gonfishn Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Was considering air brushing additonal colors on a spinnerbait with a base coat of white, however, smalljaw and Cad aparently tap powder paint on while its still hot and that works? Would appreciate any additional info re this issue of tapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Gonfishn, I use a powder paint air brush aka hobby sandblaster, cadman is the guru when it comes to tapping on powder, and you can lear but it takes practice to achieve the results you want. You say you want to do the additional color over a white base, why? The beauty of powder is you don't need a base coat like vinyl or airbrush paint but if you want it white then go ahead. The thing you need to realize is you aren't going to make fine lines or do great detail, what you will be able to do is blend colors together seamlessly and with fading effects too when you get good at it. The powder spray gun requires you to set up a little "spray booth" and for that I use an old work boot box, this booth will catch your overspray so it isn't floating around. Some people make a small hole in the box and insert a shop vac hose and turn the shop vac on while spraying, this will keep the overspray down . The downside to the spray gun is waste, you will waste some paint, I devised a system in which I hang plastic bags up to reclaim powder but it only is useful when I do a dozen or more baits at a time as I put one color on and when I change to the next color I hang a new bag and then do the same thing as I change color I change bags but for only 2 or 3 it takes to much time so you will lose some paint. You will also need a heat source like a propane torch or heat gun near by with the air gun as it is blowing air as well as powder so it will cool the bait down and the same thing applies with tapping depending on the amount of colors you use. Cadman will probably help you also, he knows a lot more and can explain it better than I can but in the mean time I hoped I was of some help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Smalljaw also airbrushes his powder paints on his jigs and spinnerbaits and he does an amazing job with blending colors. Check out the gallery with his work. I on the other hand have only used the tapping method. With that said, what other info are you looking for? All I can say is that it takes a lot of practice and trial and error to get good at either method. If you have more specific questions just ask and everyone here will help you out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 (edited) Smalljaw, That is strange you posted the same time I posted and the posting time was 2:43 for the both of us. How is that for a coincidence. You must have posted first because I didn't see your post until I finished Edited November 21, 2012 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted November 21, 2012 Report Share Posted November 21, 2012 Smalljaw, That is strange you posted the same time I posted and the posting time was 2:43 for the both of us. How is that for a coincidence. You must have posted first because I didn't see your post until I finished It seems we have a lot in common and think alike Cadman...lol!! I just hit the enter button a fraction of a sencond before you because the second it posted yours was there, how much of a coincidence is it, especially since we live in different time zones?? I'll remember this for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldfart9999 Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 I stand in awe at what both of you produce, the quality is top rate. As a humble dipper I'll try tapping this winter, there are some things I'd like to do. Rodney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuskyGary Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 Oner thing I have learned in "tapping" is that less paint on the brush is better. You can always go back for more powder to get what you want, but to much powder on the brush can ruin a paint job quick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonfishn Posted November 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 Thanks so much to both of you. What we're looking at is a white powder coated spinnerbait body with some baby blue highlights on the upper portion of the head along with a red spot on the neck of the round fish head. Am also interesed in doing some "new" football heads, by new I mean they'd have a bit different brush/weedguard configuration. We'd also like to have a plattered glitter effect along with the primary color powder paint, i.e., green pumpkin with black glitter highlights, brown with orange glitter highlights, etc. I know BOSS makes these jigs with this effect but with a smaller glitter highlight than what we're interested in. Since I'm already blabbing on this subject, anyone have a source for 60 degree EWG jig hooks? Seems like Eagle Claw, Mustad, etc., only go down to 3/0? I could be wrong as I haven't searched everywhere yet. Shorty's is getting harder and harder to navigate compared to his old site design :-( Of course, we may be stuck as we strongly try to use ONLY Made In USA parts and I have to say right here now that I don't mean any offense to anyone, as trying to use made in USA is just a personal preference and not meant to offend anyone on here that uses Mustad, Gammy or