NewCastle420 Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Ive been experimenting with foil wrapping my crankbaits, and I'm having trouble figuring out how to go about painting them to get a nice shine. I've read that you're supposed to coat the lure before painting, but I'm thinking that if you don't paint the foil before coating, that the foil won't shine through the paint... I painted one last night directly on the foil and it doesn't shine through either (the paint is opaque, so you can't even tell that I foil wrapped it, it looks like a normal painted lure). I was told that "glass paint" or "window paint" will allow the foil to shine through the paint. WHAT KIND OF PAINT DO YOU GUYS USE WHEN FOIL WRAPPING? AND HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT THE WHOLE PROCESS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 (edited) You need to use transparent paint when painting over foil in places you want it to "shine". Opaque colors are used where you don't want the foil to show through. The transparent paint allows the foil to remain reflective as some light is still allowed to pass through the paint. As far as coating the foil before painting that is to give you a smooth surface to paint on. Coating with epoxy hides the edges where the foil stops. After foiling I give the bait a coating of 30 minute epoxy. The epoxy dries clear so it doesn't interfere with the reflective properties of the foil. Some people skip this step entirely and go straight to painting. I like the fact that the epoxy coating gives me a smooth surface to paint on and there are no visible lines where the foil ends. Ben Edited March 13, 2012 by RayburnGuy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewCastle420 Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Thanx Ben... Your advice is greatly appreciated. That was the answer I was looking for. Now that being said... Exactly what kind of paint (brand name and type) do you use? And where can I find it? I was told to use glass paint, is that what you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I use Createx and Auto Air acrylic (water based) paint. There are several paint lines made by Createx and Auto Air is one of them. The transparent paints are listed as such. They also have pearls, metallics, opaques, etc. I purchase mine online. There are a multitude of sites that sell it. I usually buy it from TCP Global or Coast Air. Coast Air has better shipping rates last time I checked. Other sites like Michaels and Dixie Art also sell it. You could probably find it online somewhere close to you to keep the shipping charges as low as possible. You can also find it at hobby shops like Hobby Lobby, but the one near me doesn't carry a very good selection. I have no idea what "glass paint" is, but it would have be a type of transparent paint. Otherwise light would not pass through it. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewCastle420 Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Ok thanx again that's just what I needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 For rattle canners, krylon makes a "stained glass" paint that is transparent. It comes in a smaller can, maybe 10 oz(google if interested). Works great with foils. Though i have also used non transaparent paint too with good success(very light). For example, if i want gold foil color, a super thin coat of house of kolor gold rattlecan works well(discontinued, ebay) One might even guess it was gold foil to begin with. Looks good as gold foil to me. But most of the "standard" rattle cans are very oppaque and will quickly kill the foil reflection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 In addition, krylon also makes a "transparent series" of rattle cans that come in a standard sized rattle can. I have not had very good luck wtih these. While they are transparent, they also kill the reflection. But the krylon stained glass series is the real deal. Hardly any rattle canners on here, but foil and rattle cans are my gig since i bought so many darn rattle cans, now i must use them up lol...and i foil nearly everything (to help make up for the fact i dont have an airbrush, and bc foil rocks....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewCastle420 Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Thanx pizza... That's what I was doing, I was spray painting them. I didn't know they made the transparent spray paints. I literally just went out n bought an airbrush so I could use transparent paints... If I would have known about the spray paint I wouldn't have bought it lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 You are probably better off with the air brush. Not a lot of color selection with the krylon stained glass. The red is....welll....very....red. The blue is....welll....very blue, etc. In addition it is very expensive, like $8+ for a 6 oz can....and relatively hard to find ( ive seen it at ace as well as hobby lobby.....where i bought out the remaining stock for 50 cents a can :-). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluetickhound Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 I use Createx and Auto Air acrylic (water based) paint. There are several paint lines made by Createx and Auto Air is one of them. The transparent paints are listed as such. They also have pearls, metallics, opaques, etc. I purchase mine online. There are a multitude of sites that sell it. I usually buy it from TCP Global or Coast Air. Coast Air has better shipping rates last time I checked. Other sites like Michaels and Dixie Art also sell it. You could probably find it online somewhere close to you to keep the shipping charges as low as possible. You can also find it at hobby shops like Hobby Lobby, but the one near me doesn't carry a very good selection. I have no idea what "glass paint" is, but it would have be a type of transparent paint. Otherwise light would not pass through it. Ben Sorry for the bump but I'm foiling a lit for the first time and have gone ahead as you suggested and laid down a coat of D2T over the foil to smooth it out. My question is this: after the epoxy dries do you scuff it with say... 400 grit before painting or do you go right ahead to painting? So far, I have scuffed the surface of my non-foiled lures to insure good paint adhesion but I'm kind of leery of scuffing over the foil for fear of sanding through and torching what is shaping up to be a really nice lure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 If you apply an epoxy coat over the foil to smooth out the edges you can scuff it with 400 grit, or finer, sandpaper with no fear of sanding all the way through the epoxy. Now when I say "scuff" I mean just that. Giving it just enough of a light sanding to scratch up the surface of the epoxy. By this stage in the lure making process the epoxy coating should be about as smooth as glass so you shouldn't have to sand anything to try and make it smooth. Just be sure that your epoxy is fully hardened because if it's not the sanding process can result in more of a tearing action in the still soft epoxy. You'll know real quick if your epoxy isn't fully hardened as the sandpaper will seem like it wants to stick. That's because epoxy that isn't hardened will want to gum up the sandpaper. Ben Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluetickhound Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Thanks Ben! