SW Lures

Ahhh.......the significant other now that's the key if you have one. Mine helps me look for things or something that I have talked about. She is a critic also, but a constructive one. Get them engaged, you'll be better off. She actually is starting to carve now......hummmmmm. I may have detail person. Dale

I know Ron. The thought of a number just doesn't impress me, even if I had a very high level. I do my thing, I give a suggestion, help, make a joke or learn something's. I just look at how someone helps me or others and shows respect to others. If they do these things their reputations are high in my mind. Travis explained the thought of the number. I'm just suggesting a thought for you to ponder. Being somewhat new and all. Dale

To be honest you have a good look to the scheme. You'll get it. Dale

Yep, remember what I stated in a thread that you created earlier. Low pressures as possible and light coats. Build on each layer till you get your effect. Scaling peeling back paint, finger prints are from being way to thick. Remember it's not a sprint to finish a paint job, its a marathon for someone new. Speed comes with time. Slow and thin. Dale

The only reason that I don't post pic is because I don't want to go through the hassle. I just don't have the time, to do it all the time. However if you want to see something I'll do it, to help. If I could put a pic on from a phone camera I would do it more. So you have just have to trust me or not. I'm here to learn and maybe to help someone. SOoooo, the reputation is what someone does, great answer, funny, interesting thought, great tool, etc. I know bs now when I read it. Lets boil this down to what I think about the topic. I came here to learn, not to worry about anything else. I do enjoy having a laugh at a joke. Dale

Your question seems to be more for the wire forum, but the clear coat question may have a good result here as well. I use several ways to clear coat jigs. The reason is not to help the life of the paint but to give it a look. I use powder paint most of the time. The coats I use is brush on type coating, nail polish is one, KBS is another. Someone will come a long about propionate. Dale

LOL.......I had to go look at what was the reputation. Nah, it's not important to me. I'm considered a advance member and I wonder about that to. Some of these people has helped me a lot. I'm not in the league with them, but I have some pretty good ideas. As you can see I have respect for experience, not a number. Dale

As someone said long ago, "nothing is safe when it comes to bait makers". I would say this is true for store's too. I'm like Jonister, some I won't go in. I send scouts to get what I'm after. Bad thing is I have to return the favor. Dale

This is my take on a member's reputation. It's really not quantifiable I don't need a mathematical formula to tell me what a person knows or how they are. This is how I look at, does the member show respect to others views. That doesn't mean that a person disagrees with a view it's how they rebut the opinion. Opinion is just that, it may work for one and not another. The beautiful thing about this here is that you get many, which allows you to pick from. Many here have an excellent reputation to me.....why? Because they are willing to help anyone. They like a joke.....well most of them. I'm not a follower, "I know who has a good reputation" or I'll figure it out for myself. I don't go looking for these results. It's just me, I don't need it. All of these numbers doesn't mean nothing, it's the person's name. I'll quote Thomas Jefferson, "your action will delineate and define you". Not a number. Regards, Dale

Thanks for the info FF. That's what I'm going to with Testor, use it only for certain colors. I may take a look at urethane in time. Right now tho I only paint mainly for myself and I'm catching fish so I'm good. Still tho I'm keep hearing voices telling me to go to the dark side with a mask on. Thanks again, Dale

Looking for chrome peralescent but have no success. Found silver but not chrome. Who do you buy from Hughsey? Thanks

Hughsey, I have one of that bait. A very productive bait and have tried to copy the scheme with ok success. Thanks for the info about the paint scheme, gotta always read. Just never know when a question will be answered. Dale

Very nice idea Nathan. The acrylic should create a nice barrier. Ben I'm going back and get the reducer for Testor then. This way I can start off right. Then I'll see what will work or not. Since I spelt the topic wrong it won't be hard to find it again to let y'all know how it went. Thanks, Dale

Lol, I must have had a senior citizen moment for awhile. Yes Testor, and thank you Salty's. I just had tester on the brain. Dale

I am trying to imagine the effect that you are looking for because I have never even thought of trying it. I use paints to shade, fade and what I call dusting (a soft layer of a color). The clears I use flats, matt, gloss and of course the wet look (glassy). Your idea is interesting. When you get this effect down, please show a before and after in some pic.'s. Dale