whatever else is out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 Oner thing I have learned in "tapping" is that less paint on the brush is better. You can always go back for more powder to get what you want, but to much powder on the brush can ruin a paint job quick! x2 on less is better. You are correct in saying that because if you put on too much you have to start over. Thanks so much to both of you. What we're looking at is a white powder coated spinnerbait body with some baby blue highlights on the upper portion of the head along with a red spot on the neck of the round fish head. Am also interesed in doing some "new" football heads, by new I mean they'd have a bit different brush/weedguard configuration. We'd also like to have a plattered glitter effect along with the primary color powder paint, i.e., green pumpkin with black glitter highlights, brown with orange glitter highlights, etc. I know BOSS makes these jigs with this effect but with a smaller glitter highlight than what we're interested in. Since I'm already blabbing on this subject, anyone have a source for 60 degree EWG jig hooks? Seems like Eagle Claw, Mustad, etc., only go down to 3/0? I could be wrong as I haven't searched everywhere yet. Shorty's is getting harder and harder to navigate compared to his old site design :-( Of course, we may be stuck as we strongly try to use ONLY Made In USA parts and I have to say right here now that I don't mean any offense to anyone, as trying to use made in USA is just a personal preference and not meant to offend anyone on here that uses Mustad, Gammy or whatever else is out there. To answer your questions, I will give it a try: "white powder coated spinnerbait body with some baby blue highlights on the upper portion of the head along with a red spot on the neck". You can do this two ways. A......... Entire body white. Flip the spinnerbait belly up, tap on some red on the neck area, flip spinnerbait again dorsal side up and tap on your blue along the dorsal line. B.........Entire body white. Smooth out your red powder on a plate and take the hot spinnerbait belly down and touch the nose to the red powder. The hot spinnerbait will grab the red powder. It is easier and faster to do it this way than step A. Now flip the spinnerbait again dorsal side up and tap on your blue along the dorsal line "plattered glitter effect along with the primary color powder paint, i.e., green pumpkin with black glitter highlights, brown with orange glitter highlights". Glittter to me is a P.I.T.A with powder paint. Reason being is it usually doesn't want to cover consistently and evenly. So this is what I do. On the clear powder with glitter, like CSI, you have to constantly shake the jar even after only one dip. I will tell you that spinnerbaits will have to be put on with the tap brush method since they will not fit in a jar with glitter. I found a better finer glitter from "Herbies Magic Dust" The application to me is much easier to use than CSI. Your last resort and probably the easiest for spinnerbaits with glitter is mix your glitter with Devcon 2 Ton. I will check on some hooks for you later tonight to see what I can find. As far as hooks go and us tacklemakers buying them, hook manufacturers should read some of the comments posted about their products. You and I and many others always want the best product for the best price. I am partial to U.S.A. made products, however if a U.S.A product is substandard in quality we don't have a choice. You have to use what upholds are standards. This is also true if it were the other way around. I put Gami, Owner and other hooks in my molds, because that is what the customer wants. For example Eagle Claw re-tooled there hook line series, and I believe that they are going to be the leader in mass distributed hooks along with their Trokar line. Now nothing against Mustad as they were a U.S.A manufacturer, however ever since they moved their facility overseas, I noticed that their quality is slipping. This is not good and this could kill their product line. We shall see. So you and I have the right to buy what works for you. It's not about allegiance to U.S.A products, it's about using a good product 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBull Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 I have been using the tapping method also for quite some time and like the guys said above it takes practice and patience. If you have a access to some 3/8 our 1/2 oz cheap lead heads try doing some powder painting and tap method on these first to give you a feel and a little trial and air to see what it is all about. Why waste the hook and wire to something that looks real ruff . BEEN THERE HA HA steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 (edited) Just some info for you guys that want to practice blending colors and to see what colors look good over other colors. This is what I did for hours upon hours on end to learn how to powder paint. Get yourself some clean pieces of aluminum or steel sheets. If you don't have access to this you can use old aluminum siding or pieces of steel from barbecue grilles or whatever and practice on that. Clean the material to get the grease and grime off. Then heat up a small section you want to paint with a heat gun and tap or sprinkle your powder colors all around to achieve the color you want. Re-heat it