Is this what I need to use instead of even concidering automotive urethane clear coats? Currently i'm just looking at repainting some of my own factory finished cranks....but if I like the way they turn out, I may look at doing more later on since I have some physical disabilities that are beginning to make it difficult to prep the sheetmetal parts of a motorcycle....working on something small like lures would be so much easier on me and i've seen some sweet looking paintjobs done on cranks that I think i'd enjoy doing something like that......But only if I can turn out top quality stuff.....same as what i'd do on a high end chopper.....My best or not at all. If any of you have any experience in using automotive urethanes on crankbaits i'd love to hear your thoughts......Thanks in advance for any help. I'd also like to ask about prep.....How do ya'll go about prepping a crankbait body that is not smooth, but has a scale pattern molded or carved into the body....several of mine have very heavy patterns and i'm concerned about sanding or scuffing the areas down inside those tine grooves....or is that not an issue.....what do ya'll do? Thanks again, and I look forward to hearing everyones advice.

I ment to say upgrade to the newer ceramic bearings...sorry.....i'll probably go with the newer gear upgrades oldschoolbasser mentioned also. I've used the 5500-C3 several times recently and for the most part I like the reel.....My biggest negative is that the anti-reverse seems pretty excessive.....rolls backwards a quarter of a turn or so before it kicks in......I wonder if the upgraded gears will help that?

Thank you all for your replys......OldSchoolBasser, I'll be droppin you an email in the near future. I think I want to upgrade the 5500C to ball bearings but i'll probably leave the 5000 alone at this time. I'm planning on purchasing a newer style baitcaster soon, I'm just not sure what brand or model i'll get at this time....i'm just a poor boy and a tightwad ta boot, so it'll be a reel in the $100 range or less.....I just can't justify spending more than that.....at least not right now. I was honestly leaning towards something from BPS but after reading what BobP had to say, I may need to reconsider.....I dunno.....i've got one of their Mega tournament spincast combos that I like real well, but i've only fished with it a half dozen times or so.....granted I fish hard with it, but who knows how it'll hold up down the road a year or two....but for $40 it's not to hard to replace......I'd love to hear what others think about BPS reels also.....Thanks again for all your input.