RayburnGuy

BobP said something in my last post about using templates when painting small details such as lateral lines and gill plates. Was wondering if anyone could give me some tips on templates. Such as what material is used and maybe some advice on how to lay them out for different parts of the bait. thanks, RayburnGuy

Thanks for all the help and encouragement guys. Painting fine lines really isn't that hard. It's getting them to go where you want them that's the problem. Seriously though, I've gathered a lot of info from this site and I sure appreciate it.

Thanks Kingfisher and BobP. I'll give your advice a try. Now that I'm used to the siphon feed I can't wait to see how big of a mess I make with the open top gravity feed cup.

wow.........great looking bait. Are you by any chance giving lessons?

I'm having trouble spraying fine lines and details. As I understand it, to spray fine lines you have to spray a small amount of paint and have your airbrush close to your work. Within a 1/2 or even 1/4 of an inch. When I do this with the air pressure set at 35 to 40 psi it splatters paint and pushes it everywhere in a star pattern. I've tried reducing the air pressure to 20 or 25 psi, but when I do this the paint doesn't want to pick up through the syphon feed. Do I need to be using a gravity feed to make these details? If it makes a difference, I'm using a Paasche VL dual action airbrush. thanks, RayburnGuy

Thanks for all the help guys. I used to think that "paint is paint". I'm finding out there's a lot more to it than that. I will try these suggestions and hopefully be able to post a pic of a finished bait before much longer. Thanks again. RayburnGuy

Yep, it was Createx white pearl I was using. I've been shooting it straight out of the bottle. It seems to shoot really well with no thinning at all. The pressure is between 25 and 30 psi. I haven't tried any other paints yet. I purchased a Paasche VL kit and it came with a dozen bottles of Createx and I bought 6 more colors of Createx at Hobby Lobby a couple of days ago. I had never even been in the same room as an airbrush until a week ago and I know even less about paint. I'm learning a lot from this site though. Thanks for the help. RayburnGuy

Thanks BobP That sounds like what I was doing. The pearl I was using seems to be almost transparent and I kept shooting it until it finally covered the gold base coat. That must be where I messed up. What I know about painting and all the different types of paint wouldn't fill a thimble. I'll do as you suggested and try spraying multiple thin coats and see if that works. thanks again, RayburnGuy

Hell everyone, First of all let me say what a great site ya'll have here. There is a ton of information here and everyone seems eager to help. I signed up a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to soak everything in ever since. It's like trying to read a set of encyclopedias I'm hoping someone can help me with painting scale patterns on crankbaits. My first attempt didn't turn out so well. I put down a coat of white as a base coat and then sprayed the whole bait a light gold. After allowing it to dry I then stretched netting (netting from a minnow dipper purchased at WalMart) over the bait and held it in place with clothes pins. I then sprayed a coat of white pearl. I wanted to end up with the scale pattern being gold against the white pearl. When I went to take the netting off it was stuck to the bait and you couldn't see the gold at all. The pearl had bled under the netting and left ridges in the paint where the netting had been. It gave it a 3-D effect which was kind of cool, but not what I was wanting. Could someone walk me through the steps to paint a scale pattern? It would surely be appreciated. thanks, RayburnGuy

First of all, as this is my first post, let me tell everyone what a great site I think this is. I'm just getting started with trying to paint some baits and have gathered a lot of info from this forum. Now for the question about a bent needle. Here's a trick I use when trying to tell if the axle in my baitcasters is bent. I simply roll it on a piece of glass. Glass is the flattest thing I can think of that is easily accessible to all. If the needle is bent you should be able to see, as well as feel, it. Hope this helps.