barrybait

Yes you just cut them off the paint brush as needed. If you look at many paint brushes there is a different color the last 1/4 to 3/8 inch of the fibers. Sometimes you can utilize that change up. JR Hopkins does this on his video you can pm him and get his video will show you how it is done.

You can use microfibets or paint brush fibers. Fan them out the way you want them on a flat surface. Of course the small end the size of the tail slot that you are going to fit and the fan end the size of the tail you want. Then take some clear tape like scotch tape and tape it down to the flat surface. Now you can lift the tape and turn the tail over. If you are losing fibers, it will help if you keep the small end overhanging the edge of the flat surface slightly so that you can support it with your fingers as you turn the tail over. Tape the other side. Now the fibers should be fairly secure. Epoxy the fibers together at the small end that isn't taped. This secures all the fibers together at the base and gives you a solid base. Now epoxy the base into your tail slot. When everything is good and cured, visualize or draw the shape of the tail you desire on the bait. Cut the tail shape with scissors. Now carefully peel off all the tape in the direction of the tail fibers. It will still provide some stabilization. Less fibers, less stabilization. Should be single layer of fibers at fan end makes it somewhat transparent. Looks good but this tail is subject to wear and tear and I believe is less indestructable than others.

PVC makes a ton of difference in start to finish time for sure. I like wood too but painfully sealing it every time you change a weight location can take some time. Solarez helps too! Hope you're going to post some pics for us to enjoy. What is the baitfish at Havasu anyway?

Dave. Yeah I feel your pain. I didn't know it was available or that it even existed and then I seen it at my local Hobby Lobby store and bought it. They make it. Ya need to find it. It's cool. Barry

I'm still fighting the clogging and this sounds great. Without looking into it I didn't have confidence that you can use any reducer for any paint. Are they all still water based? Does Createx list which can be used where or are they all OK for all their paints. Also, I only paint one bait at a time generally and I am in a huge shop with lots of air so with these water base paints I don't wear a paint mask and I'm not shooting any laquer type paints. Does using these other reducers/extenders change that? I also hope to reduce the dreaded clogging. I'm chuckling because just last week I'm adding Illustration Base to "thin" my paint to the consistency of milk and the Illustration Base is thicker than milk.

Thanks Mark. You're always supportive. Hope this tip helps others too. Sure made it easier for me on some patterns.

I am using Solarez more often now as a top coat and I find that it dries clear in the thickness we use for baits. If I mix too much and let it dry in the cup I find that with thickness there is a slight pinkish hue to the cup. It is not quite as clear or glossy as D2T but I have had good success curing very near glossy using the following technique. Shake it up before pouring out what you are going to use. This is necessary because there is a surfacing agent which helps it dry "bone dry" to the feel. I am small time hobby type user and almost always use less that 1/2 oz. Curing without UV light requires 3 drops of MEKP hardener. I put one drop MEKP in the small amount I use and I use sunlight for my UV source. If you put the solarez in the sun to cure it will cure too fast and be cloudy/satin in finish. When I use sunlight for a cure, I expose the solarez coated bait to sunlight, roll it around for total coverage and get it out of the sun in 5 seconds. No kidding. Back in the shop for 30 seconds, and back in the sun for 5 seconds. Do that 3 times and you can see it is starting to cure. Then you can give it more time in the sun, rest in the shade and then just hang it outside. This gives the best finish I can get and it is very near D2T. Looks great. I don't know how the UV lights work, it may be slower and achieve the same finish but in the sun this works the best.

Learned something I wanted to share. I just posted a picture of a Delta Shiner pattern paint job I did for a friend. Previously I struggled achieving a nice silver side for a baitfish. I used Createx Pearl Silver. When I painted this over white it never really went to silver but I learned from other members that it was much more effective if painted over a black base color. Well that worked but then I ran across Createx Wicked Aluminum and decided to give that a try. Tested everything on a wood dowel first painted the dowel white all the way around and then did black on one side of dowel fading to all white. Then I painted a pearl silver band all the way around for a test and a wicked aluminum all the way around for a test. The wicked aluminum was much more effective in achieving the silvery color like the sides of some baitfish. Got a good silver color over both the white and black test areas. It worked out great on the Delta Shiner pattern I painted and is easier to do.

Most of the time I am adding glitter to my D2T and brush it on. When I wanted to get fancier, like getting specific glitter on specific areas of the bait only, I used a different method. I wanted red glitter on the red part of a rainbow trout pattern only. I'm using Createx paints so I used Transparent Base only in my airbrush and sprayed the transparent base on the red section only, then sprinkled red glitter over the wetted part and of course it didn't stick to the dry paint parts. Just blow it off and do the other side. Since you can mix the transparent base in any proportion I just used it in 100% proportion as a glitter glue. Similar to Hookemup method but reverse but there is no different compound on the bait either. With hookemup's method, the trick is to not blow the glitter off the section you want it on, with my method the trick is getting a nice even sprinkling of glitter on the wetted area. Barry

Good for you. Awesome.

Thanks Mark. Makes a lot of sense and I have everything I need. Unfortunately I sealed this batch with penetrating epoxy already so I'll finish them and catch some fish on 'em before they fail. Everyone seems to agree that super glue is the best start especially with the balsa. Would you use the same formula for the basswood too? I'm going to try your formula next bait. Barry

Thanks fellas. I'm definitely going to try the superglue first on my next balsa bait. Since my last post, I put hooks on them so I could take them to a friends pool to see how they work. I'm sure you all know how it goes when putting a split ringed hook on a bait, the hooks sometimes get cranked around and poke ya. Well when I finished I had a hook stuck right through my penetrating epoxy/d2t. Postponed my test of course while I wait for the patch to cure because I don't want any water getting into the balsa now. Thanks again, Barry