Cami

Hi everybody. When I wish to paint my softies and I have to wait the drying period, I hang the tails of shads between some long and narrow "windows" obtained with a sharp cutter on the side of a shoes' box. Sometimes I use this rack box as painting box for airbrushing. BUT, in my opinion, the best thing to do after the dipping, to cure plastic, is a simple splash in a tank of fresh water. Bye Cami

Plasticine: quick, reusable, you can obtain any kind of perimetric shape (to save RTV), you don't need any kind of sealant. Bye Cami

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Dear Capt Mike, really beatiful lures, I follow the same working path with clay and RTV silicone to realize top pour mold. For MonteSS: yes, it's possible to realise an open mold for a non flat shape, also doing laminates ... Uploaded with ImageShack.us Bye Cami

Hi Guys, I'm quite interested to this item because I'd like to give a natural pattern to my little batches of soft shads. Actually I'm airbrushing on them a 50% mix between acrylic color and medium, in this way I avoid the immediate chipping troubles after their drying, but to protect the drawing in a definitive way it is necessary to cover it or with a dipping process in clear plastisol or finding a finishing protective spray to create a layer on them: I'm looking for this 2nd easier way, but without any success till now. Is there anyone who knows a commercial fixative spray for soft PVC? Bye. Cami

Jeff, thank you for your help, but when you say "they", who do you refer to? Which one clear paint are you thinking? For instance plastivel and plastidip don't agree with plastisol (I've already ruined some jigs with these finishing covers, leaving on them their soft trailers). Bye. Cami

Hi Guys, lastly I found a method to avoid the immediate chipping trouble that occurs immediately after the airbrushing process on soft baits. As already recommended by some Masters here in TU, I clean the plastic surface with polivinylic alchool and, after it's dried, I spray the acrylic color with my airbrushing pen. The new thing for me is that I've previous mixed the acrylic color with a muliuse medium in a fifty/fifty percentage and thinning all with few drops of glassex. In such way if you touch the dried soft bait with your hands, the color resists on it, but if you try to scratch it with your nails, then it takes over. Of course if you cover all painted surface with a quick dipping in clear plastisol, then all drawings will be protected, but I'm looking for something else easier to apply on soft bait surface, something to spray on it. I read a thread in which someone of You Guys described this solvent: METILETILCHETONE (MEK), known as Butanone, and you suggested to mix this solvent to the paint. Does a commercial (international) spray exist to fix and protect the acrylic painted film on soft plastic? Is there a commercial spray which contains MEK? Any idea/suggestions will be really appreciated. Bye. Cami

Have you ever heard about Dexas Collapsible Silicone Cup? The plastic handle resists pretty well to microwave oven and its spout is very useful. Good for little batch. Perhaps it's possible to create an external insulating cup where to place the silicone cup immediately after the cooking inside the micro wave to retain the heat. Fiberglass paper, I'll give a chance to this new great idea. Bye. Cami

Another old trick could be to tie a pc. of aquarium plastic fiber "wool" over the hook shaft, it's usually used as mechanic filter, so it's water resistant and resist to hot plastisol temperature, too (already tried). Bye. Cami

Hi J lure, Cami is speaking. Here in Italy we are really curious about the "hookability" of RTV silicone Ecoflex: does it resist to hook point and what about cuts? What happens, if a Ecoflex silicone worm is in contact with a plastic PVC worm? Does Ecoflex resist to sun rays, I mean when it's really hot and the bait is closed inside a box? Thank you in advance for your information. Bye. Cami

In Italy we found this american silicon measuring cup http://www.amazon.com/Dexas-2-Cup-Collapsible-Measuring-Cup/dp/B001QGGN26 The plastic handle and sprue resist to microwave heating: it's really usefull for little batch. Bye. Cami

Vodkaman, are talking about this link http://xoomer.virgilio.it/cjbur/a_tube.htm ? It's in italian, but never mind: the 1st part of my Friend Il Gatto (The Cat) about big tube has been realized with an understandable video. Plastic pipe instead metallic rod is the simple secret. Bye Cami

A Friend of mine, Joe Zaza, wrote a thread about an ingenious Biodegradable Soft Bait on our Italian Self Making Lure Site: Black Bass & Co. The Guy is a great Chef and he transferred his experience from the Restaurant Kitchen to the Bass Fishing. Instead plastic, its base is the natural Arabic Gum. Recipe for 6 worm (senko type): 2 table spoons of water; 1 ts of seed oil; 3 sheets of gelatin (isinglass); 1 1/2 coffee spoons of powder Arabic Gum; Food liquid colors. Modus Operandi: Put the sheets of gelatin inside a cup of water for 20’… … after that put them inside a metal pot; Add the 2 spoon of water; Turn on the fire at the minimum, your mousse must not reach no more than 50 °C; You have to stir the gelatin till it will be dissolved; Then add the spoon of oil; Stir quickly till the liquid change in a matt color; Now you can put a coffee spoon and half of gum; You have to stir till all powder lumps are dissolved; Finally you can add some drops of food color (for black let use black squid) and your preferred scent (water based or oil it does not mean); Pour the liquid in your mould; Put the mould inside the refrigerator for 15’; Leave worms for 30’ at room temperature; To obtain a really stiff worm head for hooking purpose and dynamic soft body, the Chef suggests to wrap the body with a nylon film, instead the head must be left free at the room temperature at least for 24 hours. This worms can stay in a Plano no more than 1 month, after that some traces of mold can appear, but you can re-melt them without any problem. Here you are his cooking video: He has already caught some Bass with these biodegradable and natural lures and not only Bass … Great Joe. Bye Cami