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Wassup Guys!!! Sorry I have been MIA for a while. Got a new job and had a little girl a few years ago so time has not been spent in the shop. I recently got back out and building again so I am trying to see what the latest is on the all purpose, do it all, dippable, one coat, dries rock hard in 5 min no turner needed brilliant UV stable top coat. OK now that that is out of my system... I am fully aware that the best finish is purely subjective and probably never going to be found. Thus, I am looking to see whats the latest on top coats. From what i can dig up its basically still the same from 3 years ago... Epoxy, DN/MCU or in some cases concrete sealer. Well I have tried DN 4 times and never could get it to last even with utilizing all the bloxygen methods so I am kinda fed up with that stuff. Epoxy even decuopages have all cracked and failed over time and so it will kill me to finish a bait knowing it only has a few years to live. My go to 3 years ago was 2 part auto clear but now with California restrictions on VOC I cannot get the good stuff anymore! I went goodies shopping a last week and bought 2 concrete sealers to test. One is lacquer based and one is Acrylic xylene based. From my tests they both react to water based paints but very differently. The acrylic one is temperamental and if you do a good heat treat and put the createx top coat on it will be ok, but the lacquer is opposite if you use the top coat it tends to crack and react more. Both seem to produce a very hard finish but it seems both are prone to worm burn. Other than DN, Epoxies and Auto clear what finishes are not susceptible to worm burn? I still have my lure turner I can go back to epoxy if I have to but I know there is something I can buy in CA that is a better option. Also, I never liked water based finishes because they all seemed to turn white and soft if there is prolonged water exposure like leaving them on rain soaked deck. Maybe putting a final layer of polycrylic over a concrete sealer may work for the worm burn though? Advise and suggestions welcome...actually I am begging for them! Cheers, Matt

I'm new to this site but I'm hoping someone here will have experience with this problem. First I want to say the folks here have posted some great information on tackle making and I've learned a lot in a short time...so thanks to all. Anyway, I have been experimenting with MCU as a finish coat on my hand painted hard plastic lures....with mixed results. The product is made by Graco and is recommended by some lure painters on other sites. The issue is the stuff seems to cause the paint to wrinkle on some lures. Two lures from the same batch with the same pattern may have totally different results when dipped. One perfect...one ruined??? I'm painting with Createx Airbrush Colors paint....nothing fancy...no special thinners...just a drop of distilled water when necessary. I dip the lure and hang it on a drying rack. The room is under AC so its about 76 -78 degrees. Can't figure it out but I sure am tired of ruining a pattern that I've worked hard to get right. Any of the veteran painters on this site have any wisdom to share on the subject of MCU clear coating? Thanks again, to everyone here for sharing some really good information.