with a heat gun to smooth out and blend the paint. You will see how it looks. If you don't like it start on another spot on the aluminum. This will give you a lot of practice without wasting jigs. Now if you want to learn how to powder paint and keep the drips down. First I would recommend getting or making a fluid bed. Then something similar to what I did up above. I painted bolt heads, washers, copper tubing, brass valves and so on. Anything that is nsteel, stainless steel, alumiunm, copper or brass will accept powder paint. Bake in oven and check it out. One really crazy idea was I replaced the water valves on my copper pipes that go into my wife's clothes washer. Never could remember which is hot or cold. So I took off the valve handles, cleaned them and then I powder painted one blue and one red. Came out rather nice. Just some info for you guys that want to practice and get really good at powder painting. Edited November 23, 2012 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dutchman Posted November 24, 2012 Report Share Posted November 24, 2012 Our newspaper sells 1' by 1' aluminum sheets for .50 each. I am going to buy some and practice. I would guess all newspapers do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted November 24, 2012 Report Share Posted November 24, 2012 Our newspaper sells 1' by 1' aluminum sheets for .50 each. I am going to buy some and practice. I would guess all newspapers do the same. That will work fine. Just clean off the surface with alcohol, or lacquer thinner. If you fill the whole area, you can take the powder paint off with paint stripper and it comes off really easy as at this point it will not be baked on. Practice makes perfect (Sometimes) LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukey28 Posted November 25, 2012 Report Share Posted November 25, 2012 (edited) Wow, what a thread, I learned more in this ten minutes than I did in hours with my spray booth! Dipping the bottom of the spinnerbait on the plate was awesome. I am a tapper because I can't figure out how to dip a spinnerbait without making a fluid bed thats 6 x 6". I tried running a glitter mix in a bed and then dipping my brush into the bed and that didn't go real well. So the DTT with glitter will be a time saver. I made a booth out of a plastic tote and put a computer fan on the bottom of the back wall with a piece of air conditioner filter in front of it. That pulled the really fine dust away from me. Before that I would blow my nose and the tissue would be the color I was using. I line the bottom with newsprint and can recover the paint that missed the plate that I tap over. I mounted a battery operated LED light set on the top of the inside the booth with double faced tape and can see better when I tap now. That helped when adding second colors tremendously. Prior to that I was always overapplying the second color. Thanks again Guys! Edited November 25, 2012 by ukey28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted November 25, 2012 Report Share Posted November 25, 2012 Wow, what a thread, I learned more in this ten minutes than I did in hours with my spray booth! Dipping the bottom of the spinnerbait on the plate was awesome. I am a tapper because I can't figure out how to dip a spinnerbait without making a fluid bed thats 6 x 6". I tried running a glitter mix in a bed and then dipping my brush into the bed and that didn't go real well. So the DTT with glitter will be a time saver. I made a booth out of a plastic tote and put a computer fan on the bottom of the back wall with a piece of air conditioner filter in front of it. That pulled the really fine dust away from me. Before that I would blow my nose and the tissue would be the color I was using. I line the bottom with newsprint and can recover the paint that missed the plate that I tap over. I mounted a battery operated LED light set on the top of the inside the booth with double faced tape and can see better when I tap now. That helped when adding second colors tremendously. Prior to that I was always overapplying the second color. Thanks again Guys! That's why we are all here to help each other. Just think of what you wouldn't learn if there was no internet. Talk about a lot of trial and error along with a lot of frustration. I have learned alot from others as well here. I've been here since 2006, and back then very few guys were powder painting. Tackle Underground has opened the world up to a lot of guys with all the knowledge that is here with it's members. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LedHed Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 "since 2006, and back then very few guys were powder painting" - very few using brushes as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmaster7938 Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 For me, I powder coat the base colors for my jig line, than accent them with airbrushing, followed by sealing with Devcon 2T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I powder coat the base colors for my football jigs, and then use clear nail polish with glitter in it for accents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldfart9999 Posted December 9, 2012 Report Share Posted December 9, 2012 Me, I just read and learn hoping to one day to be able to help. Rodney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
