Brick Steel

That is a great video! Since I bass fish (in Florida), I am seldom concerned with depths greater than 20 feet. It is interesting to me that the color red doesn't really fade until almost 20 feet. I thought it would fade at shallow depth. Live and learn.

Interesting topic. I agree with BBK on lack of durability. I didn’t know what lure manufacturers use, but one of the reasons that I started finishing my own baits is that I got tired of having the finish wear off a name brand bait after a few fish. I have been painting baits for a year and have been pleased with the results. In fact, I caught over forty bass on a single top water bait, before it was broken off. The finish was just starting to get marred.

For some baits, I put glitter in the first coat of epoxy. I’ve found that with glitter there are usually some bumps in that coat. I lightly sand off the bumps and then apply a second coat of epoxy. I thin both coats slightly with denatured alcohol, the second a little more than the first. On baits without glitter, I usually do just one coat.

I read some advise on this forum a while back which I think was very helpful. When I make my stencils, I take extra care to remove any plastic burrs from the inside of the stencil. For many stencils, I use a Dremel tool to cut them, which can leave burrs. I’ll sand them with steel wool and also use an Exacto knife to remove burrs. I also prefer to do my stenciling as an interim step, so I can cover up any marring with subsequent layers of paint. I also found that stencils that are too form fitting can cause marring even without burrs. I trimmed those stencils down to reduce the rubbing that occurs taking them on and off.

A couple of pictures of my set up. The lime green air hose runs from the compressor output up the wall and through the ceiling and then back down into my shop and my two in line regulators. The regulators are supposed to trap water and I have a separate valve to release any water. This seems to work really well. I can operate at pressures of 10 psi and have gone below.

I use the same type regulator as Desertbird recommends.

TrashmanSam, what tank pressure and outlet pressure are you using on your compressor. I keep my tank at about 120 and the outlet at about 100. Then I have a regulator and gauge in my shop. I have slight drops inpressure when spraying but not much. I hope that makes sense. There is a way to post pictures in a gallery on Tackle Underground, but I have not done that yet. They don’t like us to include pictures on these discussion boards unless they explanatory. I would like to see some pictures of baits your doing for trout. I’ve been doing all Bass baits but would like to make some speckled trout and red fish baits as well. As far as PC is doing, you’re right, pictures don’t do it justice. We got hammered. It’s going to be a slow recovery. We are making progress, though. Thanks for coming over to help.

I agree with NM Hevi. It looks like a Bandit, but I don't know who makes bandit-like blanks.

Hey Trashman. I am also a Floridian and started airbrushing baits a little less than a year ago. I just took about two months off because we got hit real hard by Hurricane Michael, but painted a few baits this week. I use an Eclipse air brush and some of the best advice I've seen has to do with thinning the paint to the consistency of milk. That requires different amounts depending on the paint. I also use Createx paint and have found that opaque white comes out of the bottle pretty thick, to the point that it won't spray at all well. I thin it with reducer and I turn the pressure up to about 35 psi. I only use that paint as a base coat. The pearlized paints don't require as much thinning, but still require some. I think they also require a slightly higher pressure - maybe between 25 and 30 psi. Also on the pearlized, I find it best to apply a little bit, set it with a heat gun and then apply a little more. Otherwise it gets blobby and uneven. I think its good to do that with any paint (light coat and then heat set). The more detail and finesse I need, the lower the pressure, although I've never used anything below about 15 psi. I put a paper covering on my work table and when I mix my paint and set the pressure where I think it should be, I test it on the paper work surface. I can adjust the consistency or pressure before I apply paint to the bait. There are lots of decent youtube videos that can help you get started. The folks here are really helpful as well. Have fun! Btw, when you say flats, are you fishing for bass in the lower end of the rivers, or fish like speckled trout and redfish?

I got some Poppers from Dinger Baits that have internal holographic effect. I don't know if they have crankbaits with the same effect, but it would be a good place to look.

I don't know. I think it works the way MegaBass describes, but I haven't fished that bait since late spring. I probably won't get a chance to go for a couple of months. If I do, ill try it out. In the mean time, maybe someone else can weigh in on it.

I have fished the Cedar Run version and like it. A six pound bass also liked it, so now I like it even more.

I also use a shop air compressor, but I piped air lines from my garage into my enclosed shop which is a small room off the garage. I also insulated the room, primarily for cooling, but it also greatly reduces the noise from the compressor. Basically moving the air compressor away and not in a direct line would help. I also added filters and regulators like Eastman03. With the plumbing it is important to do the soapy water test on all fittings to eliminate leaks.

