stencils

[5BITES]

What is the best way to make a craw pattern stencil? I've tried the milk cartons,and heat shrink tubing, but I can not cut out the pattern w/ my knife.

[diemai]

@ 5BITES

Try cutting stencil patterns with small quality fingernail scissors , these can make shorter , curved cuts .

good luck , diemai

[MR KNOW IT ALL KIND OF]

Rip tape and put it on your bait in a pattern design..ITS YOUR WORLD and ENJOY IT!! if you screw up go with it!! just keep painting.. just keep paint.. kinda like Dori from Finding Nemo!! ... move it all around the bait.. only shoot on the edges..takes forever but you will love the look when your done.. or you will hated it.. either way..a crawfish is suppose to look ugly and beautiful at the sametime.

" YOU DONT NEED A STINKIN STENCIL!!! BE CREATIVE!!! "

The Rookie

[Birdman]

I understand the problem you're encountering-craw patterns are the most difficult of all due to the inside and outside curves required.

Start by determining your pattern whether original or borrowed. Lay it out on paper first. Go simple at first, do not make it too complicated for starters. Make sure all curves, islands and pennisulas are supported by the material-beit milk carton or shrink wrap. (i.e., circle inside a circle has nothing to support it)

Now practice laying your design onto your medium (milk carton/shrink wrap) with a sharpie. Ensure your the left and right side patterns line up with each other. You can always erase it with a small amount of acetone and start over.

Cutting tools-I always used a #11 exacto blade but experiment with what works best for you. And always start with a new blade. Cut with small little puctures, sawing usually does not work on inside/outside curves.

Practice, practice, practice. What doesn't kill you will turn into a killer design!

[mark poulson]

I've used sharpies to make the initial pattern, then hung the lure and shot it with a very light coat of rattle can clear. The sharpie runs a little, and gives the same effect as a stencil.

[justwannafish]

To Mark:

HUH??

[mark poulson]

Sharpies are solvent based, and so are most rattle can clears.

Do a test.

Take a piece of primed wood, put a line of black sharpie on it, and then hang it or lean it so the sharpie is sitting horizontal. Be sure the sharpie is completely dry.

Then spray a light coat of the rattle can clear, any solvent based rattle can clear, over the piece. The sharpie will sag down, as the solvent in the rattle can clear dissolves part of it. With a light coat, the solvent in the clear will evaporate quickly, so it shouldn't sag too much.

Experiment with how much clear you need to get the effect you want.

You may have to try different brands of clear.

I discovered this when I used red sharpie to make gills and throat markings on my rattle can baits, and then cleared over them and hung them by the line tie.

The red ran, and it was a cool effect. Almost like flames.

You could probably get a similar effect by spraying the sharpie sample with denatured alcohol, and then letting it flash off, although I've never tried it.

With the alcohol, you could do a real light misting, and see how that looks, and then continue with another misting if you want more sag.

Just be sure you clear your lure with Createx or some other water based clear before you put the sharpie on, so the solvent won't affect the paint job. If you're using water based paints, it shouldn't be a problem.

And be sure to put another coat of water based clear over the sharpie effect when you're done, or the epoxy or other topcoat will make it run some more.

Edited February 26, 2009 by mark poulson

[justwannafish]

Thanks Mark. After reading your detailed description your short, two sentance post makes sense. I paint with an airbrush but I'll try this out next time I'm experimenting with paints.

[mark poulson]

justwannafish,

Sorry my first post was not clear.

Having sharpies run is such a common problem in lure making that I assumed everyone would know what I was talking about.

You know what they say about assuming anything.....

[BobP]

If you want stencils that are easy to cut out in detail, try "frisket material" from a hobby or art shop. It's a thin plastic film sheet with a paper backed adhesive. Draw your design with a pencil on the backing and it's easy to cut it out with an Xacto knife. And here's a trick: Leave the paper backing on the stencil instead of peeling it off and sticking the stencil on the lure. It's thin enough to conform to the curves on a crankbait "as is" if you hold it on the side of the lure. Shoot one side, dry the stencil with a hair dryer, then flip it over and do the other side with perfect symmetry. Throw the stencil in a box and reuse it - pretty soon you'll have a stencil library.

[tightliner]

I occasionaly use Pelon. You can get it at wal-mart . Buy the thicker stuff. Its not what I'd use if I were going to make a bunch of the same pattern but it sure is easy to cut.Simply insert your blade(you don't have to bare down on hard) and move the pelon along the lines of your pattern. ps. the guys are right , don't start out with a complicated stencil.

[clemmy]

A couple of points:

As mentioned before, crawfish are hard due to curves. One thing you can do is use 2 different stencils, and use marks or dots as registration marks to put in the right place consistently. One nice thing is you can get fancy and use 2 different shades or colors this way.

Also, if you want to use sharpies, look for water based paint sharpies, or Posca paint markers. These are water based paint, and can be heat set like Createx, etc.

Clemmy