dj thrillz

X2. Having them custom printed is $$$, and I believe there is a minimum. If you have the money to spend and want to be a little more flashy, go for it

I have done this, and it works ok. But just like making RTV molds, the master still has to be smooth and shiny for your baits to come out the same way. If your master is dull and/or grainy, your plastic pours will be the same. The only thing I dont know about is how much detail the ACC will pick up like scales, gills, lips, etc. Havent made any other molds other than a cruddy worm(without details). RTV will pick up everything for sure. Both are $$$.

^^^^^^^^^ What he said

Well, I have tried all the other plastics out there and I just found that out of all of them, I only liked LC and MF. Calhouns would discolor after reheating most the time(for me), Poly One was ok but really $$$, Chemionics was the absolute worst... Caney was so so but also $$$. For the baits I pour, which are mainly for saltwater fishing, LC has a medium hard blend(548) that I love. The only thing bad I can say about LC is the hardener settles so you are always needing to mix it. That may be an issue if you are looking to purchase by the drum, you would then need one of them pricey industrial mixers to mix it all up. I am small time, more for hobby so I only buy 5 gallon buckets which are easily mixed by hand. M-F's doesnt settle that much which is a good thing, even their drums do not settle much, and they have a faucet you can attach to it and reuse on your next drum. But they do not have a formula in between medium and hard, and I just dont want to go through the $$$ of trial and error to try and find the right formula. M-F is probably the most popular plastisol used by soft bait makers here on the west coast. The day the LC 548 formula is no longer available is the day I start buying my plastic from M-F again.

I had a cup of plastic do that to me once, but it was because I forgot it in the micro lol. Started it, then went to go say hi to my dad, talked a little football and then I smelled something and the smokescreen was rediculous, and the odor went straight to the lungs. Never did that again lol.

Thats what needs to be done for sure. When you first start messing with the clay, try to get as close to the actual shape as you can before baking, saves a lot of time sanding, chipping away, etc. The beauty about clay modeling, is you can always add more to it and rebake And you can get plenty of detail into them, if you are willing to put in that kind of time. On one of my original creations, I made a master of the general shape I wanted, and kept it as is. Coated it with epoxy and made a silicone mold out of it. Then I made some resin submasters, and created the scale patterns or any other details I wanted on those. When I was happy with one of them, I just coated the resin sub with epoxy and then made another silicone mold from it. The sky is the limit Imagination is where it starts. Just be careful, too much imagination becomes really pricey.... Thats my problem lol.

M-F's plastic would be a definite 2nd choice for me.

I have used both, I stuck with Lurecraft. The hardness was perfect for the type of baits I pour(for saltwater fishing), Calhouns was just a tad softer than I liked for a medium grade plastic. I also noticed Calhouns didint like to stay consistent with the color after being reheated, but that didnt happen all the time. Could have been operator error, but I dont have this issue at all with LC. If you put both name brands on a balance, I would say 65/35 in favor of LC. I hope others chime in with their experiences and opinions too, because you are right shipping to Sweden is going to hurt.... You know, you can get a free sample from just about every company who makes plastisol? But you still have to pay for shipping.

Thanks, although my stuff was originally geared more for fishing the salt there have been plenty of people catching LMB with them as well. As soon as I start my new company I will have a couple baits that will be more freshwater friendly And by the way, a dremel is a must have for those who want to create details in their baits. I have even shaped one of my swimbaits from a hunk of clay just purely by using the dremel lol. That was messy and took a lot of time, but it was fun. If you ever need any help just hit me up at tclures@hotmail.com.

Yes I am (T&C Lures)

There was this baking clay from Michaels that they discontinued, for the life of me I cannot remember the brand name of it, but it only came in a 2"x6" block and was a redish/brown in color. I loved using that stuff way better than sculpey clay. It always bad a good texture, never too soft or hard. Only bad part was when it was time to bake if you didnt keep a close eye on it, it would burn easily. Big Pancho uses sculpey clay if I am not mistaking, and he gets all sorts of details and shapes to come out great. But he's goood..... He could make a bait master out of mud and get it to look good lol.

Looks almost like a basic pumpkinseed with a slight green hi-lite. I would start with that color and add small amounts of orange or red to see what you get. I have also seen some brown pumpkin colors also resemble it, but out of the bottle I would start with pumpkinseed. By the way, Bill that is a nice looking color(sour grape)

I use it, its shiny like, well chrome Not the greatest photo, but you can get the idea of what it looks like.

I hope you heal quickly. I got burnt the other day also, but it was from stirring the plastic after heating. I was holding the pyrex with my left hand, stirring with my right hand, and basically went a little too fast or something and brought a nice scoop of hot plastic right over 2 fingers. I do feel your pain.

Nice, thanks again fellas. Any recommendation on painting them(what type of paint, where to buy), havent researched it yet but if anyone is willing to save me the trouble I would also appreciate that.

Haha, everytime I scroll through posts of all subjects, there is always someone who likes to start something. Its all good, I do appreciate those who have given me some information I can start with. Thank you. And by the way, I just found out its the basstrix flash trix swimbait my wife loves to death, I guess that one does not have a paddletail. Its more straight. So I basically wasted a little time already trying to make a paddletail version lol. Oh well I will finish it anyways.

I didnt pay a dime for my machined molds, the beauty of having a partner taking a machining class in school. If anything, I pay for the silicone molds I make, that stuff gets pricey. All I am saying, is I was hoping there was a simple dipping blade to purchase so I can make these for my wife. I found out there wasnt, and that I had to make it myself. No biggie, I will try to. If I find it becoming too time consuming, or costly, I will just buy the baits my wife prefers instead of trying to make them. None of my baits are injected, none of them will ever be. It has nothing to do with paying for a $40 injector. Its a preference...

I dont inject my baits, or have the desire to start. I make my own molds, or have them machined and I pour over the top into all of them. If I have to spend $$$ just to make a few baits(mainly for my wife) I basically wouldnt do it, the dipping blade thing seemed like a cheap way to go. I just didnt know they werent available for sale and that everyone made their own. So now its a project that I hope I can accomplish lol. If not, no biggie I will just keep buying her basstrix since she is addicted to dropshotting them for halibut.

I use AeroMarines AM160 rtv silicone for making my custom heads, It takes the heat no problem. But, Its on the stiff side. Its not too flexible, so its likely to tear at some point.

Lol.... Thanks again for the info, I just want a simple 3", and 4" with a basstrix type of shape. This is actually wifeys request, she loves dropshotting them but didnt like paying for them. I told her, "No problem...." lol. Now I have my work cut out for me.

Sounds neat! How do you get the paddletail portion attached onto the blade portion? And then the handle to the paddletail? Is it made of the same material? Now I have yet another project to mess around with lol.

Ok thanks everyone, I kind of figured if it wasnt easily available then it was something that was made. Here is another question though, prolly a dumb one, but once the bait is finished, and you pull the blade out, what covers up the open hole? Do you just heat it shut?

I have never tried dipping hollow body swimbaits before, but I would like to give it a try. I have been searching for a while now where I can purchase the dipping blades but I cannot find anything anywhere, other than regular tube baits.... Is this something that is made by the person, or are there some available for purchase somewhere? Thanks!