milrtyme24 Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 I have a question about painting plastic swimbaits, not just the hollow body style but any kind of plastic swimbait. Can you use a system like the Copic Marker Airbrush? First of all I did buy an Iwata Cr airbrush and the paint from Lurecraft for softplastics. Im not having alot of success right now, I know there is a learning curve and I probably will never be able to paint like MattLures so Im kinda looking for an alternative. Remember Im a newbie so I dont even know if the ink would stick to the bait. The Copic Airbrush system is like an airbrush sorta but instead of cleaning up the airbrush everytime you swith colors all you do is pop in a different color marker, no mess and quick. Would this work if I sprayed the bait then dipped it in clear plastic to protect the ink/paint or am I just way off target. It would be nice if I wanted to switch airbrush colors to just pop in another marker and keep going. The Iwata you have to clean every time you change colors and Im talking I use just a little bit of paint for the top of the bait, stop change paint clean airbrush then paint a little red spot on the belly, stop change paint clean airbrush, man there has to be an easier way and the paint from lurecraft is good but its hard to clean. Unless I had 1o different airbrushes set up which I cant afford, it just takes me a long time to paint a simple hollow body bait. I was just wondering the Copic System may not even stick to the bait, i know nothing about paint except the lurecraft paint does work but stinks to high heaven and is hard to clean out of my airbrush. So you guys who paint these excellent looking soft plastic swimbaits please help, there has to be an easier way to paint a 3 color scheme or whatever im painting which is usually something simple because Ive only had the Iwata about a month and I like it but it takes me so long to switch paints and clean the airbrush each time. Thanks for tthe help guys and Ill try to load a pic of the Copic Airbrush system or you can do a search to learn more about it, if it would work it would make my life a lot easier....haha. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 I will start by saying I dont just paint a few at a time but I do have airbrushes for every color. I know it is a pain to clean but I use acetone and a pipe cleaner. For real small amount I dont put a cup on just put drops right in the brush. You should be able to find cheaper brushes for colors that dont matter much. On the Lurecraft paint it tend to dry out and get thick so make sure to keep the lid tight. Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milrtyme24 Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 I will start by saying I dont just paint a few at a time but I do have airbrushes for every color. I know it is a pain to clean but I use acetone and a pipe cleaner. For real small amount I dont put a cup on just put drops right in the brush. You should be able to find cheaper brushes for colors that dont matter much. On the Lurecraft paint it tend to dry out and get thick so make sure to keep the lid tight. Frank Thanks for the info Frank, I would like to buy more airbrushes but its not in my budget right now. I never thought about putting just a few drops right in the brush, I would always mix a little with retarder since it dries so quick and then usually end up wasting about a fouth of a cup. Thanks again Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHK Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Thanks for the info Frank, I would like to buy more airbrushes but its not in my budget right now. I never thought about putting just a few drops right in the brush, I would always mix a little with retarder since it dries so quick and then usually end up wasting about a fouth of a cup. Thanks again Frank. in order for the paint to really adhere to the bait you need a vinyl based paint (and they stink something bad as you have experienced) but like Frank said, i dont paint just a few at a time, i will wait until i have a couple hundred, if you waited until you had 25 or so it would make things a little easier in that regard. i believe that it was Frank that once posted a link to an ebay site where you could get cheap air brushes for $10 - $20. i bought 10 brushes and a manifold and havent looked back. Yes you have to clean them out after and it can be a pain sometimes but that is all a part of the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 in order for the paint to really adhere to the bait you need a vinyl based paint (and they stink something bad as you have experienced) but like Frank said, i dont paint just a few at a time, i will wait until i have a couple hundred, if you waited until you had 25 or so it would make things a little easier in that regard. i believe that it was Frank that once posted a link to an ebay site where you could get cheap air brushes for $10 - $20. i bought 10 brushes and a manifold and havent looked back. Yes you have to clean them out after and it can be a pain sometimes but that is all a part of the game. Yes it was me that posted that link but those guys are all over ebay just got to know which ones to buy. That price was shipped to I believe. Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
