[Lure paint removal]

opaque white 

[Small Topwaters: Weight, Body Shape, Line Tie, Oh My!]

8 minutes ago, RiverSmallieGuy said:

I think that to amplify the spitting swoosh sound, you would give it a cupped face, or a face in the style of the Roman Made gliders (such as the Mother or Negotiator.)

this is not a spitting sound. the swoosh comes from the side to side displacement of water. 

sometimes referred to as the "death march"....swoosh swoosh swoosh

 

[Small Topwaters: Weight, Body Shape, Line Tie, Oh My!]

also remember its not just the motion you need to think about. there is a sound associated with the motion. 

swoosh swoosh swoosh 

[Lure stabilisation]

my first crack would be to bend to tow eye down below centerline. that helps keep downward pressure on the lip. it looks like a thru wire so maybe could cut a small notch below it to get it down easier? This would be easy to move back if its not it.

second thought would maybe be some weight in small increments between the front hook hanger and the lip?

cool looking bait though and sounds like you are close. The dialing it in is so very fun and frustrating 

[Airbrush Problems]

try soaking overnight in cleaner. i had one do this one time and i was about to just throw it away. im not sure where or how but it cleaned itself out and worked properly again.

ill also when shoot thinner or isopropyl though at higher psi like 40-45. that sometimes clears up a nasty acting brush.

[Disassemble, repair, repaint Pflueger Globe bait]

the hardened .062 bucktail wire will work fine in there. 

If you are looking to make it close to original you can get the hook hangers. Otherwise on new ones i drill to the middle and use a swivel for the hook hanger. 

If you need i can show you more detailed picture later but here you can get the idea

another thing you will want to do if fishing it is to back off those blade screws a bit so the blade is loose so it will "chirp". This chirp is why they were often called bird lures

[What type of bait is this Minnow, jerk or both]

bass fishing it'd be considered a jerkbait

musky / pike fisherman may be inclined to call it a minowbait

[Starter Airbrush paint and air compressor]

Airbrushes are just precision spray paint tools. They can shoot most any kind of paint you want.

Lure paint depends a lot on topcoat plan. if your going to epoxy then any of the water based stuff works good. 

if no epoxy then lacquers are a better choice, or anything not water based. Just need the appropriate cleaners and PPE.

I'd always vote for as large a compressor as is feasible. But as previously stated the water trap / regulator needs to be used with any.

 

[D2T Durability?]

for less than $20 you can build a turner. A disco ball turner and 1x6 and your good to go. It's well worth the time if your thinking epoxy.

Clear coating is one of the trickier parts of a build to get right. I'd put as many advantages as you can in your favor. 

[Glitter]

check out mini flake buster. i have not tried this yet but have watched a couple of videos on. this seems like a reasonable solution

 

[Fake stone vs aluminum injection molds]

i have a 5" horny toad stone mold. Its a direct upsized knock off. You wont get that stateside. It makes serviceable baits for personal use. Kind of dull but look shiny when wet  . Puts fish in the boat.

CNC molds make nice baits. 

I'd pick CNC at a higher price if given the choice. They just make nicer baits.

[Airbrush cleaning]

ive dabbled in all sorts of concoctions but mostly just buy the iwata cleaner in 32oz bottles now. in between colors mostly use reducer to flush. 

i have had some funny reactions between paint and some homebrew solutions so pretty much just stick to the brand name stuff.

[Favorite Carving Knives]

morakniv 120 for me. i like some curve in the blade

[Best wood sealers]

i use two coats of polyurethane on wood with pretty good success. with a couple of coats of epoxy over layers of paint. I've also used polyacrylic on a few and really that worked good too but i dont have tons of time on those baits but its super clean and safe so im going to build more this year this way.

1st coat of poly as a sealer and to lift the grain

sand in between coats to smooth grain.

2nd coat to smooth for base coat of paint.

Epoxy sealing is really good too, i think maybe its the best way but it always seems to take xtra time vs poly for the added benefit. But i'd use if i needed one lure to last as long as possible.

Super glue is awesome for building test baits as its fast. the super thin stuff.

ive not yet tried the UV route but that seems like it could be nice as well.

[I am a complete idiot. (missed an obvious detail... I know you're not surprised. haha)]

when you are a person that does things. you make mistakes and learn. this is not consistent with being an idiot.

[Building process]

i like to start with a rectangle and centerline everything and place eyes, hook hangers, weight placement etc then build off of the centerline. you can build very accurate repeatable baits in your garage with basic tools this way. fancier tools will just make it faster

[Spraying powder question for the experts]

interesting, ill have to fire up the jig maker one day and see what's up. i get color blending like crazy once i stick my jigs in the oven when there is one color over another. 

[Spraying powder question for the experts]

what temp do you guys heat the jigs to (before) spraying?

when you do two colors do you heat set the first then spray the second?

[Ditto Baits]

bet those suckers would look good on a drop shot

 

[Glitter]

i fiddled with this the other day, i pulled the nozzle out of an old master filled the hopper with dry glitter pulled the trigger and managed to get glitter literally everywhere lol. make sure to put the cap on the bowl. looked like i spent a long night at the club as covered in glitter as i was.

as for getting glitter on the bait, yeah it kind of did that. but not efficient at all. and not controllable. 

Maybe one of those contraptions guys shoot power out of would work?

custom helmet painters and motorcycle guys paint on all of their metal flake. It is mixed with clear base coat and sprayed. so this is totally doable. i'd imagine looking at a few of those videos would get a guy on track. 

[Wire Size]

the picture of the globe i recently put in the gallery uses .062 wire, you can just kind of see the front wrap in the picture. its really easy to do with a round nose pliers to make the loop, then a punch (or broken drill bit i use lol) and a vice grip. Once you make the loop, put it around the punch that is secured in vice, grab the tab end with the vice grip, do half a wrap, then flip the loop on the punch, half a wrap etc to get two or three or whatever you like. Its super easy to do on both ends this way. Most people dont leave themselves long enough tag ends. Wire is cheap lol

[Cotter Pins vs Screw Eyes vs Twist Wires vs Through Wire]

if you are making short enough baits with long enough cotter pins run them all the way through the bait bend then ends so that they go out parallel with the bait then add a short 90 that pegs back into the bait. Lots of older lures used this method. 

[Line Tie On Crankbait Lip]

a cool way to make a thu wire pikie is too make the line tie run back to the joint, then use another through wire looped through the first for the tail section. use droppers off the main thru wire for the hook hangers, i like to use swivels as the droppers.

[SWITCHING SPINNER BLADES]

if your talking inline spinners just start them long, and finish the loop eye with one wrap. Cut off re-configure the loop and wrap. The length does not have much of a performance / action effect (at least on musky size stuff, but does have a vibration effect that changes the finished product. I do this ALOT. You can get several changes per wire. Its the best way i have found so far

[Ecto craw?]

not sure on comparison but the ecto craw will look nice coming out of the billet mold