Fishwhittler

Another thing you could try is raising the angle of the bill so it's more in line with the lure body. It looks to me like the lip angle is too steep for the action you want. Less angle on the bill will usually result in a tighter action. Just thought of this: adding another, smaller weight close to the tail could also tighten up the action. The extra weight would stabilize the tail to a degree, generating less action. Ben

I may get one eventually, but for now I'm going to keep mixing by hand. At this point I don't mix epoxy enough to need one. I didn't have any problems with not having enough time to coat all my lures. However, U-40 does set up faster than Flex Coat, and after only an hour or two of dry time it was just about impossible to smooth out any imperfections. By contrast, Flex Coat can still be manipulated after a couple hours of drying. On a related note, heating U-40 doesn't seem to do much to to pop bubbles. Heating will pop some, but after that it will only create more. I might try Diamond II eventually, but at the current time I'm either going to switch to U-40, provided it performs adequately, or go back to Flex Coat Ultra V. Diamond II is more expensive than Ultra V, and I'm not sure there would be a large enough increase in durability to justify the extra cost (for me, at least). Ben

Oh yeah, bass chew up finishes pretty good. This bait is no exception; if it was coated with Flex Coat it would look about the same after four fish. I've even received minor cuts from bass teeth.

Thanks! I was catching bass. That's all there is where I fish except catfish, grass carp and bluegill, but those don't frequently bite crankbaits.

I recently got an airbrush setup, and I find that around 35 psi is where it works best. I've used it at higher pressures, but 35 psi seems to be the best all-around working pressure.

Here are parts II and III of my review of Trondak U-40 epoxy topcoat. Forgot to post part II the other day, so here it is along with part III. U-40 review part II: Hardness After more than 5 days of curing, U-40 is still not as hard as Flex Coat after the same period. In fact, Flex Coat is harder after eight to ten hours. I'm not sure whether this is good or bad, as the greater flexibility may be an advantage in resisting scratches. The difference in hardness is not much, but U-40 is slightly softer. U-40 review part III: Fish Teeth Resistance I took this bait fishing today to test the durability of the U-40. I caught four fish in one hour, plus two other strikes that I missed. The U-40 held up well to the fish teeth, and it still looks very good. Scratching was about the same as Flex Coat, so if there aren't any issues with yellowing I think I'll switch completely to U-40. Below are some pics of the bait after I fished it. There is one small tear in the topcoat where the hook point stuck in and then tore free, but this could happen to any topcoat and so is simply not part of the equation. Scratch pics Still to come: Yellowing

Trondak U-40 LS Supreme High Build review- Part I Note: I bought the High Build version of U-40, not the regular. Whenever I say "U-40" in the following report, I'm referring to U-40 LS Supreme High Build. The same thing for Flex Coat: when I say Flex Coat I'm talking about Flex Coat Ultra V. I read somewhere that a lot of the epoxies out there are the same thing, only in different packaging. This cannot be said of U-40. The resin component is much thicker than the resin in Ultra V, while the catalyst is slightly thinner. While mixing, I also noticed that U-40 has a stronger smell than Flex Coat. Mixing: I did a little experimenting, and so far U-40 seems to mix best when I mix it the same way I mix Flex Coat. My technique is mix 1 minute, heat, and then keep mixing, heating at intervals of 45 seconds until you have mixed for a total of 4 minutes. Do not count the time heating as part of the four minutes. After mixing, heat the epoxy one final time and then cover it and let sit for ten minutes. Viscosity: U-40 is considerably thicker than Flex Coat, and so you can probably use fewer coats. For example, if you use three coats of Flex Coat, you can probably use only two coats of U-40. Bubbling: In my limited experience, U-40 appears to bubble more than Flex Coat. But on the package, it says to pour the mixed epoxy on a piece of foil, and I haven't been doing that. I will pour it out in the future to see if that fixes the bubbles. Heating: U-40 doesn't react to heat the same way Flex Coat does. Heating Flex Coat while mixing will pop a lot of the bubbles, and at the end of the ten minutes most of the bubbles are gone. When I heated U-40 a lot of the bubbles would pop, but I still had quite a few bubbles in the mixed epoxy. More of the bubbles popped when I was brushing the epoxy on, but it for me it hasn't been as bubble-free as Flex Coat. Also, heating U-40 after it's on the lure doesn't do much to remove bubbles; it will pop some of them but it will also generate more. Dry Time: U-40 sets up faster than Flex Coat, and is dry to touch in 4-6 hours. Flex Coat takes longer, usually 6-8 hours to dry. However, Flex Coat appears to cure faster than U-40, and after two days of cure time for each Flex Coat is a little harder than U-40 mixed on the same day. On the package it says that U-40 takes 5 days to fully cure, so I'll see how hard it is then. Appearance: U-40 gives a beautiful, glossy finish very similar to Flex Coat. Yellowing & Durability: I haven't had U-40 long enough to know how well it resists yellowing and teeth marks, but I'll try to post info in the next part of my review. That could take several weeks, so stay tuned.

Looks good! One thing though, it looks to me like you taped the back before painting. This isn't really necessary, and you will get a much more life-like bait if you simply spray the color on the back without masking.

Thanks! I guess that Dick Nites is out for me until I get an airbrush. I suppose I could use polycrylic between paint and topcoat, but I don't really want to do that. I would be using several coats of U-POL if I did get it. But now that I think about it, I may just try a low-build epoxy instead. Trondak U-40 looks like it might be what I want.