bluetickhound

My mom always told me..."Tough times don't last... however, tough people DO last"....

Or any of these schools.... http://www.jockular.com/12925/most-ridiculous-high-school-mascots

What was/is your school mascot? If it's something like Bears or Tigers you can really come up with something cool fairly easily.... Hopefully you didn't go to Cairo HS in Cairo, Georgia.....

I am going to wait and save the $$$ for the shooting star setup. Until then I will just open pour to get the mechanics down. After reading and watching all the youtube videos I just believe the shooting star is what I'd eventually end up going to and don't want to spend $$$ in between (that could be being put aside for the SS) on other setups, no knock on the twinjector (it seems kime once you get the hang if it would be good as the videos I've seen attest...) but the SS just seems like a more polished, foolproof deal. The price is actually quite a bargain once you factor in the presto pots, mixers and all the other stuff you get for your +- $1100.00....

Amazing clear cast (you'll see it here as ACC) is my preferred topcoat. I get it at Hobby Lobby for around 12 bucks with the 40% off coupon. I build a batch of about 4-5 lures (but could do more) mix up the ACC, dip 'em, hang 'em and after 24 hours dry time either dip 'em again ( usually not necessary) or wait another 72 hours (again, probably overkill on my part) and fish 'em. ACC stores as easily as D2T or almost any other two part, has a high gloss finish, has a "self healing" aspect that I really love and isn't quite as hard as the othe epoxies. I have only been at this for a year or so but the ACC hasn't shown any signs at all of yellowing.

All that being said... I'm not entirely convinced yellowing is neccesarily a bad thing... Depending on the color scheme it could actually enhance the overall look of a given lure... So long as the topcoat integrity is intact....

Although I haven't tried it yet to know... I would imagine Solarez would be fairly bombproof as far a yellowing is concerned... The ACC I use hasn't shown any signs of yellowing but I have only been using it not quite a year yet.... My test piece has been outside in all sorts of weather and is as good as the day I poured it for what that's worth....

If you learned anything from this then no.... You didn't waste your time... What I have learned in my year or so making lures is that you don't HAVE to spend a ton of money ( although you easily COULD....) but going the cheap route rarely, if ever, pans out.... Spend the $$, get a good airbrush and Createx paints only cost $4.99 or so a bottle...

I did also see where someone said Polane required a pressurized pot to spray it... If so, that lets me out.... If it can be dipped I'd be very interested in this stuff as it is supposed to be good for wood, plastic and several other substrates.... Edit: never mind.... The link I posted clearly says it can't be dipped, brushed or flocoated.... Too bad. Sounded like a great product....

http://www.paintdocs.com/webmsds/webPDF.jsp?SITEID=STORECAT〈=E&doctype=PDS&prodno=F63Y9 This was the most infirmative piece I could find on Polane.... Apparently there are a few varieties (B, T...etc). I had never heard if it until now but will be in touch w/ Sherwin Williams tomorrow. Some if the ither links I looked at price it out at around $100.00 a gallon....

Thanks Dieter!

As far as I know. I am kinda wondering if the sudden heatup we've experienced here in Atlanta has anything to do with it... Or if it's just that my polyacrylic was too slick when I went to the prop... Or possibly I didn't give the prop enough time to set up... 24 hours should have been sufficient but then again, it has been mighty humid around here lately.... The polyacrylic put a dead stop to bubbles in the prop, that's for sure! By the by.... I still have a ton of prop pellets (probably around 8 or nine pounds of 'em!) so if anyone needs any, shoot me a PM and let me know...

When I first started using prop I did it exactly like that.... My balsa comes from Hobbly Lobby and is on the soft side so I imagine it has a good bit of air inside so when I dip it bubbles began escaping almost immediately. When (on Nathan's advice) i started using polyacrylic it solved my bubble problem but now I'm seeing that i have adhesion issues... All part of the process....

Thanks for the advice guys! I tried just using prop but since I work with balsa i got a lot of bubbles due to off gassing.... I'll try just doing polyacrylic with my next few lures. I had wondered if i was overdoing it since the topcoat seems to seal everything pretty well....

I had a lure yesterday that had been dipped and the finish started lifting.... Of course that wouldn't do so I waited for the topcoat to dry and got out my exacto knife to begin removing the finish.... What happened was something of a surprise.... My process is to dip twice in polyacrylic (sanding with 400 grit in between dips), sand lightly again then twice in the prop before beginning the paint process.... The delamination occured between the prop and the polyacrylic. Should I be using 220 grit? Only dip once in the prop? This is most distressing because now I wonder if all my baits finishes are not truly adhered to the sealer coat.... I had experienced blistering after leaving a lure or two in a hot (as in heat hot... Not stolen....) car last summer but my solution to that has been to not leave lures in hot cars....

Sorry for bumping this but I didn't want to start a redundant thread for an existing topic.... Now that the shooting star system has been around a year or so does anyone have any new insights/ppinions concerning useabilty and/or results they're getting? Honestly, i am totally new to soft astics but have been iver in the hard baits forum for a year now... I would have no qualms whatsoever about spending the 1000+ dollars for the system but I need to be sure it's worth it... Especially for someone with no real prior experience with soft baits. It seems fairly simple to set up and use but appearances can be decieving....

That's a neat device and it appears that it would yield crisp bends in lexan. My problem is that I'm trying to do compound curves....a much trickier proposition....at least for me it has been....

If you do it that way let us know how it holds up. As long as the lip is lined up right it should be fine. It sounds like you've eliminated a step in the process for your way of building!

Maybe try a silicon based grease or something like white lithium grease.... I can't imagine anything sticking to that stuff...

That's a great idea! I am a big fan of the ACC which is a clear cast resin.... I'll give it a try and see if it works out.

I use Hobby Lobby balsa also and haven't had any problems... I understand some folks are really picky about their balsa and go to great lenths to obtain just the right (for them) grade/grain/density etc..... I have never used anything but HL balsa so i don't really have anything to compare it against...

That may be my problemo... I use balsa exclusively. If I ever repaint a plastic bait I will revisit the auto clear with a different mindset!!

That being said.... If you could turn me on to an auto clear that is flexible and has some shock absorption properties I'd love to know about it. In my warehouse I have a pro quality Binks ventilated spraybooth that is perfect for spraying paints that are too hazardous for common garage use... I used it when I shot my HOK system with nary a fume inside! The neihbors might have smelled 'em but it's an industrial complex... If they did I never heard about it.

I used HOK clear once on an early bait and it failed miserably. If you know of an automotive clear better than HOK let me know about it... It just seems easier to use a topcoat that dries with some "give", like D2T, ACC or others that are popular here... My experience with auto clears is that they dry hard as a rock and consequently crack and/or chip at the first bounce off of a rock or other bottom cover/structure....