hybrideye Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 (edited) I am having issues with my first bait rolling badly, if I start the retrieve slowly I can get some side to side action but once it gets to a wide wobble it wants to roll on me. I did not add weight and am wandering if this is why. Is it a trial and error process when determining where to add the weight? I am pretty happy with the look of my baits just ran into a wall when I saw it in the tank! Another area I need help is paint.....how do you decide which paint to use? Opaque, pearl, transparent, wicked.....aaah there are so many! Does anyone have a recommendation for a "starter" kit? Can I use plain automotive white to base coat the wood? I have purchased 2 airbrushes and have yet to paint because I am not sure what I need to do, and there are no places to go other than the internet to talk to anyone. My plan is to start with plain natural colors, I also saw someone adverising bottles of metal flake on Ebay, has anyone tried to use it on their baits? I would like to get my paint soon because I got some extra cash in my pocket and the hole is gettin pretty big! Edited December 29, 2011 by hybrideye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crzyjunyer Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 i cant help you with the rolling issue for sure but from what ive learned and read on here id say it was a weighting issue paint is all up to you and your imagination - ive only been doing this myself since august or so but ive learned alot from on here as well as trial and error - i started out using createx, then tried some of the created "wicked" line, and have now moved to auto air since it lays so much better as long as you are careful and use multiple thin coats (otherwise it will fish-eye) - with any paint ive tried its all trial and error for a bit to get a "feel" for how it sprays and paints getting the air pressure, trigger control, and paint consistancy down - my reccomendation is to maybe start off with createx or wicked and paint cardboard or somehting to get a feel for the airbrush and practice some and then start with simple 2 tone paint jobs just to get a feel for it - ive caught several fish on simple color patterns of one darker over a lighter base faded in short of it is be patient and practice and use your imagination and try to recreate favorite patterns or new ones - good luck and enjoy !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crankpaint Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 sounds like you need to weight it with a belly weight it is trial and error but most of the time the weight is put just in front/back of the hook hanger or were the hook hanger is on smaller bait for longer baits in might take two or three to find out how much weight just clamp a split shot to the hook and try that to see if cures the rollout on your bait if works then drill a hole just big enough to put the split shot in and epoxy in place let it dry and fillthe rest of the hole withfiller and reseal the bait and paint, as for paint all the ones you stated in your post will work,there all water base paint or you can go to wal-mart ,hobbie shop,craft store and pick up some foke art paint thats water base too and use that(its cheaper to buy then air brush paint) just thin/reduce it till its about like milk, as for colors get the basic ones like white,black,green,yellow brown becouse you can mix them to make about any color,you can practice on paper towel layed out on some cardboard to get a feel for your airbrushs then buy you a few differnt style plastic bait and paint them,you can wash the paint off if you dont like it and spray it again and again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybrideye Posted December 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 (edited) thank you for the replies, I will try weighting the baits and see what happens. It is hard to go somewhere and find good help, I was at a Michael's today and they are getting rid of all but a few of their Createx paints. I have a tutaorial that I have been waiting to use on airbrushing, I will definitely need a ton of practice. I don't have a whole bunch of time to put into the baits right now so I get what I can get done and may not touch them for a couple months. Thanks again....here are the 2 that I have been able to replicate pretty good, used White Cedar for both. deeper belly same profile Edited December 29, 2011 by hybrideye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltshaker Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 A redfish would hammer the ears off them baits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedyarb Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Weight in the belly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassnbrad Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Nice looking lures. As far as the paints go, there are lots of mixed opinions on paint choices, but the two things that everyone will agree on is patience and practice. Both "Crazy" and "Crank" are correct though, start off with some basic colors and work up from there. When you buy your paints, (whichever you choose) make sure to get a large bottle of white. Any base white will work, Get about 3-4 12"x12" pieces of cardboard and paint both sides of these white. Then spray some colors, base colors, overlapping colors, and shading. Watch how the colors lighten or darken as they dry. A hair dryer will help with this. Everyone has their preferences and you will have to experiment to find yours... I primarily use the cheaper ones from hobby lobby and thin my own. Hope this helps,bb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 I have to agree with Brad about starting off with airbrushing some simpler patterns to start with. I'd practice fading one color into another to start with. Very seldom do you see a fish that has sharp, distinct lines or transitions of one color to another. Another thing that some of us who are less talented with an airbrush do is to use stencils for painting things like eyes, kill spots, scales, gills, etc. When using a template the closer to the bait you hold it the sharper the edges are. On things like eyes and kill spots this isn't so bad, but for things like lateral lines and bars on the side to name a couple, you can hold the stencil off the bait just a little and it will let give you a softer edge. If I read your post correctly that you added no ballast then that is your problem with the swimming action. Baits are a little like sailboats in that way. You have to add ballast to keep them upright. After you get a few builds under your belt you will begin to have a fairly good idea of where and how much weight to add. And the ballast location can vary quite a bit from one style of bait to another. On something like a minnow type lure you might find that you need to break up the amount of ballast you add into smaller pieces and locate them in two, three, or even more locations. For instance say you need 3 grams of ballast. You might need to break that up into 1 1/2 grams in the forward most position and maybe two more pieces weighing 3/4 grams farther back in the lure to get it to set at the right attitude in the water. Some people like their minnow type lures to come to rest in a head down position, but not standing almost completely vertical in the water. This is where adding varying amounts of ballast in different locations comes into play. And don't be afraid to fail or let it discourage you. I've probably carved up enough mistakes to heat the house this winter. Taking notes when building a lure can prove invaluable. One good way to get your feet wet is to copy a lure you've had success with. By doing it this way you can ease into things and get a feel for what needs to be done when building something of your own design. Most of all just have fun and don't get overwhelmed. If you run into problems try using the search function for answers and if you can't find what you need in the archives then post a question and there will be folks who will do their best to help you. good luck, Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleriver Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Place your weights in the lowest part of the belly and towards the front of the bait. Should be weighted to sit right in the water nose down a bit at least . Now the first one has a long bill for this steep of an angle. This will cause a bait to roll out. Where you place the toe eye on both baits is a critical part of the build. For this bait with this bill I would suggest placing it where the bill meet the body. If still no good then it will have to be placed on the bill itself not very far in. A quicker fix would be to shorten the bill by about 1/4 of an inch and the toe eye position your using now may be fine. If not, move it closer to bill. Littleriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybrideye Posted December 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 I guess it is unanimous I need to add weight! I saw the tutorial on making your own molds for ballast weights and may try that out. Thanks again guys the info you have given me is more than what I expected! I an using 3/32" Lexan for the bills, is this too thick? One problem I have ran into is when I put pressure on the bill (to test epoxy) I have broken a few of the noses on my baits. I was wandering if I need to go smaller on the lip or thicker on the nose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crankpaint Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 your bill thickness should work ok,you might want to move it back a little bit so it gives you more wood at the top between the bill and the upper part of the bait,if thats where the you are breaking the nose when you put pressure on the bill your bait wont,get that amount of pressure from the water pushing it so the epoxy is holding great as the wood is the weak link it will break first hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybrideye Posted December 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 OK Crank, I think I got what you are saying. I will try and move it back a little and see what happens. I also went to local paint shop and am going to have them mix me up 3 colors. Pearl white, silver/blue, and pearl black. He said I can use them in my brush just have to be thinned pretty good??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazburg Posted December 31, 2011 Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 I bought some fine glitter a Walmart and it works great. For a couple of bucks I bought a pack with 5 different colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
