barr5150

I just ordered a bunch of plastic hanging boxes from clearbags.com. They are very similar to what some of the "big guys" use and they're cheap. Not sure if they offer them large enough for you application though. Another option if your only building a few styles but a bunch of them would be blister packaging or slide blisters. There's allot of companies online doing it but the minimum order is usually very high. Unfortunately I'm not there yet.

This is how we do it -

My 1st attempt. Going to try a few different colors.

Check out "Toxic Tackle" on youtube. He has 8 or 10 videos on making a balsa crankbait. It's not the process I use but it will work and all the products he uses are easy to get. What I thought was cool was he shows you how to do all the steps with simple hand tools you probably already have. My suggestion would be to build a few plugs his way and see if you like doing it or if it's something you want to continue doing. You can always upgrade your tools as you go along. Don't be concerned with buying everything up front. I've seen some pretty sweet paint jobs with just rattle can and craft paint. Once you get a game plan and have a couple plugs in ruff shape post back to let us know where your at. Most of the members on here will be able to help with ballast weighting and lip size/angle. Good luck man!

Now this is a good idea!!!

Nice job man! Took me months to paint that well. As said earlier, be careful, it's very addictive!!

Check out KBS diamond top coat if your looking for a moisture cured clear. I've been messing with the stuff now for a few months with zero complaints. To be honest I wish I found it sooner. It's a very "wet" looking clear and there are almost no storage issues. When it gets a little thick simply add a bit of xylol and keep dipping. It plays nice with most anything I've put it over too which is a huge plus.

Yes, there are guys using concrete sealer as a seal coat. I'm not one of them but I know a few who do. And yes, you will need to sand between seal coats if you want a smooth surface to paint on. Basically, depending on the wood your using, the first dip is going to raise the grain of the wood so when it's dry you'll need to sand it. After the second dip you might be good to go. You'll have to try it and see what it looks like. If it's still ruff you'll need to sand and dip again. One thing to watch out for is making sure the sealer is completely cured before moving on to paint. With GST it might be a few weeks??? If it's not dry it could bubble under your color coats when you heat set them. It's happened to me before on some different sealers I've used. If everything goes right and you have the paint work done, yes you will need to topcoat the lure with more GST. There is info in this thread on how many dips, time between dips, etc. Good luck!

Cool. Have you tested it on balsa?

I kinda thought the same thing but figured I'd throw it out there and see if anyone had tried it. I only build with balsa now so I doubt there is any real advantage? Always looking for the next best thing like everyone else I guess.

Anybody used the grain sealer yet? I purchased a quart of the normal solarez awhile back to try as a topcoat but didn't like it. I did however try it as a sealer and it does exactly what I need. Problem being, I ran out. Looking around on their site to buy another can and I saw this stuff. Wondering if it wouldn't be a better fit? http://solarez.com/products/vinyl-ester-uv-cure-grain-sealer/

So, can the lures be copyrighted, yes. But can any of us afford it? I know I couldn't. The business side of what we do sucks.

In my opinion, unless the paint jobs "he" copied were copyrighted or trademarked I doubt there is anything legally you could do. Now, if "he" is selling items as work you did and didn't, I would think that would be a different story. Personally I've followed your paint work for awhile and it's good, real good. Unfortunately that's why your being copied. I'm not saying by any means that it's right but when you stand out your being noticed, by customers and vultures. There's allot of smart people on this board, hopefully someone can help. Good luck!

I bought some 3/8" & 1/2" sheets from specialized balsa out of colorado a month ago. I can't say they're the best but I was happy with their service. They nick you a little to hand select medium density but I think that's pretty typical.

So I just ran through the entire thread, it looks like 2-3 coats in a day is about what most guys are doing. Is that correct? I just dipped 8 lures for the first time and want to make sure I get the following coats right. So far so good, the first coat looks awesome!

Thanks for the laugh first thing in the morning!