eastman03

That's awesome! I'm starting to dabble in the soft plastic world (hopefully). Although I may get red flagged here in Canada by even looking at that AR-15 box. haha

Fantastic! Thanks for the information.

That is a great idea! How was that made? Looks awesome.

Excellent! How do you get that scale pattern in the foil? Or the gill pattern?

I just use my big shop compressor with a inline air regulator that I installed and also a inline filter so no oil or water gets in there. Works good, I can spray for quite a while before it turns on, but when it does it always scares the sh** out of me haha. I have a 6 gallon shop compressor, I had a smaller one first which worked but was always turning on and was difficult to regulate the air. I'm working in my shop, so noise isn't a factor. If you are doing it in your house or somewhere noise matters, look into one of the on demand air compressors for airbrushing. I don't have any experience with those. Welcome to Tackle underground by the way! Everything I learned was basically off this forum, and youtube videos. Lots of good help here. If you use the search function, there are many good topics already covered in the past too!

Thanks Mayberry_Baits, how have I never come across her channel. Lots of great tips and paint jobs!

So awesome. Question for you (I asked in the picture also), I see on that one lure you have a random stripy pattern on the top, I was just wondering how that happens? I've seen a few guys do that and I really like how that looks.

Friend of mine has a youtube channel and makes incredible videos of all sorts of fish. This one had me laughing. He is quite the character. It also makes me think about all the detail we put into lures of every sort and how much we overthink them. I'm guilty of that myself, fully knowing the fish don't care how nicely my gills are carved, or how many layers of epoxy there are. I love the detail for the artwork and quality of the lures. Either way, this video is hilarious.

It still floats, but just barely. I'll see what it does when I add hooks and wire. I've never attempted to make anything neutrally buoyant, but this might be the project to try it on.

I'll let you know how it goes. I sawed it in half the long way to make a longer blank. Looks like it will end up being some sort of jointed swimbait.

So I had some extra epoxy(ecopoxy) and I wanted to try something with it. I made a rectangle mound and put a piece of cedar in with it and filled the other half up with the epoxy and some glitter. So far it turned out looking pretty cool. Has anyone tried anything like this? I put the block in water and the epoxy is heavier. So whatever I make the wood will be the top. Was just not sure what to make quite yet, or if anyone has dabbled with this?

So I was having some problems with my Envirotex epoxy just recently and I figured I would post what I just found about it. It is probably common knowledge but it saved me from throwing out a good batch of etex. The epoxy I was using on the lures was curing just fine but I had little tiny imperfections (not bubbles) and it didn't appear to be dust. Just some small lumps and voids (probably only noticeable to me when I was scrutinizing it after). I had my etex inside so it was at a good room temp and humidity, but at one point or another it must have been exposed to a bit cooler weather. Well, what I found was some of the resin bottle was crystallizing. This appears to be very common when it's exposed to cold weather. The hardener bottle was still fine. So I though it might be garbage but by heating it up properly, you can liquefy the little crystals and it becomes perfectly usable again! phew. Now I know this is probably common knowledge to most of you, but I was relieved to solve at least that problem with my finish! Here is a good page I found that talks about resin and how to fix it. https://theepoxyexperts.com/coldweathernotice/

That's gotta be it! Either way, that is awesome!

Looks great! Thanks for the tips guys. I think ill carve out a master and look into making a mold to pour into.

I want to see this tutorial Tim! You will have to make it again!

Oh boy. I figured as much. Now to dive into a new endless craft rabbit hole of soft bait making. Lol. I won’t even ask questions how yet thanks

Do any of you guys know where I can buy a very large paddle tail ( just the tail)? I know I could make one, and I hope to dabble in soft plastics someday, I'm just into the wooden baits at the moment. I want to make a wooden body with a large soft plastic paddle tail musky lure, like a 10" body and a 6-8" paddletail. Does something like that exist or should I just dive into making my own? Thanks

I will try that. How hot are we talking? Oven? Microwave? Sounds like a great idea.

I completely agree. What an amazing resource. The info I've gathered here has taught me everything I know! And all the amazing lures in the gallery keep giving me inspiration to get better and try other techniques!

This is awesome! Thanks for your experience. Got me thinking I want to try something like this! I love the effect when you paint/epoxy over foil like that.