Painting crankbait eyes

[bassman2008]

hi guys, i've used the methods mentioned here of using a nail or a pencil eraser to "stamp" a painted eye onto lures, but most of the time the paint isn't opaque enough and i still see some of the lure underneath the eye paint. what paints would you recommend to make eyes like the ones on bomber or norman lures? i've been using createx but that doesn't seem to cut it.....

thanks!

BM08

Edited October 29, 2008 by bassman2008
added more

[CL Rods]

I use Createx. Perhaps you are using either 'thinned' paint or transparent colors. If you use the Opaque colors you should not have any issue.

[BobP]

I use Createx opaque red and Delta Ceramcoat yellow, a thick acrylic paint designed for ceramics. Instead of stamping, I think of transferring a drop of paint to the lure, then take off any extra paint that I think may run. When you hang the bait to dry, the paint can sometimes thin out at the front of the eye. That's one reason to put the iris at the front - where the paint dried thinnest.

[BJ Smith]

I use Createx Opaques also but apply them with Q-tips, makeup applicators and Stamina dot makers. They all do well with one time applications....... maybe because they hold more paint....... I don't know.

BJ

[21xdc]

The Plaid Folk Art Acrylics work well for me.

[clamboni]

I still use the drillbit method. One thing I do though is after I dip the bit in the paint, I press once on something that's not the lure,,,,,anything not absorbant will work. That way you get the extra paint off of the bit so it's not a big blob of paint. Won't run that way.

If you can see through the paint, you might just need to apply twice.

[baitmaker2]

I've used the cheap gloss paint you get at WalMart for years and have had excellent results. I mostly use yellow with a black pupil and use different sized wooden dowels to get different sized eyes and pupils. I also use the same black gloss paint and dowel to put on killspots.

A bottle of these paints will last a very long time and seem to get better with age as they seem to get thicker.

The underneath lure color will not show thorugh.

[Seeking 56]

When I used to repaint my crankbaits, I used nailpolish. But make sure to do one side at a time, as the polish might run.

s54

[jrhopkins]

paper punch. perfect circles everytime. i get a cheap calender ( usually from Walmart, anything with hot rods is great.) that has a lot of pictures in it and punch out the color that i want and stick it on the lure. you can get punches in different sizes depending on the size eye you want. then i can paint a pupil on the dot. the advantage is that if the dot is a little off, you can slide it around to where you want it.

[scottishghillie]

What I do is paint a sheet of paper the colour I want the eyes to be then use a drill bit to dip in black paint to add the pupil. Once all dry I then dip the sheet in liquid plastic. After that drys I use a hole punch and punch out the eye. Neat circle every time and I can vary where the pupil is for a different look. Then superglue the eye on to the lure. Job done.