thunnus64 Posted January 26, 2012 Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Hello All, After gleaning as much information as I could from this site and others, I decided to jump into the world of lure painting. I used to build plastic models when I was younger so I have access to a couple of airbrushes and a compressor. I bought a few lure blanks, hooked up the airbrush and gave it a go. The first lure I did was a lipless crankbait in surf perch pattern. I live in Southern California and surf perch are a common inshore species and can be forage for bigger species such as halibut. After getting some so-so results on a test mule using the airbrush for the striped markings, I decided to hand paint them instead. The painting was a mixture of different paints. I used a flat white model acrylic (Gunze Sagyo?) for the base coat and laid Createx Pearlized White over that. The stripes were handpainted using Testors Acrylic. Createx Gold was used to highlight the cheeks. A Testors Enamel (Manganese Brown) was used for the top overcoat. Colors are a bit off when compared to a real surf perch so I think I can improve on this the next time. I wanted to swap the eyes out so I didn't give it a final clear coat yet. Since I used such a variety of different paints, I sealed it with a coat of Pledge with Future in case the clear epoxy doesn't like the enamel. My second lure is a Sammy-clone in rainbow trout. Tamiya White acrylic as the base coat with Createx Pearl White on top of that. I mixed the top green using Createx paints. The pink stripe is Gunze Sagyo acrylic. I handpainted the black spots using a fine paintbrush. The whole thing was coated with Devcon 2-Ton epoxy. Lots of mistakes, messy airbrush work and lessons learned but we all have to start somewhere right? There is alot of stuff to grasp regarding this new hobby and I'm grateful to have found this site and the wealth of info that it provides. Hopefully I'll be able share some more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf Posted January 26, 2012 Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Im not an expert but those looks good to me! Nice Job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanC Posted January 26, 2012 Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Thunnus they look great! I've been trying to paint for over a year and they dont look anywhere close too good as yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bass Man Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 Welcome to TU!! Great looking bait for your first stab at painting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crankpaint Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 please share alot those bait look great,calico bass should eat that up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrobass Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 WOW!! Puts my recent first attempts at airbrushing to shame! You've got some serious talent, those things look killer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 Great work, I especially like the green mix on the back of the Sammy clone. Any suggestions on how you mixed that color? Keep up the good work. Musky Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltshaker Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 Are you sure that this is your maiden voyage? If so...you are on your way. Very impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleriver Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 First, second or last, they look great! Obviously talented and knowledgable when it comes to paint. Really should consider putting those in the gallery where they belong. Very very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunnus64 Posted January 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 Are you sure that this is your maiden voyage? If so...you are on your way. Very impressive. Yes, these are my first two lures. I've had these two airbrushes sitting around for the longest time since I quit model building some twenty years ago. I finally got a compressor and got everything hooked up to build a plastic model and then the idea of painting lures came up. Using the single-action airbrush (Paasche H) came back to me pretty easily but I'm having trouble with the double-action model (Paasche V). It shoots crooked (higher than where I am pointing). I can adjust for it but it's preventing me from doing some more detailed work. Great work, I especially like the green mix on the back of the Sammy clone. Any suggestions on how you mixed that color? Keep up the good work. Musky Glenn I have a small collection of model paints... mostly Tamiya acrylics. When I started looking into lure painting, I kept running into references to Createx so I bought a few bottles. Honestly, I am having very inconsistent results with the Createx. Sometimes it comes out of the airbrush fine... other times it clogs and spits or comes out really watery. The rainbow trout's back is one instance where the Createx worked nicely. It is a mixture of Leaf Green and Sand (both Transparent colors) that I eyeball-mixed and thinned with a bit of Future and distilled water. Underneath that green is a light coat of Createx Pearlized Gold. It's hard to see in the pictures but in person, I can see a bit of goldish glint in the light area between the green and pink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrobass Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 I'm far from qualified to give much advice on this, but from reading on here I found that ammonia free windex works as a nice thinner for createx. I strained mine through some washed panty hose, dumped it into the bowl, shot a squirt or two of windex in there, backflushed and started spraying. Seems to work well to me, though I have no experience to compare it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassguy Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 They look pretty sweet. Nicely done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
