Chuck Young

OK I had some major problems when I tried to clearcoat with this arrangement. It works great for paint, but the epoxy soaks into the foam and you have to cut it off your lures.

Double "V" style joints have the advantage of being able to hang them by the head while coating. All excess is directed away from the joints. Very little is applied inside the joint. If the wood is well sealed, you do not need much (or any) inside the joints, as there is no wear there.. Rubber bands help. If it does get in there, let it fully cure. Cut off what you can with an exacto. Then work the joint, add a little lube, and keep working the joint. It is a pain, but it will come off eventually

Go with a reputable brand of airbrush acrylic. I also use Createx / Wicked colors. Look up videos on You tube and search the hard bait cookbook thread. There is more than one way to paint each pattern. Personally, I would shy away from those patterns using many opaque colors. Pick a dozen or so patterns that you like, and find a way to do them using a minimal investment in paint. Gradually build up your paint inventory to incorporate more patterns. If you go to( activity/ search/ colors, recommended) you will find some suggestions on paint inventory. NEVER thin your paints in the original bottle. they will go bad. I use opaque white and black. The rest of my colors are transparent, iridescent & pearl, and fluorescent. Wicked silver and gold are far superior to Createx - although made by the same company. Transparent base is cheap and very useful. You will need the same brand reducer, ans air brush restorer for cleanup. Many thin layers of different colors creates depth. For a clear coat over your finished paint job, I recommend Devcon 2 ton - 30 minute epoxy. It is available in small or large quantities, it is more forgiving than most epoxies. Rotate it while it cures or use a lure turner. I fell in love with lure painting the first time I saw my paint job pop under a good coat of epoxy. I hope you experience the same.

Lightly sand. wipe with denatured alcohol. This gets rid of "amine blush. In addition, spray with a coat or two of createx transparent base. Paint can separate from a hard , slick surface during heat set or from abrasion. The transparent base goes on milky white, but dries crystal clear. paint will not separate from it. You can also use this product on a plastic blank instead of Opaque white if you want to spray a ghost pattern.

I would recommend buying a thinner for a brand name airbrush acrylic. I use Createx 4012 reducer with folk art paint with good success. It is made for acrylic paint and has some flow enhancers in it. But I agree that pigment size is a big issue. It will not perform like a paint made for an airbrush. Try to get the consistency of skim milk - more or less.

At least my cave isn't dark. Love the foil application. I shy away from adhesive foil tape. I have had problems with layering different adhesives. I am having some success with HT foil and nail art films with thinned down epoxy. Nail art films are thinner and conform more closely to scale detail on ready made blanks. They also can be manipulated to create scale texture on a smooth lure.

If I used anything as an intermediary it would be Createx Transparent base, You can heat set it in seconds, reducing greatly any chemical interaction.

Room temp storage seems to be best for resin. Extremes tend to break it down. Sun also breaks things down quicker.

This will catch fish - no doubt! It reminds me of the mayfly imitation called "Nearenuf". The color, form, and breakup of colors on the side is close enough to say Walleye - esp when moving through the water. Possibly the color is wicked detail sepia. That color is very useful and worth giving a shot. It can be reduced and / or Transparent base can be added to it to make it a great tint tone color. It blends really well with many other colors.

It may not be the lure, but the nut that holds the handle on the rod.

Added Brown trout par to the gallery. Some pics showcase the paint, others showcase the foil. Same exposure on all all, just more sun or different angle. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/18324-brown-par-f-14-7jpg/?context=new http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/18323-brown-par-f14-7jpg/?context=new http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/18322-brown-par-f14-6jpg/?context=new http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/18321-brown-par-f-14-5jpg/?context=new http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/18320-brown-f-14-1jpg/?context=newt I really wish we could show 3 pictures in the lure contest.

Here are a couple of links plus a recipe for the top link. This has also been posted in cookbook. WALLEYE - top link WHITE Bottom: P white Side and top: black , fade to bottom Mask: (Note: To lighten this pattern, after masking, spray over black with a little white. ) Same area: wicked gold Upper side: thin olive green (com art chrome green with few drops com art burnt oj) Comb: 7-10 stripes Side (all way down): olive drab (T olive with few drops T black) Top, socket: blend T 0live drab Unmask Bottom, gill: P white silver eyes w few thin coats of P white( or silver/black eyes with P white over pupils) OPT: Pearl glitter in epoxy http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/18317-walleyejpg/ http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/18318-walleye-aumjpg/ http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/18319-hdh-walleyejpg/ To lighten this pattern, after masking, spray over black with a little white.

Walleye http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/18317-walleyejpg/ WALLEYE WHITE Bottom: P white Side and top: black - fade to white Mask: Same area: wicked gold REMASK: Upper side: T olive or thin olive green (com art chrome green with few drops com art burnt oj) Comb: 8t Side (all way down): olive drab (olive drab with few drops T black) Top, socket: blend olive drab Unmask Bottom, gill: P white Irridescent eyes or silver eyes w few thin coats of P white Pearl glitter in epoxy

Love this idea!

Insert photoshopped picture of one of my lures stuck in the grill of a 3500 poud Barracuda..... A Plymouth Barracuda.

I was worried about delamination with some adhesives. Never had a problem with D2T as an adhesive. Also a base coat of createx transparent base over the foil seems to help paint stick. Otherwise, it seems to scrape off real easy.