Kustom Krankz

you get what you pay for with airbrushes- a pretty good deal is hobby lobby-iwata hp-cs- a little less than 200.00 but print off the 40% coupon and get it for 120.00- I have 3 I bought that way- you might find one a little cheaper online somewhere but shipping may run it up a little-plus I'm a little impatient-when I want it I want it now!- as far as a compressor-I got one from lowes- small pancake compressor- just make sure it has an auto shut off feature- (it will cut of when the reservoir hits a certain pressure) usually you can pick one up for less than 100.00- DON"T skimp on the regulator and water filter- those are the two most important items in my book- one little shot of water will ruin a nice paint job- and it always will happen right about the time you are finished!!

mark and I have talked about this wrinkling issue and since I started using testors white and pearls I have not had one issue with it- just my .02- my procedure is as follows if it helps- paint bait as usual ,drying with hairdryer between coats- into hotbox @110 degrees for 15 min. or so- remove and dip first coat of ac 1315- back in hotbox for 15 0r 20 min- dip again- usually do this 4 times and bait is done the next day- a lot of times I will leave baits in the box for an extra 12 hrs or so while I am at work and they are rock hard when I return to them-no smell at all- I have done probably 60-70 baits with this process in the last month or so and not one problem- got on a good school of smaller bass and caught probably 50-60 on one little john I had painted. it was pretty scratched up as you can imagine- took it home, removed the hooks ,hit it with some 500 grit sandpaper, and two dips later I could have sold it as a new bait- as far as toothy critters go ,an epoxy is probably the best bet- as far as bass fishing cranks go, i'll be using this stuff- thanks to mark Paulson for the insight !

I will paint 20 or 30 blanks at a time with white base coat and put them in the hotbox to cure so I always have "cured"white. then as I need them I paint my patterns. this seems to help with the wrinkle more than anything. but, I will say I have had some instances where I had to do a bait I didn't have a pre- base coated blank done and the testors white and pearl white never wrinkled. not sure why but it works for me so far- I think the testors paints have some solvent in them that allows them to dry better with a heat gun between coats-

Give the testors airbrush paints a try. Thier black and white sprays like a dream straight out of the bottle. No wrinkling with as 1315 either. Available @michaels. I no longer use wicked black or white. Thier pearls are killer too

anybody know where I can get some 5/8 oz one knocker blanks? lipless thanks mike

I use the AEX 5 compound from paasche- or baking soda when I'm out. Either one works well. Just have to play with air pressure.

anybody had colors bleed with this stuff- I have been using it for a little while and this weekend I had a bait with a yellow belly bleed a little- not noticeable on the bait bout what drips off the rear hook hanger has a yellow tint to it- tried spraying another one with krylon clear before dipping- still bled a little but with no adverse effects-

the first time I used it I chewed up an old bandit bait- small learning curve-

I use anywhere from 20- 40 psi- depending on the paint and clear- factory finish comes off easy- devcon,e-tex,etc., take a little more muscle- even with baking soda you can harm the plastic- the less the better