Frank

Just a couple of questions what are you using to stick the leaf on. And how are you transfering the leaf to the bait?

Just a thought here. Now that you are not using plastic try a primer designed for what you are using which is a type of urethane resin which is not a plastic. Plastics are produced with oil thus the problem when trying to paint. That is why the fusion type enamels were made. The resin now does not need that type of product. You should be able to go to an auto body supply store and get a real good primer that will stick and produce a nice base to start your paint job. If that is not an option try putting down two real light coats followed by one medium coat of your primer. Be sure to let it flash off in between coats. I do not think it is a cure thing. Could you post a close up pic of the bait maybe? Dupont makes some outstanding akrylic sealers in a spray can in three colors. Good quality under coats are a real pleasure to use. Kind of a random post it is late.

This is just my opinion on this so take it for what it is worth. If you make the resin float just like wood or pvc then the quality of the resin is so broken down that it compromises the bait unless it is wire through. Even then it will be so cut down that it will be brittle. Try the 10% mb and see what you think. I think you will be pretty happy with the results.

I am just guessing that it is sinking like a rudder, if it sinks right it goes to the right? If this is right that is a similar problem I had and MB did help alot. My wood ones sink like I want them to, but they have at least double the ballast as the resin. I have tried this with two methods. Hope you have a small scale. I weigh all my resin then add MB at the rate of 5%-10% buy weight this should give you what you want. Another thought that I have been throwing around is to cast foam in the top then add ballast. Buy the way did you mention if your baits are wire through?

I am just guessing that it is sinking like a rudder, if it sinks right it goes to the right? If this is right that is a similar problem I had and MB did help alot. My wood ones sink like I want them to, but they have at least double the ballast as the resin. I have tried this with two methods. Hope you have a small scale. I weigh all my resin then add MB at the rate of 5%-10% buy weight this should give you what you want. Another thought that I have been throwing around is to cast foam in the top then add ballast. Buy the way did you mention if your baits are wire through?

I wiil take one PM me with how you want to get paid.

Very nice shrimpy . Have you ever done jointed swin baits like that?

That is great I am glad it worked for you. I have tried mine without mb but it does not do what I want without them. They want to roll, Maybe mine are to tall in profile. Looking forward to the next report.

Some times to get a color like that to cover better you must start with a uniform background,White,Black,Yellow or any color. This is more on some colors than others. This family of colors does that to you. As for opaque you mean that createx does not have one or does not call it that? A real bright yellow will do this to.

Well how did it go ? You are in way to deep now.

Ya polyester is alot like using glass for a bait not a good choice. We are using casting resin that is made to reproduce products from a mold. The hot glue idea is new to me at least. As for me I have used hot glue and it smells more than the resin I am using. It is pretty much odorless. As for polyester it would be only be good if it was reinforced by some type of fibers. I use polyester at work and the last thing I want to do is bring it home. The only thing that come home is things without odor. How well does paint stick to the glue.

What I do is make a box big enough for the part. Then I drill holes for my pour holes and vent and glue them in the master. Then try to guess where I want my bait to hang then hot glue two sticks across to support the bait. Add more hot glue to the sticks and the box to hold the bait down in the box. Pour your rtv in the side away from the part and let the rtv climb up on the part until full. After it is dry I take apart the box and remove the sticks. Then I cut the mold with a sharp knife between the pour holes and down both sides just enough to get the part out. The rtv will flex alot so dont be shy pull and tug till it comes out. Most of mine are cut 1/3 of the way around so the rest is good as your master. I also try and put the holes as far up as you can to prevent air trapped in the corners. A very important thing on details in the master you might want to brush the rtv in these areas so you will not loose the detail. then put in box and fill. I have only done one two part mold and it was not to my liking. These are only the quick and dirty ways I do it cause I did not even add the vacumn and pressure parts.

I have done the vacumn thing and it makes them worst ( expanding not compressing). The bubbles are so fine that they will not burst unless you break the surface tension. As we were talking about before the mold is very important to mold in a way that the bubbles end up in a spot that is easy to fix or end up in a cavity that will not be a part that you will use. Glad you joined this thread Luretrekker

On the tip end it will be about an 1/8" or so. When you put the needle back in push it till you feel a little resistance then tighten the nut. Do not push to far in so the needle might split the fluid seat. I have some that stick out farther than others so length varies a little bit. I would still tear it down and clean out the fluid passage because some paint will not disolve in solvent. It might let loose but it wont go away. You will know this when you paint white and get small spits of GREEN. Have Fun with it.

