Fishhead15

thanks for your input. i have been using devcon, but wanted to keep the flexibility of the soft tail. I will keep an eye out for the alumilite product. I like the polyester gloss resin from solarez, I used it on a couple baits and 2 reels that i repainted with good results. I was hoping the flex resin would be good too. the only thing about the solarez is the smell, after a couple weeks in a tackle box that chemical smell is still overpowering... I think the tail section probably is plastisol, it is some sort of durable soft plastic. i ll check the ispike-it out too. I will try and contact solarez too, they have been pretty helpful so far with my other questions. I know they are more geared towards surfboard repair, but we'll see Eric

I have been trying to find a product to use for clearcoating swimbaits, in particular the BBZ 1 tail section. I spoke to a couple people at solarez and they told me to try the flex fly tie resin. I went to buy the PE gloss resin awhile back and they were nice enough to give me a handful of sample tubes. http://solarez.com/productsnew/fly_tie_uv_resin.html I have tried to clear a bbz jr that I repainted with the flex resin twice with mixed results. the first attempt bubbled up and peeled easily, it never sealed around the end of the tail. I tried a second coat and that looked awful. I was able to peel the entire coating off and tried a second time. luckily the paint didn't go with it... The second attempt looked much better, but the next day it had started to bubble up again, and I am sure if I try I will be able to peel it all off again. I should add that the second time, I sprayed some rattle can clear gloss on first hoping the resin would adhere to that. The flex resin has cured nicely on the hard portion of the bait, but won't adhere to the soft tail section. does anybody have experience with this product? or can recommend something else for clearcoating soft swimbaits? do I need to put this in the softbait section? thanks eric

somebody tipped me off to this ebay seller(maybe was on here?): http://www.ebay.com/itm/330946430156?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 I bought some and formed a couple, but haven't gotten to cut the stencils out yet. decent price and shipped pretty fast. I think he has other sizes in his store too. Eric

I couple of the pics in the link were ones I did recently, both curados. I clearcoated them both with solarez polyester gloss resin. I was afraid devcon was going to be too thick. I am pretty happy with the results so far, but the reels haven't seen much action yet. I am looking at trying another product soon that I read about, called spraymax 2k. it is a 2 part automotive clear coat that comes in a spray can and it mixes once you "activate" the can. I think you have to use the whole can within 24 hours of activation...

Update...I tried the PE gloss resin on my other reel today. will definitely try it on the next lures I paint, which may be tomorrow. gotta do it during the day since I didn't buy a UV flashlight yet...I heated a small amount of resin in the microwave for 10 seconds, and brushed it on. I did it in the garage and then went outside to UV cure. I did have to apply a second coat to some areas that i missed, but the thinner consistency brushed on smooth and the resin spread out evenly. I went slower and kept the garage door closed, which I think allowed time for the wax to rise, and I didnt have any cloudiness this time. I will post results after i clear a couple lures...