Help With Rust Flashing Through Paint

[fshn4lmt]

Hello,

Long time listener,first time caller here.i made up a ton of baits for my family and friends and they involve painting a raw steel willow blade.i bought an airbrush from a friend,and it came with a ton of paint bottles (Apple barrel,auto air and some createx)

I tried to use the sealer white (auto air) as a base coat,but the raw steel rusts as fast as I can paint it.

Should I ditch the water based paints? Would powder coating be better?

On a side note it's an Iwata revolution,and a harbor freight compressor (that got hot and quit 1st use)

[cadman]

I am a powder painter, so I am going to be partial. I have always had success with powder paint. Once cured it is durable and if you put on E-tex or D2T it is the best of the best in my opinion. If you compromise the clearcoat, you will still have the powder coat behind it. Also you can do the finished side in powder paint, and you can leave the back side as is, whether gold or nickle plate. Below are some old pics, that I did of a spinnerbait and its matching blades. So yes it can be done, and it works.

 

BTW, Welcome to TU

 

PS: Putting on the powder paint and the clear coat will add some weight to the spinnerbait, however it did not affect the action.

 

 

Edited July 8, 2014 by cadman

[fshn4lmt]

How much heavier will it make it?

I will need to spray the powder coat,can I airbrush over powder coat for more detail? And clear it last?

[cadman]

I honestly can't answer that, as I don't know. To me unless I'm using really light spinnerbaits, weight is of no importance. I can slow roll my spinnerbaits so they barely move on the bottom, or I can really make them lift up and move to the upper third of the water column by reeling faster. My main concern is to have a good ball bearing swivel, so your blade spins freely. If you don't have that and a good sharp hook, might as well not throw a spinnerbait.

 

Yes you can spray over powder coat. You will need to turn down the air, because powder paint is slick, and you will blow the paint off if the air is too high. Yes if you use an air brush with water soluble paint like createx, you will have to clear coat.

[fshn4lmt]

Thank you,

[RayburnGuy]

The white paint is not really a "sealer". White is commonly used as a "base coat" so the following colors will appear brighter. If you still want to use an airbrush to paint your blades try putting a coat of clear over them, and letting it dry, before you start painting. I would also suggest lightly scuffing the blades with some 400 grit sandpaper to give more "bite" to your following layers.

 

You could also try using an etching primer as your first coat. These primers usually aren't white so you would still need to lay down a white base coat if that's what your looking for. Black is often used as a base coat as well. Gold and silver color will look much more like gold and silver when sprayed over a black base coat. You'll just have to experiment to decide what you like.

 

good luck,

Ben

[Basseducer]

If you are using any of the water based paints on raw steel, you are introducing water to the blades as you spray. especially if you thin with water. You may have to go to a petroleum based sealer and then use your water based paints on top of it. Be careful to paint the edges and any exposed metal.

[smalljaw]

You can paint blades with your setup but you need to by plain brass blades, if you get lacquer coated blades you need to soak in mineral spirits for a day and then wipe them off and rinse well and dry.  If you bought a lot of steel blades then you'll have to find a paint that isn't water based, it is as simple as that.