Gentle

Ben, yes I have, I took a factory original matte and some of the ones I blasted and submerged in water, they both looked the same and they both get that wet look. I wouldn't say it's as glossy as a cleared, unblasted bait. To a fish I wouldn't think it'd make a bit of difference, but fisherman are a fickle bunch and some just insist on having a bait done EXACTLY how they want. I've never had a single complaint about my matte finish.

"If I'm using an epoxy clear like d2t, after it cures I throw mine in my bench top sandblast cabinet with ultra fine glass beads, a quick once over, wa la perfect matte finish. You don't have to be as careful as you may think, that d2t is tough stuff, just make sure you tape up the bills. " I posted this on the topic of matte finish, I have painted that paint scheme numerous times, This technique to achieve a matte finish works great and plus it's still just as durable as it is not sandblasted.

If I'm using an epoxy clear like d2t, after it cures I throw mine in my bench top sandblast cabinet with ultra fine glass beads, a quick once over, wa la perfect matte finish. You don't have to be as careful as you may think, that d2t is tough stuff, just make sure you tape up the bills.

Createx paints, fluorescent yellow, transparent yellow, and just a little white. Play with those three until you get the shade you want.

Yeah guys, be extremely cautious about what you breath in!!! My father was a fire fighter and painted cars on his days off from the fire house, at 36 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. No family history of the disease, no trauma to the head, but was exposed to plenty of fumes, and the Dr. said in all likelyhood that's what caused it. So breathing nasty fumes may not just effect you when you get older, it can get you while your still young. My father is still alive, but the toll the disease has took on him has made me very weary of what I breath in. TRUST ME FELLAS, THERE'S NOTHING WORSE THEN MENTAL ILLNESS!!

I paint better in the afternoon than in the mornings, I guess it takes me a while to get in the flow of things. I paint simple stuff first, then the more detailed paint jobs later in the day, doing that has actually saved me from alot of do overs. But inevitably, there's always the human factor, and a screw up pops up now and then. I hate redoing things!!!!!

I basically just followed the dirrections, they have several videos on the web site. You do need to build a complete rig first, I used a little panfish crankbait for my head with just a few modifications. I shaved the lip and hook hangers off, split it in half, ran my wires through it, glued it back together, and there was my master. The rest I just followed the directions, if you've poured spinnerbaits a such with lead you won't have any problems.

Everything you need is on makelure.com, they have several different mold making materials and casting resins. I built my a-rig molds out of their silicone mold material, and have cast over a 100 with the 2 little molds I made. it's easy to use and works great!! It was about a $70 investment, but that was enough stuff to make at least 150 heads.

I haven't noticed any odor with the pearl, that's any different from createx paint.

Ratios, I don't get worry about being exact every time, I have a little knife that I stick the tip in the powder and mix that with about a 1/2 once of the clear. Yeah it's a 2 oz. bottle I get from Hobby Lobby. I was thinking of using the turquoise as a base and mist the violet ghost over it. They have quit a bit of info on the site about how to achieve different effects, wish I had a little baggy of each of their powders, the effects you can achieve with that stuff is amazing and endless.

I've messed with with a few color shift paint schemes, pearl wakasagi was one that drove me completely nuts, but I finally did figure it out. I had to make my own paint to achieve the desired affects. I bought pearlescent powder from Paint with Pearl, and mixed it with createx gloss top coat. They have about anything you could imagine. I do a shad color thats has a similar effect to elegy bone, I use their " violet satin ghost pearl pigment" and mist it over black, from the side it looks black, but from the back it's purple. I think the exact same powder would work for elegy bone. Hope this helps.

A couple years ago I put a big batch of crankbaits on my wheel to leave over night. My shop has wood heat, but no insulation, so when the fire goes out it gets cold quick. It got below freezing that night, and the next morning they were all cloudy, didn't have that shine like you normally get withD2t. At first thought it was perhaps a bad batch of epoxy, and so I made the mistake a second time with a different batch of epoxy. So since then if it's real cold out, clearcoating gets done inside, and have had no issues since.

Not sure about Etex, but D2t will get get cloudy if done in the cold.

That is clever, thanks Ben & Pete!!

What were we talking about again?? Oh yes, the rig that catches ALL fish. No, but seriously, well not too serious if you know me. It's funny how fickle fishermen are, all we really want is a good day on the water. I mean, isn't that what this whole obsession is about, that's why I do it. And anybody that stands in the way of me and those pea brained little bastards is in trouble. I guess that's why fisherman over react sometimes, if we feel a threat, or maybe just a difference in opinion, about something we're so passionate about, we may be prone to overreact, at least I've been known too. Can't we all just sing cumbaya. Anyways, from now on I will only refer to the A-rig as, THE BASS DESTROYER. /:

Striper guides around have been using umbrella rigs on my home lake for decades, and unfortunately for the bass anglers here they haven't all been caught out! I can't see it being any different for bass, it's not gonna catch every fish in the lake.

It is funny to ban any rig in any organization. Lately, guys that aren't known for doing well in tournaments around here, start doing well, even winning a few. And the normal guys who usually do well don't like it, and start complaining. Next thing you know it's banned. Wonder if KVD was worried about this thing? I just don't see the A-rig being any worse than those Hydrowaves? I mean, flip a switch, and instantly those bass get horny for lures. Which is worse??? ELITES held too a higher standard my a$$.