? Ugly Bills Unpainted Lure Bodies

[bass shack]

Hi I am just getting into this crankbait painting and hope to get good enought to sell some, and thanks to all that post saving me from learning the hard way.Got my first order today from M+R lures, some 95 110 1.5 1.5dd and all the bills have been skuffed with a fine wire brush real ugly, is this how they come from the other 3 online companys. 12 1.5dd most of them the tie eye is off center enough I dont know if they can be tuned . I know how to tune a crankbait! The rough bills dont bother me to much, I dont think custom painters would sell baits like this.

[bobv]

Sometimes you get a bill that's not clear but I haven't had any that looked like they were wire brushed. Use some fine grit sandpaper and dip them in acetone quickly. That should clear the bills.

[Richard Prager]

I've never heard of them. Do you have a link. I have bought many blanks and never received any that had bills come the way you describe ot the line ties for that matter. All blanks are not created equal. There are knockoffs of knockoffs of knockoffs. Pm me if you like

[Richard Prager]

I see the company you are talking about is www.unpaintedlures.com

I can tell you that all of their blanks are the best quality you will find. Maybe something happened in transit. I buy from them all the time and have not had a single bad blank. Give them a call.

[Hokieangler]

I buy from them too! No issues except out of stock items! I have e-mailed Matt and he has always answered fairly quickly!

[nedyarb]

I buy from them too! They have been the best swimming ko's I have found. Yes the bills seem to be scuffed. But I dip them in dick nites and the bills look like glass afterwards!

[fordguy_85]

What I usually do is wait until after Ive painted the bait, then I shoot regular rattlecan enamel or laquer clear over the whole bait. This seals the paint job as well as makes the bill or lip clear.

[BobP]

Chinese factories sand the joints on their baits to hide misalignment or material that has seeped out of the joint. Clearcoat the lip and it will disappear. If you are not satisfied with the quality of the baits, look at sources that sell unpainted lures made in Japan. Higher cost but also higher build quality - IMO. Bustin Bass Baits is one that sells some Japanese models.

[Richard Prager]

I know that wording can be very misleading. None of any of the blanks sold by anyone in the states are manufactured in Japan. I'm saying this and he happens to be a friend of mine. Sorry to say that I find it BS to mislead people like that. Some of these blanks you can easily find yourself by doing a little searching. Those are the crappy ones. I have spent countless hours trying to locate the factories that produce the high end baits like Bryan at Bustin and Unpainted carry to no avail. yet. I paint and sell quite a few baits and would not mind at all paying 1/2 of what I'm paying now. Allot of people tried to get into the blank selling game on e-bay. There are 5 major players in the blank business now but there is only one that carries only the high end stuff exclusively. If it cost under $1.50 each......save your money!

[mark poulson]

If you want good knockoffs, Predator Bass has them. He won't sell junk.

[saltshaker]

If you want good knockoffs, Predator Bass has them. He won't sell junk.

If you want good knockoffs, Predator Bass has them. He won't sell junk.

I 2nd this. Jim is a good option for buyin' blanks.

[bass shack]

Tourment fisherman are anal when buying a lure. I orderd 40 and they look like this. I clear coated one with acrylic laquer and you can tell, dont like it dont want to do it. So who sell blanks with clear bills and line tie centered one every blank. 152nd who sells the high end blanks.

[bass shack]

Matt offerd me a full refund. I'll keep these for my self.

[Richard Prager]

Read posts 4 and 9

[BobP]

152nd, yeah, I see that Bustin Bass has changed the copy on his lure descriptions to eliminate any suggestion that the blanks are actually made in Japan. However, the ones described as 'high quality' are actually that - a cut above the typical KO in quality. Appreciate the correction.

Look, if you buy unpainted KO's, you're playing Russian Roulette. Don't EVER expect a KO to work the same as an original. Yes, there are some KO's that are good baits that catch fish. They're good in their own right in spite of being modeled after a popular commercial bait. I've found a few that I like after trying a bunch of them over the years. But that's the problem: if you have to buy many baits to find a few that work the way you want, it might be cheaper in the long run (not counting the wasted work you put into finishing the dogs) to just buy the originals. I think this is especially true for less expensive baits like the Strike King KVD series or the Rapala DT's. The latest KO's I tried were the Megabass 110 KO's. Nice quality and the internals look very similar to a real $27 110. But when float tested, they would not suspend with the same head-down attitude as an original. Not the end of the world since I could apply a little lead tape to the front of the lures before painting to get them to behave properly. But anyone who buys one thinking he's getting a premium Japanese jerkbait for 5 bucks is deluded.

[bass shack]

3 out of the 6 110 suspend, 1 of the 3 balls will stick at the top middle of the bait and wont disloge without some hard tapping, one bait ist stuck in the head . from what ive read you have to play with the split rings and finish.I'm puting hardware on and make sure they have a real slow rise or see how much it takes to make them suspend hope they don't leak .

[bass shack]

tested unpainted lure 62deg water 4, 5mm heavy split rings 3# 4kvd mustads ultra slow sink,removed middle hook floated may suspend 2ton finish. same split rings 3 lite wire round bend floated add 3 more split rings suspends.These baits are very weight sensitive. lower and higher temps are realy going to mess with them.You better cary different size hooks and split rings in your tackle box.