What kind of brush do you have. Here is a thought cut the hose and put a barbed fitting on with npt threads and call it a day. I have not heard of this yet.

I have tried pounding it on the counter and rotating it in a circle. The best thing ive done is put it in a pressure tank so it keeps it from expanding and compresses the air that is there. The amount of heat they produce is the real problem it makes the bubbles expand. I dont think concrete does that does it. Reducing the amount of bubbles from how you mix does reduce the amount in the end. Like I said before I have some samples that are perfect and I would like my castings to look like these.

Air on this model has nothing to do with the needle. Sounds like two differrant problems. The air comes from the part where the air line is hooked up. That is the air valve these can go bad just buy a new one to solve that one. If you want to ck this out unscrew it at the knurles and make sure the trigger is in contact with the valve if not correct it buy reinstalling it right, The trigger not the valve. As for the needle stuck like Bob said soak in solvent to loosen up the dry paint. I would just go strait to the laquer thinner. Put it in with the air brush upside down and the needle pointing slightly down so the solvent will stay where the needle seats . Un screw the needle cover on the back then loosen the nut that the needle is in and try and pull the needle out as straight as you can. If it does not budge put more solvent in the fluid passage. This happens often if they do not get cleaned right. Once you get the needle out clean the needle to the point it is almost polished. Clean out the fliud passage well also. To do this right you will need to remove the cap on the front of the gun, not the small one the one with the flats on it in front of the knurles. Do this after you get the needle out so you dont bend the needle. The air cap is in front of the part with the flats you can remove this also and clean it up. Make sure all the holes are clear. Hope this helps post your progress. It is a good brush you will like it.

sent a pm

If by chance your regulater is metric, get an npt one then go to the page that Miragestalker said and get the adapter from npt to your air brush. These guys are top notch as far as service goes. TCP Global I mean.

Well try I did to get cork or saw dust in the bait to get it to float better and no luck. Alot of bubbles from these products. One thing I did try is to put the micro baloons in and let it settle. The air trapped when I mixed it in floated to the top ,then hit it with heat gun to pop the bubbles. Now when I mixed it together there were far fewer small bubbles. They came out almost perfect. After all that I found that my mold had some thing that I did not like in it so I fixed that. All in all I hope some one will learn from this. When casting from resin like this these problems are something that happens and are not foreign . Call any of the manufacturer and ask them they will know exactly what you are talking about when you tell them of these types of problems. Next I will put them in the oven and try to cure them. I will do it with half to see if it is any better . Over the last few weeks I picked up a small hand held micsoscope to see what these bubbles might be. From this all I could see is Bubbles that are 95% under the surface. Filling these is hard because they want to push out what you try to put in from the pressure. But if you clean it with a stiff nylon brush the fill it seem to stay in and not push it out. Just a thought cause this is what we do at work to get rid of this problem. Good Castings All.

My guess is yes it is. When I looked on amazon it asked if I would like to see other products from master after I asked for air tool pro.

Ive been using Alumisol on my swin bait tails after using MF. I had trouble filling the corners and bubbles with MF.The problem started when I thinned up my tails.This company is not really geared to the tackle industry so the lack of colors should not be a suprise. Larry is a good friend of the VP for the company which makes sense cause he only uses there products in his video and sells there products on his site. I use alot of there products so I just added it to my order and am glad I did. There customer service is second to none. Give them a try. Those are the only ones I have tried , I just started pouring more lately maybe in the future I will have more info. As for the Larry video it is good and gives alot of info. Got me going.

That idea has been out for a long time and does reduce the amount of bubbles introduced when mixing. It does not take them all out. It spins at an angle with a ball bearing to stir/mix the epoxy. I let mine goe for about three to five minutes then pour out then apply from the second container. I think it is worth it but i made my own a long time ago.

Well if there is no chips or other defect in the bait scuffing by far is the way of choice because it will get in all the depression and not lose your detail. Sanding can dull some detail if there is some. 3M has some pads that are designed for this. The red one is to agressive. The gray one is my choice. The gold one is another good choice. The white one is to fine but if you use a sanding paste it will work. All of these can be found at an Auto body paint store. Wet is also the only way to go it will let the pads work better and maybe a drop or two of dish soap in the water. Even if you sand it is a good idea to scuff after just to make sure you got all the spots.

If you do get a bad mold dont throw it away cut it up and add it to future molds for fill. You know were it is thick.