I only use Createx as well. I have read about and now use a heat gun after applying a coat of paint to help the paint to cure. However you have to be careful about too much heat. I learned that by warping one of my first baits. Some people use a hair dryer. I use Createx High Performance reducer to thin my paint. The milk consistency seems to be about right. Some paints require a little more thinning than others, to get to the same consistency. I have found that the Createx opaque white, that I usually use a base coat, is pretty thick and requires more reducer to get to the right consistency. There is a lot of trial and error to learning this, even with good advice. Something I heard when first starting is to expect some failures. That was good advice. BTW, there are a lot of YouTube videos that are helpful when starting.

I started painting baits about 6 months ago and have been using Iwata Eclipse HP CS. These work great and have allowed me to make some nice baits. If you have a Hobby Lobby near by, you can get one for about $150 and use Hobby Lobby’s 40 percent off coupon and it’s less than $100. I did a lot of research before buying and saw some of cheaper ones (including the Iwata NEO) splatter and are difficult to clean. I think some people give up on bait painting because they can’t get good results with the brushes they are using, so I think a good brush is worth it. By the way Tackle Underground has been a great help to me as I’ve gotten started.

I started stripping baits because I've had store bought baits where the finish did not hold up. I really like the style of the baits (Cotton Cordell Boy Howdies), so I decided to remove the old finish and repaint them. At first I tired just sanding but it was very laborious. Then I tried acetone, but it harmed the surface of the plastic baits. Now I use denatured alcohol. I soak a half paper towel in the alcohol and then wrap the paper towel around the bait. Then I wrap that in aluminum foil, tightly, to keep the alcohol from evaporating. I let it set for a couple of days. On some baits the finish and paint just peels off and some still require a little sanding or scraping, but nothing compared to sanding them all the way. Also, I have not noticed any damage to the bait bodes. I top coat with epoxy and one bait I refinished caught 45 bass before a fish broke it off. The manufacturers finish would have been pretty much destroyed after ten fish.

I followed Chuck's advice and lightly sanded off the bumps and then put another coat of epoxy on. That looks like it did the trick. Thanks....also for the advice about the unicorn shirt!

Well after a long gap in this glitter discussion I thought I would weigh in. I had read the comments back in April and May, got some Hobby Lobby extra fine glitter and had some great success. I have been using a single coat of Bob Smith 30 minute epoxy. After initial mixing, I thin it slightly with denatured alcohol. I Then mix in the glitter, which seems to break up any remaining bubbles and brush it on. It has been coming out great, until last night when I used some Martha Stewart irresdescent sugar cube color (40-34052). It seems to be extra fine, but it left little bumps on the lures. I couldn’t find any I specifications on that particular glitter so I dont know what that’s all about. Any thoughts? Btw, I feel very silly writing about ‘glitter’ and Martha Stewart.

I noticed on Lisa and Ed's web site it says that their eyes are hard plastic (not flexible), which I don't see as a problem. Do they have glue on the back?

SugarHillBaits, thanks for the input. I noticed the dimples and was wondering about that. Barlow Tackle DT-16s have the dimples as well. I have used Predator blanks before and they worked great. I was hoping the Shelts DT-16 blanks would work because they are less than half the price, but oh well. Too bad no one seems to make a DT-16 with molded in scales, fins and gill plates like the Cedar Run DT-10 - that bait paints up really nice.

Has anyone used Shelt’s DT-16 blanks and are they good quality?

I don’t know if this helps, but I have achieved a sort of irredescent look by spraying one color from the back forward and another from the front back on a blank with molded in scales, I have used pearl gold and purple or green. It can be a pretty cool effect, where the bait changes color depending on the angle you are looking at it. I imagine that a light blue and gold or silver wood work as well.

I asked Iwata the same question and got a very helpful response: ”The Eclipse CS is typically capable of a hairline spray pattern if the paint is sufficiently thinned. There are other things that will help you spray details, including a lower air pressure and removing the nozzle cap (although be very careful with this). If this are techniques you are already familiar with and the CS still isn't meeting your needs for fine detail then I would recommend the High Performance series. The High Performance B Plus, for example, not only excels at fine detail but gives you a lot of control due to the extremely gradual taper of the needle. The trade off for using an airbrush designed for finer details is that it becomes more difficult to spray viscous paints (like Createx for instance).” Based on this, I will probably get a second Eclipse HP CS. I have been having good success operating at lower pressures and would like to be able to paint with two.

Any suggestions on an Iwata airbrush for fine detail? I’ve been using an Iwata Eclipse HP CS, which I really like but I feel like I need something for finer detail. I’d like to stick with Iwata since I’m pretty comfortable with what I’ve got.

That’s a cool idea. I’m going to give it a try. Also heat shrink is more fun than masking tape.