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twindad90 Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Ben, Do you worry about the weight when you D2T over foil, paint, and then coat again? I have tried to foil and could still see my lines so I did not try it anymore. Coating over the foil would make it seamless but how will the added weight change the action. Thanks Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 (edited) Everything you do changes the lure in some way Chris. That's just the nature of the beast. I don't think it's going to alter the action of the bait that much. The added weight might make it float up just a tad slower, but I doubt it would be that noticeable. Personally I don't worry too much about the added weight of an extra coat of epoxy when I foil a lure. On most bass sized lures your only talking about a few tenths of a gram of added weight. If your building your own baits you can allow for the added weight of the foil and epoxy if your inclined to do so by adjusting the amount of ballast you use for a particular lure. The only time I would worry about that small of an amount of weight is if I were trying to build a suspending, slow sinking or slow floating lure. In that situation a couple tenths of a gram can make a huge difference. hope this helps, Ben Edited June 17, 2012 by RayburnGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twindad90 Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Thanks Ben! I figured it would only be minimal at best. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 A coating of D2T on an average size bass bait (say 2 1/4") will add around .02 oz to the weight of the bait. That's about the same weight gain as if you changed out #6 trebles for #4 trebles. Not inconsiderable but not a bunch of difference. A lot of guys cover their foil with epoxy before painting but I rarely do it. If you use a thin foil like Brite-bak and burnish the edges, you can get away without the extra epoxy, IMO. HVAC silver duct tape is so thick that the edges can't be burnished to disappear and even a coat of D2T may not hide the edges. If you paint directly on foil, you do have to be a little more careful because you can flake the paint off more easily by handling the bait. A thicker epoxy coating isn't a bad thing as far as durability goes but I think if you're doing it solely for esthetic reasons, there are options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltshaker Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Maybe I'm just too anal when it comes to hiding the foil lines. I've tried several different foils (even the Brite-Bak that Bob mentioned) and the lightest-weight I've found is from a bag of Elmer's Chee-Weez. This stuff is so thin you can almost see through it and, yet, I still cannot hide the edges without using epoxy. Usually one coat does it if I am careful to burnish the edges and any wrinkles that may occur. I have some MegaBass Vision 110 blanks that are "slow floaters". With 2 coats of Etex and #6 hooks, the bait will suspend like nobody's business. Two coats of Bob Smith, however, on the same lure was a bit too much. So, I gather that Etex is lighter than Bob Smith. Again, I am probably waaaay too anal, but, it sure does make for a nicer job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 It's not so much that the Etex is lighter than the Bob Smith as it is in how much thinner Etex goes on compared to other epoxies. You would need to put 2 or 3 coats of Etex on a lure to get the same coating thickness you would with one coat of the other epoxies. Ben 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highwayman Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 Testors makes some transparent paints for model making.One color I like is lime gold matallic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caszuk Baits Posted July 3, 2015 Report Share Posted July 3, 2015 Ive found if you use liquid silver leaf (i found at walmart for around $10) then the only lines you need to hide are from the wrapping paper itself. Which is obviously way easier to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 I Use Vision Brite-bak foil. Apply it over the white color basecoated body, texture the foil, and then burnish the edges with the plastic handle of a paint brush. Shoot the colors then use a D2T topcoat that hides any edges. I skip the step of coating the foil with epoxy before painting - just lazy and the final topcoat of epoxy hides the edges just fine, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliders Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 Take rayburns advice and epoxy foil before painting, get yourself blue, red, yellow createx transparent and you can mix to create any colour. If you just paint on foil it will tend to bead.also be sure to use opaque on top and bottom if you want to hide foil edges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliders Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 Just like to add, no disrespect to bob .p. he knows his stuff, however if you paint straight over foil you will magnify the foil edges you have painted, when you top coat ,especially if you're using metallic paint this will be even more noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrybait Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 I epoxy over the foil for another reason (besides hiding edges). I use Createx transparent paints over foil and I don't always get it just the way I want it. Ya know, things are going great and then I mess up a gill plate highlight or mess up the lateral line or get too much red on the side of a rainbow trout pattern. With epoxy over the foil I can scrub off all the paint and try try again. I am working mostly on stick or glide or other larger baits where the slight increase in weight would not be as critical as smaller crank baits thou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