It's been about 25+ years since I used Tester paints, using them with my son on models. First thing that I noticed was Flammable. LOL no heat setting I guess. I'm going to give them a try like Bob stated. I got some old blanks that messed up on and they didn't swim right. I'm thinking that if I do have a problem with the top coat I may put a barrier coat of something between the paint and KBS. I'm not sure at all that it would work either. It may be a while before I give it a try due to me working. Ben do you find these colors more vivid? This is something that I'm looking for out of this experiment. I just bought a bright yellow, a lighter green and a blue. I didn't want to buy something I will not use. As far as spraying vs brushing, that's interesting. Your probably right about the spraying Ben. Another reason could be that the pulling or bushing of the brush. The paint is losing its adhesion from the clear being placed over the paint. Did you thin the enamel for spraying Ben? I remember this paint being semi thick and being a oil base I guess acetone could be a thinner. Acetone could help with curing a little. Time limits is not a concern for me with curing. However it is getting close for the spring kick off of a new season. Thanks again for your input, Dale

I looked but couldn't find the thread where we were talking about tester enamel paints. My question is has anybody tried to use these on wooden blanks and has any of you learn something different about the enamel that would help me? I'm going to thin it to get a effect that I'm looking for. Ben I finally got around in picking some up and will let you know how it works with KBS. I just finish 400 jigs it took a little time. I want to mix a base color of chartreuse like what we were communicating about Ben, after a primer of white then one in black to fine what I'm looking for or whatever color I need. I'm planning on painting water base Wicked over this to complete the scheme. This is just the beginning if everything goes well. Any thing I shouldn't do? Thanks, Dale

I buy my belly hangers/weights. But when I need more ballast I use these. Really nice to have extra weight in different sizes. Ben buys lead wire and cuts it off to what he needs. Dale

If you are set on making lips yourself then, I use a scrolling saw or band saw, sanders to smooth down and files to complete the shape. If you have a table vice you could use a fine tooth saw blade that is thin and can cut a radius I would think. You can also use an hack saw and cut straight lines and round by sanding. I have heard of people using an coping saw. I've never looked for a fine tooth blade for mine so I couldn't tell you if one is even made. There are sites that sell them ready to go. One is lure parts online which a lot of people here call LPO. Dale

I got a do-it blank mold. I drill different depth for different weights. Most are 1/4" in diameter except a few I did a 1/8". I did hard wood at first to fine weight valve per depth (from V-Man). Another thing I'm going to do next is to get flat stock of aluminum and make another one. Dale

I thin only paints with more or thicker pigments. After awhile of painting I found myself keeping my pressures low and I feel pretty low. I have a person that likes working with me and I started them off at low pressures and reminding them to think in thin layers. Shading or building slowly and reminding them that "this is not a sprint race, it's a marathon". Being young they just keep trying to do this. Sadly or a great thing they are starting to add in their own ideas and expressions. The sad part is now I'm learning from them. I'm just guiding them now and making sure of safety. I'm suggesting this to you to MarkNY . Think in light layers and this is no race. I agree Jigginpig, soft changes in shading is a winner. If nothing else it's a eye catcher to me when I look at others work. Dale

@ MJS, yup. Taking your time to learn more then one way can pay off. Nice post!

Very nice work!

I didn't have a lot of time this morning to say a tad bit more, but I wanted to make that point. You are doing great with shaping. Painting is a complex task and can frustrate the heck out of most of us I'm sure. Some has been doing it for many years. For someone starting it's like never getting better. Then one day you will go "oh so that's how it's done" and again with something else. Next thing you know, you will be doing these by habit and so on. You will pick up I'm sure. Good luck, Dale

Nice there old boy. I've seen fish choked on another fish, not a lot smaller then the other. Striper with a walleye half way down. I'm the OP so I can change speed a little. I was watching some lure makers on Facebook. Now don't get me wrong the baits look great in a slow swimming bait fish. The dorsal fin is up using wood for the fin. I thought that was odd, because a fleeing fish would be at full speed. Fish that I've have seen fleeing with these fins pulled in for the utmost speed. Now, if I am trying to easy the bait around then the fin would be up. I'm not trying to say this is wrong. I'm just trying to understand why would you do this. I could see the fins being made from soft plastic that would come down when the speed of retrieve is increased. These people seem very respected on the site. It seems to me that this could hamper a strike. Could some one help me with this?Thanks. Dale