bassnbrad

If looking for a good depth of 8-10', try these on 10lb p-line. These lures will hit the bottom on a hood cast in 10-12' and the action is very similar to LC's... Plus they are 3/4oz... http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_22333_-1?color=Ghost+Shad&N=97009336+4294966997

When I want a soft line I will mix my paint a little thin then work the trigger on the gun mixing more air and less paint than usual. This will only work with a dual action brush though. If shooting with a single action I would thin the paint a little and turn the pressure down as Bob suggests.

Balsa is a very easy wood to work with. Shapes easy and sands smooth. I would suggest starting with a medium sized crank with minimum details and experiment.... Lips you can make, but starting off I would just buy some of the inexpensive ones from a tackle building supplier. I would also suggest investing in a Dremmel tool. Wet/Dry sandpaper 180 to 400 grit in the least. and a inexpensive set of reading glasses, its amazing the details you miss with the naked eye. Ballast? Yeah, you will need it... Installing it however depends on the baits size and design. There are other individuals on here that have it down to a science. I would type ballast into the search feature on here and just start reading. Also as diemai suggested I would look at youtube. there is all kinds of lure making videos on there including how and where to add ballast to a lure. All else fails, Look up Vodkamans or RayburnGuys post's. Vodkamans explanations are mind boggling but once you grasp the concept it will open up a whole world of possibilities. Good luck, bb

Yep "JKP". I use a Pasche single action for my base and and mid level "Double action" for the details. As Ben said Straining helps (ALOT), I would make sure your inline moisture/dryer filter is still doing its job. If you do not have one, you might try that after straining.

1st off, Hi! Welcome to the "Dark Side"... Fishing itself is is quite addictive, but once you catch your first fish on a lure or soft plastic you made, poured or painted... WELLLL There isn't words to describe the feeling inside... I'm very very sure most of these ladies and gents on here would agree. As to your questions, I would suggest establishing a feeling for the type of fishing your looking into. For example, Topwaters, Cranks, soft plastics, spinners, swimbaits. By far the easiest, and least expensive to start off with is topwaters. You can carve a topwater from just about anything that floats, Screw some small eyescrews in and attach hardware and fish. As far as Making cranks from scratch... There are some of the best builders and info on this forum that it will send your head reeling. My thing is painting, and as a suggestion to that side, before jumping into airbrushing, try doing up a couple of lures using sharpies and believe it or not nail polish. They are inexpensive and will give you ideas on color combinations. Spray paints will do the jobs for a lot of lures also, but are hard for details without masking and the such. If you look in the gallery at hard baits you can find so many different styles of lures and paint schemes that you can get ideas from. The best thing about this site is the info, ask questions, read the past topics and find your style. There's a lot of good folks on here that are more than willing to help and the knowledge base is only limited by your imagination. Good Luck and Tight Lines, bb

Don't Know about the Japanese styles, but here are some good suggestions... http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/22338-scales-in-foil/page__p__166757__hl__%2Bfoil+%2Bscales__fromsearch__1#entry166757

I can only speculate here. When you say "we mix it up and coat the baits.", I am assuming a 2 part epoxy type clear. Combined with "We are dipping the baits in the clear coat ." There's only two things that come to mind with those two statements combined. Either undermixed clear or not completely dry paint. There is a possibility of uneven coverage but that seems less likely than the first two speculations. Again only speculating here, If mixing large amounts of the clear the heat reaction is compounded and if using some type of drying device it may be possible one side is drying faster and "Drawing" the other side out ie... thinning/stretching/cracking.

Bleeding molded eyes... Haven't had that happen yet, but if you are hanging your lures to dry should make some kewl effects, If turning your lures... then not so good probably... A question though, are you gluing the eyes or using their own adhesive back? If gluing, the glue may be causing a reaction. If not I would try a different brand....

One little trick for your lines dots and curves. Take off your end cap when you spray and clean your needle as you go (especially WHITE)... I just use my thumbnail to clean any accumulation there. "when ive tried it at 10lbs or less it seems it wants to just not spray til i pull the trigger back further and then it shotgun blasts out and is several spots instead of even a line" This tells me your needle or tip are too dirty or your paint is too thick. Since you are thinning Createx I would lean towards tip accumulation. It only take a couple of seconds to clean versus being extremely irritated when you are almost finished with a piece then spiderweb the last line... On a side note, when you do clean your needle, it does not take much pressure, I say this because you can bend the needle and never realize it till its too late. Good luck with it, bb

Having not made my own baits I can offer suggestions not solutions. Like Ed said the bill does seem a bit off. I would suggest using a micrometer, start at the base of the bill prior to gluing. Mark the centerline of the base, then mark the centerline of the bill at the widest point. Using a mechanical pencil and straight edge draw a line from base to tip using the marked spots as guides. On your bait mark the center of the nose or cut. Now when you glue you have a visual line up tool that after the glue dries can be easily erased from the bill. Hope this helps, or gives you some ideas. bb

Just a little side note on your airbrush choices. It would be very beneficial to get one you can get parts for...ie nozzle and needle and the such. I bought a Air pro gun and while I like the performance, getting parts takes about 7-10 days... Also the smaller compressors they sell at Harbor Freight are ok to start with, just make sure to get a air dryer/cleaner, it will save a paint job one day...

Yeah crzy there is a big learning curve from paper to lures. Here is one site that gets ya going on the basics though http://www.howtoairbrush.com/ I also only do repaints, primarily plastic cranks and topwaters. There was a post (Several actually) about body prep and all. Someone showed the actual weight conversions of stripping versus light sanding and painting. The difference in amount of time and effort that goes into both are quite measurable. I found that if you are going to do paint-overs its easier to just lightly sand a new/used lure under running water with wet/dry 400 grit sandpaper, dry then paint rather than stripping the lure completely. Good luck with it, this "HOBBY" is both addictive and FRUSTRATING as hell, but when you set the hook with the lure you painted yourself... It feels real good!!!