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Alright, so I gave myself a challenge about a month ago to hand carve a lure from a block of wood and catch a fish on it. I initially wanted to accomplish my goal and move on to the next challenge, whatever it may be, but after finding this site and seeing just how much knowledge is available, I think I have found a new hobby in conjunction with fishing. First of all let me just say THANK YOU to all of you guys who share your experience on here. I wouldn't have known where to begin without all of the tips. As for the lure: I decided to go with a top-water popper to give a little extra excitement to the payoff if, and when, it happens. I went online to Jannsnetcraft and ordered some basswood blocks, screw eyes, split rings, and treble hooks for around $16 (including shipping). I used a store-bought lure to trace out my body design and transferred that to the block of basswood. Then, I went the old-school method of using a trusty ol' pocket knife to carve out my body and sanded it down. After reading through a few posts, I decided to use super-glue to seal the wood and this worked just fine. Here is a pre-sealing pic. Then, came the real work...... the painting. I didn't have an airbrush available so I decided to use some Testors model paint that was lying around. This worked ok, although it was pretty messy and I haven't read too many good things about using it on this forum. The painting process itself was pretty cool/challenging and I really can't believe some of the work that is on this forum. You guys are friggin amazing. I printed out a stencil to add a little detail to the sides and went with a basic frog color scheme. My detail technique needs a little work. lol. One regret I have is my crappy topcoat that I used. I got a little too antsy (typical rookie mistake) and just bought Krylex Outdoor Clear Coat spray (try not to laugh too hard). It gave the lure a decent glossy finish, but I can tell it will not be durable and probably not anywhere close to waterproof. I am going to need to put a better topcoat on the lure before putting her into action so my question is this: Can I put a 'good' topcoat on top of my crappy topcoat or do I need to try to sand it off and risk ruining my 'masterpiece' paint job. I know D2T or E-tex is preferred by most on here, but I saw another member suggest using Hard As Nails Clear also. My goal for this lure is to catch a fish and throw it in a display box in my office as a bit of a trophy. Any suggestions are very much appreciated and thanks again for all of the shared knowledge. Josh